Tyner hits on an interesting dilemma for our nation’s schools – gathering technology vs. using technology. She notes that schools have primarily focused on acquiring digital tools, but that their use in the classroom has been limited. Part of this has to do with a lack of training as well as a lack of research related to technology in the classroom. While everyone assumes that schools should have computers in the library, no one is exactly sure why they benefit students. In addition, legislators focus on computers and access to packaged tools rather than students’ own production. While I’m sure things have changed and that more studies are available since Tyner’s book was published in 1998, it is clear that more research is needed and more training is needed.
There is also controversy related to technology, especially iPods and cell phones. I’ve read articles in the past (and am frustrated that I can’t remember where or when) highlighting the odd disconnect students feel due to the bans on cell phones and iPods many schools enforce. They spend much of their time outside of school with headphones on or with cell phones glued to their ears, but such activities are often strictly forbidden in schools. I’m not here to argue about whether students should be able to text message during class, but what I am going to suggest is that schools and libraries should be technological leaders and educations. We should teach students to use technology and we should teach them how to create their own media. We cannot just have a blanket ban on cell phones and iPods – they’re out there, students are using them, and they are great tools. Why not have students take pictures or video with their phones and turn them into a project for a class or the community?
One example of this use could be digital storytelling, which Nell and I learned about as part of a group project for Youth Services Librarianship. Whatever the uses, as Tyner points out, students need to be able to go beyond access to fancy websites and technology packages and begin creating their own media. Librarians, especially those like all of us in this class who are interested in media literacy, can be leaders in this field. Many of you are teachers, and I know that there isn’t enough time in the day to learn all of the new things you could implement in your classrooms. This is where partnerships between schools and public libraries or teachers and school library media specialists can come into play. I hope that this post as well as Tyner’s analysis will inspire us to explore and experiment with media literacy.
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As Janet mentions the dilemna mentioned in Tyner's book in Chapter 5 regarding technology tools vs technology learning (media literacy?), I say that it continues to exist today nearly 10 years after the book was published. In the district where I substitute in the computer labs (K-5)each school is required to have such a lab with 30 computers. Each classroom must have two computers. This has been in place since just before year 2000.
What this set up has created is an isolation of computer use. Teachers are reluctant to introduce computer projects in their classroom and feel extremely overwhelmed at the prospect. They are generally not very technology literate and reply almost completely on their class' weekly visit to the computer lab.
The purpose of the lab is to teach students "Information Productivity Tools" as defined on page 78. (I would have said they learn computer literacy until I read the definition that also encompasses learning about the hardware, CPU, etc.)
Basically, keyboarding is taught, how to use Word, Powerpoint, Publisher and the like. Younger grades learn to use software that enhances reading and or Math skills, and use paint tools.
A few semi-creative projects exist that are started in their home classrooms (a space unit in science) and reports are researched and worked on in the computer lab. Internet research is taught and how to save pictures and the like. The children (upper grades) can get very creative with their powerpoint slide shows, however, the research is mostly paraphrasing encyclopedias (and sometimes just downright plaguerizing).
Back to the teachers themselves. They are inundated with professional development courses telling them how to incorporate the computer into their teaching (for the sake of using a computer?) I have on occasion witnessed a whipped up and excited teacher come in after a seminar on technology that wants to try all sorts of great things only to find that the school is not wired for that capacity.
Teachers are required by the district to use new technologies for grading, for assessment testing, and for tracking student progress. This has caught on fairly well, I have not seen any teacher yet to make use of technology as a tool to instill a deeper level of thinking or as a creative process.
As it regards Middle School, Computer classes is very compartmentalized into a 6 week class. In my son's 6th and 7th grade experience, he has not used any technology or media in any class for any projects during the school day. (he may research online at home for homework). Perhaps teachers feel that if they unleash technology in the classroom, the students will only focus on the fun parts, and lose the deeper meaning.
I truly feel that they cannot make the shift to teaching how they do know with different tools because it is like having to teach it in a new language.
I just read an article that I found illuminating on this subject for another class - here's the citation and my summary:
Nancy G. Maxwell, "From Facebook to Folsom Prison Blues: How Banning Laptops in the Classroom Made Me a Better Law School Teacher," Richmond Journal of Law & Technology 14:2 (2007), p. 1-43. http://law.richmond.edu/jolt/v14i2/article4.pdf
After careful reflection on her own teaching methods and an examination of her students' learning processes, Professor Maxwell decided to ban all laptops and personal computing devices from her classroom. In this article, she reinforces her decision with a literature review, touching on a few successful teaching styles and explaining why she found the negative examples persuasive in the end. Her decision to ban laptops lead her to investigate new ways to encourage student participation along with new assignments and assessment tools, which she covers in detail. After describing the process of developing these new methods, she demonstrates the success she found in applying her new strategies across several courses.
