Technology and Education: We need to better integrate the two, and fast!

Technology is something that almost everyone is at least semi-familiar with. Be it something as simple as turning on a television or a computer, or something as complicated as editing a kernel extension in Terminal, we’re all familiar with some sort of technology. Regardless of skill level, the reason we all are experiencing technology in our lives every day is because we’re living in the 21st century: the digital age, the millennium, the conceptual era. One place that has yet to really see the full potential of technology is education.  In the education sector, technology seems as though its trying to be used as a way of learning, not as a tool for learning.  There’s quite a large distinction between those two uses, and many educators are unsure of the dividing line. Our schools aren’t transforming student learning or differentiating instruction through the use of technology.  They’re simply throwing devices into the classroom without a clear plan or vision as to how they plan to use them.  In fact, our schools haven’t changed much at all over the decades.  

To quote a TIME Magazine Article entitled “How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century”:

There’s a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak: Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls–every place Rip goes just baffles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. “This is a school,” he declares. “We used to have these back in 1906. Only now the blackboards are green.”

(Courtesy TIME Magazine – December 10, 2006)

Although this was meant to be a joke, it’s not all that far off from reality. I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend a high school that was a part of a very reputable school district that was rather well off when it came to the dollar amount of the yearly budget. But what did that mean? To be honest, not much. Yes, my entire school district had a very strong infrastructure, and yes, it had fairly new Apple computers in many classrooms and labs. But I think that’s the problem. School districts across the nation are throwing their technology budget money into buying computers, printers, and other technological accessories while none of that technology means a thing, if it’s not really making an impact on student learning.

Anyone who has attended any type of school, regardless of the type or level, within the last few years, I’m sure has been shown a PowerPoint presentation, or two, or ten, or maybe 100+ PowerPoint presentations. Many teachers believe that is incorporating technology into the classroom. Well, sure, I guess it is, but for what useful purpose? What’s the difference between notes being projected using an LCD projector, or notes being shown using an overhead projector? There is no difference, and that’s something teachers need to be considering when their designing lesson plans that they consider to be technologically engaging. Teachers need to be teaching their students by really using technology, not just by displaying it. Giving students laptops and telling them to use the internet to research Plato simply is not good enough. Most students, with that assignment, would be thinking, “Wikipedia – 5 minutes – finished – now I can check my e-mail.” Something teachers need to be asking themselves is, “What more can I have my students do than browse Wikipedia for answers?” Teachers should be using the technology to its fullest potential.

Many laptops today ship with multimedia applications, and many other types useful applications, that allow students to do all sorts of ‘nifty’ things. Great! Teachers should use those programs to help students better understand something; use those resources to help students gain and retain a richer understanding of what they’ve read, discovered, or heard. Using those sorts of resources will also ensure teachers touch on multiple intelligences and different learning styles. If a teacher has a visual learner in his class, he should allow that student to create a video of the experiences of World War II rather than have him type a 2 page, double-spaced, MLA format research paper. Teachers should recognize that students have different learning styles, and they should differentiate their instruction to allow students to demonstrate what they’ve learned in their respective learning style(s). Learning styles are changing, and good old-fashioned writing assignments may not be enough to help captivate and motivate students who need to succeed in this 21st century. However, please do not think that I’m saying the way students are being educated now is wrong. It’s not. It just needs to be modified a bit. A written paper is a good way to gauge a student’s understanding. But, what I’d like to make teachers understand is that there are other ways as well – ways that are far more creative and expressive.

The book “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink further elaborates on that point by saying that the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is becoming the new MBA. Perhaps being a “knowledge-worker” simply isn’t good enough in the conceptual era. Teachers need to understand that. If a skill that a student possesses has the possibility of being affected by outsourcing, automation, or the sheer fact of abundance, then that student should probably find something else to be skilled at. Through meaningful applications of technology in the classroom, teachers can help prepare students for that reality by allowing them to discover new, more artistic, and right-brained skills. Daniel Pink also goes on to say that although the SATs have been the primary source of measuring a student’s achievement before college, maybe educators should try to develop tests that test more right-brained, artistic & creative skills, as well as general left-brained knowledge. I couldn’t agree more with this statement.

I’m fairly good at retaining knowledge (left-brained), but that’s only half of my brain! Why has the education business ignored the other half of the brain for so long? Having an available art class in a school doesn’t count for trying to stimulate the whole mind, either. Allow more freedom in the classroom, teachers! Perhaps try to rid the room of the same-old, same-old row formation of desks. Perhaps try ‘pods’ or groups of students, or perhaps allow your class to be more of an open discussion forum where the learning is more collaborative. Try to flatten the paradigm of ‘Teacher’—–>’Student’. I’m not suggesting that teachers should remove their authority, I’m simply stating that trying to lessen the hierarchy of authority a bit would most likely be helpful. Teachers should be trying to develop their own, creative, new, and innovative ways of structuring their classroom.

The digital age is here, and we’re all living in it. The educational system often times has the necessary technology to begin preparing students for a successful career in the conceptual era. It’s just not using the technology to its fullest potential. Although it may be challenging, teachers, as well as administrators, need to begin realizing that the educational system needs to evolve with its surroundings. If students are most interested in technology, and have the will power and skills to use it, then teachers should take that blessing, and apply it to good use in their classrooms. Teachers should use that blessing to help engage all different type of learners. I believe that if teachers really begin modifying their classrooms, it will spark a revolution in education where students will not simply be just listening and semi-comprehending. I believe that if educators begin integrating technology more effectively into the educational system, students will be more willing to challenge themselves, become more responsible, and will begin to apply their learning at a deeper, more scholarly level.