In the MAC program, we do a lot of reading. And I do mean a lot. Fortunately, all of it's interesting, and it's always clearly linked to the class the next day, and to our lives as teachers and as human beings. (For any students reading this post in the archives: yes, teachers are human beings. No, we don't have a secret dormatory in the school where we sleep at night.) Our reading for today, excerpts from Teachers and Machines by Larry Cuban, was about the historical role of technology in the classroom, namely films, radio and TV. The reading focused on how much the tech was used, how evenly it was used, who pushed the role of technology in the classroom, and who stood to gain from it.
Starting with the first question, Cuban asks how often the above technology was used in the classrooms. Short answer: not often. Sometimes it was a matter of availability, but other factors were the teacher's proficiency in using that technology, the reliability of the technology, and when a teacher simply didn't want to use it. How evenly was the tech used? Entire schools or school districts didn't have access to film projectors or radio recievers. And even within schools with the technology, the majority of the use came from the minority of the teachers. As for the last two questions – Who pushed the technology, and who stood to gain from it? – those with a healthy cynicism will not be surprised by the overlap in the answers. Rather than the teachers, students or parents of a school, it was the "foundational executives, educational administrators and wholesalers who saw solutions to school problems in swift technological advances." (Teachers and Machines, Larry Cuban, page 5) Who doesn't want their school to be the local leader of technology (provided they don't actually have to use it daily themselves)? And what do wholesalers stand to gain? Besides the satisfaction of a job well done? I can think of a thing or two.
So. Many teachers used the new technology of films, radio and TV sparingly, if at all. Today, it's hard to imagine a classroom without some sort of projector or television. Is this a good idea? I've had my own frustrations with SmartBoards (see previous entry), and while it's cool to be able to show videos in class, pausing them with the smartboard periodically to ask key questions and to make predictions, is it worth the amount of time wasted waiting for the video to load? Every 5 seconds the loading takes is another 5 students getting distracted, starting a conversation with their neighbor, losing respect for the teacher's authority or proficiency with technology. And what about the (many) days when the wifi unexpectedly went out? It can be hard to change gears so rapidly to the backup plan, especially when students are all geared up to watch a short video. (TV in class? Miss M, you're the best!)
So basically, we've started a class on technology in the classroom primed to be wary of technology in the classroom. This may seem counterintuitive, but I think it makes sense. We shouldn't blindly adopt the "Next Big Thing" in classroom technology just because some slick wholesaler makes a great presentation and gives us free pens. We should choose the technology we use carefully, weighing the pros and cons, and remembering that the ultimate technologies don't depend on ancient laptops, capricious cables, or sporadic wifi: the ultimate classroom technologies are the voices, minds and enthusiasm of the teacher and the students.
And while you're all busy feeling overwhelmingly heartwarmed by that last sentence, I'm gonna go prepare for my tech prep session for tomorrow.
Starting with the first question, Cuban asks how often the above technology was used in the classrooms. Short answer: not often. Sometimes it was a matter of availability, but other factors were the teacher's proficiency in using that technology, the reliability of the technology, and when a teacher simply didn't want to use it. How evenly was the tech used? Entire schools or school districts didn't have access to film projectors or radio recievers. And even within schools with the technology, the majority of the use came from the minority of the teachers. As for the last two questions – Who pushed the technology, and who stood to gain from it? – those with a healthy cynicism will not be surprised by the overlap in the answers. Rather than the teachers, students or parents of a school, it was the "foundational executives, educational administrators and wholesalers who saw solutions to school problems in swift technological advances." (Teachers and Machines, Larry Cuban, page 5) Who doesn't want their school to be the local leader of technology (provided they don't actually have to use it daily themselves)? And what do wholesalers stand to gain? Besides the satisfaction of a job well done? I can think of a thing or two.
So. Many teachers used the new technology of films, radio and TV sparingly, if at all. Today, it's hard to imagine a classroom without some sort of projector or television. Is this a good idea? I've had my own frustrations with SmartBoards (see previous entry), and while it's cool to be able to show videos in class, pausing them with the smartboard periodically to ask key questions and to make predictions, is it worth the amount of time wasted waiting for the video to load? Every 5 seconds the loading takes is another 5 students getting distracted, starting a conversation with their neighbor, losing respect for the teacher's authority or proficiency with technology. And what about the (many) days when the wifi unexpectedly went out? It can be hard to change gears so rapidly to the backup plan, especially when students are all geared up to watch a short video. (TV in class? Miss M, you're the best!)
So basically, we've started a class on technology in the classroom primed to be wary of technology in the classroom. This may seem counterintuitive, but I think it makes sense. We shouldn't blindly adopt the "Next Big Thing" in classroom technology just because some slick wholesaler makes a great presentation and gives us free pens. We should choose the technology we use carefully, weighing the pros and cons, and remembering that the ultimate technologies don't depend on ancient laptops, capricious cables, or sporadic wifi: the ultimate classroom technologies are the voices, minds and enthusiasm of the teacher and the students.
And while you're all busy feeling overwhelmingly heartwarmed by that last sentence, I'm gonna go prepare for my tech prep session for tomorrow.
First, I have to say your writing style is delightful, much like yourself. Second, can I ask why you spell your name Noemi here? Is that the correct way, or what you prefer?
ReplyDeleteA sense I'm getting from our collective blog posts (except for mine, which kind of rambled self-indulgently rather than talking about class - oops?) is that we all appreciated the tone set by this class and our first assigned reading. I would label what you describe as "healthy skepticism". We're ready to ask questions, to think deeply about *why* we might use a technology, other than "the principal said so!". Your description of having wi-fi issues, etc, is frightening, because it can totally derail a class and waste time, losing the advantages you might have earned by using the technology in the first place.
And you're right, I WAS overwhelmingly heartwarmed by that last sentence - until you totally undermined it. :)
Thanks. I'm trying to reel in my rambling nature a bit – let's see how I'm doing in a few weeks. (: I really liked your style as well - I found it interesting easy to read, and it looks like you will be a huge resource to many of us on blogging!
DeleteNoemi isn't my real name, so you've probably been spelling it right. Since my name is not terribly common, I thought using a fake name for the blog might make me less googlable. Noemi is one of the many things I got used to being called in Turkey and Spain. (Others include a variety of pronunciations of my actual name, Natalie and, surprisingly, María.)
I think that I walked out of class with the same feeling that you had, I was relieved that in our technology class we were not only learning about how technology CAN be used in the classroom but also the instances when it should or shouldn't be used in the classroom. I think this "healthy skepticism" will be key in making sure we are doing the best thing for our students not just the newest fad.
ReplyDelete