In response to Clarence Fisher’s “Who Cares about this Box?” (http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2008/01/who-cares-about.html) I find it truly entertaining to compare this article to the first chapter of our textbook. At first glance when walking into his classroom, one would think this is just the norm…2 old desktops and one laptop of ten that are supposedly on their way. In reality though this is a classroom where 8 students bring their laptops from home and a couple of students have just realized their new ipods have another use than just storing music.
Students in this classroom have access. It may not look like a lab or have 20 of the same machine, but the students are able to connect. The teacher down the hall in the same building may not have the same access. He/She may have the same hardware and software and even the same students, but if the teacher does not make technology beneficial to student learning then it might as well not even exist. If he/she doesn’t recognize the potential in students making connections, again it is useless.
Let me start with disagreeing with the statement in Ch. 1 on p. 7 made by Larry Cuban. He “concluded that technologies will be adopted to the extent that they solve classroom problems and when their benefit to the teacher outweighs the cost of learning to use them”. This a generalization made about teachers that I find offensive. I believe statements like this undermine the professionalism of educators. He in turn is saying teachers won’t use technology unless the problems they solve are more beneficial than the pain of learning how to use them. I use technology in order to make the content more meaningful for students. To even say that technology can solve classroom problems is a tall order. Technology can certainly enhance learning and make tasks easier, but I can’t see it being a problem solver. Let me move on to the four components of access.
Before I do that though, let me also speak to the whole introduction of the chapter. I may be way off base, but I just do not compare the digital divide to many of the historical events that shaped the American education system. Maybe I am just sheltered or it could be I just have never walked in the shoes of those who may have had some of these experiences. I am a white woman who has always had the benefit of attending a “good” school and being exposed to a regular education curriculum. I have always had access to communication lines. Regardless of having this or not, I don’t think this compares to the issue of having access to technology.
Technology is an option in my opinion. Teachers can use it or not. People can use it or not. I just don’t understand why we make people use things they don’t even care about. I guess this is an issue of equality. In my community alone, I know of at least 5 different places the public can access the Internet, one being the high school’s computer lab. I really don’t see an issue to access. I believe if people want it they can get it.
I think about the monthly awards my school gives to students for outstanding academic performance, behaviors, and attendance. I feel badly when every child doesn’t get an award, but sometimes they just don’t fit in the categories of awards being presented. Doesn’t every child have an opportunity to get an award? My first response is certainly. Every child can earn a perfect attendance award. All they have to do is come to school. Every child can earn a good behavior award. All they have to do is follow the rules. Is it really that simple though? Can Johnny help it that he missed school because his mom didn’t feel like bringing him? Can Susie really be ready to learn when she comes to school hungry and tired? Can Billy be expected to follow rules when the schoolhouse provides the only structure in his life? When will Johnny, Susie, and Billy be rewarded? What will become of them? Does access to technology change or help these problems?
So where am I going with this? I think the author’s components of access are excuses. If people want better they can do better. Teachers can learn to use the tools as they become available. School leaders can support technological initiatives in order to change the educational environment. I really don’t know of a school without adequate hardware and software. The barrier concerning content goes back to the teachers. Can teachers not search for relevant and rich content to support student learning? I know they can. History has a way of repeating itself. When it’s all said and done, it is the teacher with or without technology that will make the biggest impact on students’ learning.
In reading Will Richardson’s blog on this article appearing in the New York Times I had to write. I can’t think of anything more unfair to teachers than the idea of evaluating teachers based on their students’ scores. Students and parents are not held accountable which means there are many of them that could care less about the test. Prior to this year in KY, we had nothing to compare students to. In other words 5th grade math scores were what they were and could not be compared to the previous year’s scores because you would be comparing different groups of kids. Now though because of NCLB schools can compare scores because students are tested in Math in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.
Prior to actually working in a school in my own classroom, I was under the impression that pay for performance would be great, especially for people like me. I just knew I was going to go into any classroom and help make everyone there proficient. It didn’t take long after my first year of teaching that reality set in and I realized there are too many factors contributing to the success of my students. Too many factors out of my control. So I do my best.
There have been times when I’ve witnessed state test results being projected in front of the entire school staff and teachers singled out and asked, “What happened last year?” The teacher wanted to crawl under the table and make a quick exit…if fact, I don’t she attended the teacher’s meeting the next year when scores were released. I don’t think fear is a good motivating tool for teachers. This type of measuring stick promotes teaching the test, curriculum restrictions, and cheating.
I had no use for SNS’s like Facebook or Myspace until my fifth grade students started discussing their own pages. I also noticed my nieces and nephews wanting to get online more and myspace is where they were headed. It was then that I checked it out. On a good note I think SNS give students a forum to network with their peers and this gives them experience with using such technology. Many students though, unlike many teachers or adults in general, invite the opportunity to gain experience with new technology. So I don’t think gaining experience is an issue for kids. I also did not notice students networking with others to discuss educational topics. I think it was purely of a social nature. If we were to move their discussions to a blog or to a chat like one provided on Tapped In, then I can see the educational value to that kind of online discussion.
Last night I attended a Tips and Tricks Tour on Tapped in. The tour leader BJ walked all the participants through many of the rooms on the site. After the tour I was able to navigate through the community easier and with more understanding of what the site can do. I was also able to edit my own office space as well as learn how to get to other people’s offices.
I have thought about how I could use this space and first and foremost it would be an excellent source of professional development. In fact after the tour I went back to several of the group rooms to look at the resources to see what things I could take away and use in my classroom. Having so many educators and people that care about education (like future teachers) all together from around the world is really cool!
The leader of the tour also discussed teachers creating a group room for her students to enter and use for a chat. The students would be given passwords and they could not enter any other room. The chats would be sent to the teacher by email so he/she in turn could grade the students’ discussions or keep for future use. This is cool, but I don’t know how I could use this with fifth graders. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Finally, the calendar on TI shows upcoming events on the site. Just like the tour, anyone attending an event will get a transcript of the event by email. This saves you from having to take notes during the chat. This is a nice feature and many of the events sounded relevant to my job and interests.
As our tour leader BJ said, “TI is one of the best kept secrets on the Internet!”
Like many of you have said on your blogs, I too think there is a cyclical relationship between technology, education, and culture. I believe one’s culture will influence their education and the opportunities they create, as well as the technology they utilize. I also believe technology will influence the way people are educated which will impact their culture. