Technology in the classroom is a touchy subject in these days of government cut backs, layoffs and budget shortfalls. Is it better to purchase an updated computer lab or to retain a handful more staff to keep classrooms at a reasonable student to teacher ratio? Where is the money better spent? And at what point does it become diminishing returns on either end? I recently read about schools with rooms full of computers, but no one on staff that knows more than how to turn them on. Technology offers a lot of potential to improve learning but with out resources to utilize it or build curriculum enhanced by it, then it falls short of the price.
When I started reading the article by Reigeluth and Joseph I had to look at the publish date. It looks like it was published in 2002. At this time, the internet was everywhere, and computers were starting to show up in every home from computer geeks to little old grandmother’s. There was no such thing as social networking or Facebook, and hand held devices like Ipods were still brand new and seemed like something from Star Trek.
The authors sort of seem like visionaries when they say buzz words like peer assisted learning or self regulated learning as these are powerful drives for social media formats of learning. They would probably be blown away if you could show them Wikipedia way back then. So in about a decade we have made leaps and bounds in the field of technology, but most schools are using computers as just fancy electronic books. Students use them as the encyclopedia world books that we grow up with in class, or to update Facebook when done with their assignments. Learning is often done the same as it was a decade ago just flashier and in a smaller box. I’ve never really thought about why this is from a technology perspective as I’ve always focused on the teaching perspective in the room. The computer has always been a facilitative teaching device not a method to reform education.
I had to Google what a Luddite was when reading the second article. When I began teaching I was enthusiastic about technology in the world but now I fear I may be bit of a Luddite myself. I’m curious to know what the author thinks about technology in 2011 as his article from 1993. Does he still refuse to use a word processor? Does he know his articles are linkable from the internet (by ~1.6 billion internet connections in 2009)? Does he still feel that Al Gore’s 50 billion dollar investment in to the internet isn’t a solution to anything?
Despite sounding akin to my grandfather talking about the good old days, some of Postman’s Luddite fears have come true. I just read an article about the extinction of the secretary position in American business due to the rise of the smart phone, highly organized access to data and budget cuts. Call center positions are flowing overseas due to the quick internet connections and cheap labor costs. Technology helped the bankers funnel money back and forth in shady deals that caused the crisis in 2008 that we still haven’t recovered from. Right now as I write this, the news has on an article about minors using Facebook and the dangers of the information and people they have unmonitored access too. So maybe we shouldn’t ask what problem does technology solve, but instead what problems is it creating? A Google search of “social problems and technology” returns almost 3 million hits…
Putting the luddite in me aside, I am a fan of technology. Between my husband and I, we have 6 ways of getting on the internet: 2 smart phones, 3 laptops and his stupid Xbox that he plays until late in the night. I don’t often have time to use it, but it’s always nice to be able to have any piece of information available at any time. Who was that one guy in that one movie? Oh yeah, ask Google! My students enjoy computer time in the classroom and we have participated in web learning with other schools. Cut and paste has saved many hours of writing the weekly classroom newsletter and those darned lesson plans that my principle is always hounding me for. We are better off in some ways than we were in 1993 or even 2002. In others we are falling behind. It would be nice if not only education but other areas of our society could be updated from an industrial era view point as discussed by Reigeluth and Joseph’s article.
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