Digital Nation, Digital Dangers

PBS's "Digital Nation" reflects not only the existing and emerging technological trends of modern society, but the growing causes for concern that technology implies.  The expanded use of computers in the classroom helped one inner-city school in the program make great leaps in its standard test scores, yet the case of the studies done on MIT students' multitasking abilities suggests that technology has negative impacts as well (i.e. making us believe that we are better multitaskers than we really are).  Though trite, the claim that one interviewee made about technology not being good or bad inherently, but rather dependent on how we make use of it, remains valid.  Another interviewee suggested that school is the one place where students are given the chance to escape from all the technology that is a distraction to more in depth thinking.  I actually found this view somewhat insightful.  However, I do not believe the answer is to remove technology from the classroom.  Rather, going back to the view that technology's valence is dependent on how we make use of it, educators need to keep a handle on technology so that it is not a distraction.  One vice principal on the program actually used the webcams to be sure students were not misusing the resources they had. A controversial practice I'm sure, but there are certainly other measures that can be used to monitor students and make sure they are using technology properly in the classroom.
       The most surprising thing the program suggested to me was that students reading and writing skills seem to be negatively impacted by the distractions that technology causes.  At one point a student admits that his paragraphs, though independently coherent and well written (he was an MIT student), do not flow together in a logical manner.  Another commenter, a university professor, pointed out that he cannot assign a book longer than 200 pages because students do not have the patience to get through long novels.  Yet another student described using the web-based crib-notes to read "Romeo and Juliet" in five minutes, rather than reading the actual book.  Clearly technology can be abused in the classroom, to the detriment of students attention and education, as much as it can be a boon.  I have personally noticed more students demonstrating difficulty in reading and writing and wonder if technology is to blame.  Is technology going to make the coming generation a nation of "bibliophobes", as the program suggests? Only if we allow the technology to be used in a counterproductive manner and do not require greater accountability from our students.
       The greatest dangers seems to be to students focus, as suggested above. But one commentator pointed out that prior to the development of writing, and later Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, individuals would memorize many lines of poetry (Ancient Greeks would memorize as many as a million versus of epic poetry as part of their education).  The victim then was memory, but who today would say that we lost a great deal as a result? The potential victim in the modern era seems to be the ability to focus and maintain extended, in-depth analysis of an isolated topic.  Books and writing could replace memory when it came to long stories, but can computer-power and technology replace human focus, reason, and understanding?  I have a hard time buying that argument.                

TechEd for Teachers

In the September 2009 issue of T.H.E Journal, an article written by Dian Schaffhauser titled Which Came First the—the Technology or the pedagogy assess the current state of technology integration and use in the classroom. It claims that schools often argue that teachers are not receiving adequate training in how to integrate technology into classroom instruction; rather they are just being shown how to use technological tools.  Universities and teachers, however, argue that teachers are often not being given the technological tools they need in the classroom.  Newer approaches at the university level are now focusing on training teachers to use instructional technology in effective ways in the classroom.  The article points out that some universities even supply newer technologies to student teachers to bring to the schools who are hosting them to use in the classroom. This seems like it can be a mutually beneficial approach. It requires new teachers to integrate technology into lessons, while exposing older teachers to new technologies and illustrating to schools the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom.  The article also suggests the new generation of tech-savvy teachers is likely to have a profound effect on how technology is used in classroom instruction.  We are certainly going to see a profound increase in the use of technology in the classroom in the coming years and decades thanks to this new emphasis on technology education for teachers.      

EdTechTalk/Seedlings 4/14

The subject of this week's Seedlings revolved heavily around the use of iPads in the classroom. Many participants expressed the frustration they have had with trying to get them and implement them on a large scale within districts.  This makes me wonder if the future of education technology is 1:1 tablet PCs?  Moreover, can this vision be implemented in a meaningful and effective way?  To me it seems that this can only occur with instruction on the implementation of these technologies and how they can be introduced in the classroom in an effective manner. I would fear that these powerful devices could be relegated to dust covered paperweights if educators are not trained in their integration into the classroom.
     The discussion began to turn to apps, and I am always on the lookout for new apps--particularly to help students in the area of mathematics. I asked if anyone could recommend any useful apps, and I was given some links (education apps). I look forward to seeing what these sites have to recommend. As a PLC, EdTechTalk.com has already begun to bear fruit for me. Another interesting link that was presented during the "geek of the week" segment was a link to the beta of a web based tool for creating virtual story boards (storify.com). See it in action at TED here (storify in action).
      Also, last week on seedlings they introduced their first contest for a book on iPhotography for the iPhone. I discovered this week that I was one of only three people to enter the contest. As a result of the low entry numbers they have extended to the contest to May. Contrary to my impulses, because it will lessen the likelihood of me winning, I decided to share the link with everyone so you can enter if you are interested (iPhotography book contest). Good luck!

All teachers must provide equal access to the digital world to all learners.

The title of this post goes along with the mandate that all students must have equal access to education.  In the 21st century, equal access to education implies equal access to to technology.  By this mandate, teachers need to provide students access to technology by integrating it into classroom education, lesson design, assessment and group activities, to names a few of the areas in which the digital world can benefit students.  The framers of this statement recognize the importance of access to technology to educating students for the future.  Using technology in a variety of ways is one manner of educating students about technology, and it can also be utilized to help make educators more effective.  However, teachers can not be the sole bearers of this responsibility.  Administrators, school districts and parents must also be involved in the delivery of technological resources and education.  Administrators and school districts need to recognize the importance of providing teachers with the technology and training they need to make the digital age come alive and benefit students in the classroom.  Parents need to recognize the changing nature of education which had come about in part due to the rapid pace of technological development.  Using, understanding and being educated through technology is as important to students today as is the ability to read.  Access to technology must be provided to all students as a means of empowering them and helping them become productive and effective members of society.     

2011 K-12 Horizon Report suppliment

The horizon report is an initiative for the introduction of new technologies to schools.  I have posted some links under "education links" for the Horizon Report, and some other interesting stuff, that I got from the "Seedlings" show at EdTechTalk on April 7th.

Separation anxiety, Man or Cyborg, and the coming Singularity

There is a plethora of technological tools and devices that I use on any given day. My cellphone, my computer, my TV, my Xbox, and my iPod are all devices that I used more-or-less daily.  It is hard to think the removal of any one of these devices will have a profound effect on me because they are in many ways very integrated. For instance, I use my cellphone to queue movies to my NetFlix account which I later watch using my Xbox.  I read books on my iPod that I sink to my computer and my phone so I can take them were ever I go.  Technology has become so integrated that removing any single device is unlikely to have a monumental impact on some of us.  Much like information in the brain is not stored in any single location, but rather is distributed throughout the cortex, so too is the functionality of our technology distributed more or less evenly throughout our devices.  Even without my cellphone, I would still have the means of communicating with people through email, face book, or Skype.  It may be less convenient, but by no means catastrophic, to lose the use of any of these devices by themselves.  Some of us are plugged in to so many ports, so to speak, that the severing of any one connection is, for the most part, innocuous.  The pluripotent nature of modern devices means that the only way to truly disrupt the lifestyle of an individual who is truly plugged in would be to destroy the infrastructure that under-girds mass-communication.  If this were to happen, and we were left to with the ability to communicate only with people within ear-shot, then it would be not just an individual, but the entire industrialized world that would suffer profound technological separation anxiety.  Moreover, I think this has profound implications for the younger generation who are even more wired, and how educators should engage them...