The article is fairly long (43 book-sized pages) but it's very readable. People who are working with technology and teaching right now may find her reflective approach useful, despite the specific "law school" context.
There's definitely been a backlash in college classrooms against laptops. Ubiquitous wireless networks have made professors fear that students are actually surfing the internet or IMing their friends instead of taking notes. (I've seen this firsthand in a graduate school classroom.) Just search The Chronicle of Higher Education for "laptops" and you'll see a number of references (it's available via UIUC's ORR).
As one who used a laptop to take notes in class (before wireless networks were available anywhere - I feel old!), I feel annoyed by this, but I do know how much of a temptation it is to surf the net while in class... yet I wonder if there are other ways to get around this? First, keep your lectures interesting and engaging! Second, encourage people use the internet in class for constructive purposes - we just discussed looking things up on Wikipedia in yesterday's class. Third, let students take responsibility for failing if they don't pay attention in class. College students are adults - professors aren't going to their students' rooms to wake them up in the morning, so why should they be responsible for making sure that every second of laptop time is for class purposes?
Responding to Janet's mention of removal of laptops in grad classes is really unfortunate.
I recently had an interesting evolution take place in my other (non -classroom) work life.
As a Sales Representative for a Tour Company, my role is to familiarize travel agents with destinations and travel consumer choices. I usually conduct either live Ppt presentations or online Webex in combo with conference calls.
In these instances the attendees can see my desktop. It's a great tool. Just recently, I was doing a live presentatin in an office with about 15 people, each with their own computer station. I had them log onto my presentation and the effects were incredible. Not only did I have undivided attention, but the visuals would prompt further questioning. For example if I was discussing European River Cruising this might prompt someone to ask for a comparison to Egypt Nile Cruising. In this case, I switched to my Egypt files to show them visually the differences. If such a file didnt exist, we could go online together to look for an example. I came away from this meeting knowing that everyone was engaged, had taken the conversation beyond my original intent, and we all gained an indepth knowledge and understanding of the topic.
Such an approach in classrooms and lecture halls could have similiar interactive and engaged results.
That desktop mirroring is a really interesting idea, Cynthia. And it would help limit the amount of IMing, internet browsing, etc. that Janet mentions.
Like Janet, I used a laptop in class in undergrad before wireless internet access was so ubiquitous. Now, of course, I have to be connected to the internet and I have to be on a computer in order to "attend" class. It's probably a lot easier for all of us as LEEP students to reflect on the use of technology and our own learning styles/distraction thresholds because we have this blend of lecture and continual screen feedback along with occasional discussion sections.
I personally have a hard time concentrating during "pure" lecture classes - I played solitaire on my laptop in undergrad (as discreetly as possible) because it helped me concentrate, like background music helps some people study. In LEEP classes, being able to jabber away in the chat section helps me process what I'm hearing, but I wonder how annoying the double conversations must be for people who process things more internally than I do.
The teacher in the article I mention decided to ban laptops because she felt she had lost a connection with her students and, since she has mild dyslexia, didn't think she could use simultaneous chat or other interactive web tools effectively while she was lecturing. She developed new handouts/assignments/assessment tools to make sure she wasn't cheating her students of anything they needed. Because her teaching style is so different from my learning style, I really appreciated seeing how she could adjust her plans to serve the same goals - greater participation, more reflective opportunities, etc.
Janet's post hits on some of the same points that I wrote about in an earlier post; however, I think my focus addressed more of what teachers are doing with technology. Looking at this from the student side and how students can use technology to create a meaningful product is interesting.
We have seen and read several commentaries on the importance of student ownership of a product. The PBS special Growing Up Online addressed this aspect a bit with Jessica,the girl who was able to create a new persona. This experimentation with identity was more than a creative outlet for Jessica. Henry Jenkins's article Why Heather Can Write addresses the need youth feel in expressing themselves and creating for an authentic audience. Many teacher assigned tasks do not give teens the feedback they are truly seeking.
I do agree that the many teachers are not yet meeting the needs students have for using technology as a creative device. As I read Cynthia's comment about her observations while working in an elementary setting, I felt that some of the roadblocks to meeting this student need comes down to funding. I work in an affluent suburb which has allowed the middle school where I teach to purchase hardware, software and provide for training. Students are using technology to create products they are very proud to share. A seventh grade class, for example, just finished a biography unit in which they created a slide show using Photoshop, wrote a script and attached an audio file to the slide show. The enthusiasm shown in the classroom daily fueled the teacher to share this lesson with other teachers and to plan for future opportunities for students to use this technology. Having 8 wireless labs that can be rolled to classrooms have teachers willing to committ to lessons like this. Teachers also are using software simulations in the form of games to teach science and math concepts. Gizzmos is one example of this and the students are engrossed.
Our staff is relatively young and those of us who are a wee bit older are willing to learn. As we see more turn over in the faculty, new teachers will bring their "tech saviness" with them. Even with this, I still think use of technology is another example of how schools with funding will widen the divide for students who attend schools in areas that can't afford to purchase hardware, software and offer training. How will this funding divide ever be breached?
Tyner's subsection of "Tools in Search of a Theory" in Chapter 5 really strikes a chord with me. Tyner points out that the public cries out for more technology in our schools, and that billions have been/will be spent to purchase technology. However, the question remains as to what will happen with that technology. Literacy in a Digital World was published about ten years ago and amazingly enough not much has changed in the typical classroom with regard to the use of technology.
Several posts have commented on the ways that teachers use or don’t use technology. Cynthia’s interactive use during her presentation is an excellent example of taking advantage of an instructional method. It’s always easier to follow along when you can see something first hand. I’ve been in lots of meetings where the Power Point screen is far away, and those people in the first row have a great view. The rest of us either get out the binoculars or begin composing our “to do list” in our minds. The students that Mary referred to created audio files and slide shows in another case of using technology well.
However, there is still a wide divide in the technology available in classrooms and the way that it’s used. The “tools” in many situations are still searching for ways to be implemented in the current “theory.” In my teaching career, I’ve gone from having no computers to having access to a lab of 30 networked ones. As I read Chapter 5, I thought back over the last decade of my teaching and examined how my use of technology has changed.
I’ve been in many workshops and in-service training sessions on ways to integrate technology into my classroom. Some of the sessions were just covering the basics while others were for the more “experienced.” I’ve learned how to set up a grade book, how to create a Power Point, and how to create tests to share on a network. Some of these skills I use frequently. Unfortunately though, many of the sessions were just time fillers. The school district had purchased some new software, provided a training session, and now could sit back and watch the test scores rise because the teachers had been given the newest, latest “technology.” However, teachers were never instructed on any further use or given time to experiment. We were just moved along the technology highway to get to the next training session of the next newest and greatest, and the test scores didn’t rise.
Over the past ten years, the technology, the students, and my expertise with technology have all changed. Wireless and MP3 files were not part of my vocabulary then, but are now. Many students did not have access to a computer in 1998, but probably 95% of my current students have their own. I know more about technology, but I can't always use the knowledge in the ways I'd like. There are restrictions about network use or allowing students access.
There is a great fear, as Janet points out, that students will wander off into the vast world of the internet when they should be learning. Some districts have filters which are to “protect” students while they’re on-line, but more often than not, block worthwhile sites. Or we can’t get in the lab when I want/need because the labs are full.
A friend shared her frustration with me that when she asked her current school to provide a cable link between the classroom computer and the classroom TV so that she could show her class information from the internet, she was told that the cost was too much. She has to make a reservation for a computer that is hooked up to a projector and push the cart containing the computer, its monitor, and the projector to her classroom. The cart is extremely heavy and has to be maneuvered through doorways and over thresholds. There’s a great danger of the cart overturning or for the teacher to get back strain from pushing/pulling the cart through the doors and down the halls. She doesn’t use the internet resources as much as she’d like because of the hassle involved. The tools exist; she just has a hard time getting to them.
As Janet points out, Tyner sees a disparity between gathering technology and using it. Even though Tyner's book is about a decade old, not much has changed in many instances in our school system. Technology may be available, but it isn't being used or isn't able to be used in the ways that are most beneficial to our students.
I know from my own experience that many school systems are concerned about giving students free rein in the area of the internet. There are many sites that are deemed inappropriate for young people, and in the school system, some degree of limiting that access is the norm. Unfortunately, what happens is that some sites that do have educational value are also eliminated in the process.
A couple of the new teachers at my current school have shared their frustrations with me about the limitations of technology and its access. While they'd like to have students develop websites, or set up class blogs, the tech department is slow to respond. When the response does come, it's generally with the "here's the reason you can't do" whatever it is. This is not the way things should be. The IT dept. should be enabling classroom teachers to do their jobs better, not hamper them.
However, some school systems are having success with the use of technology. I read about one case in the National Writing Project's latest e-news. The teacher opened a threaded discussion of American Lit to her class. Some comments were that the responses she "read on the discussion board were extensive—much more than students could have ever presented in class, for lack of time." What a wonderful way to integrate technology into the learning process. Students could respond at their own pace in their own time rather than the traditional 50 minute class period. And the students could use pseudonyms online to give them a layer of cushioning from reprisals. National Writing Project
This writing project allowed the students time to reflect on the literature and respond to it in a way that is sometimes difficult to do in a classroom. I really liked what Ms. English says about giving the students "ownership" of the discussion boards. I think that I would like to try something like this. She does admit that setting up a board is time intensive, but it seems to be very worthwhile.
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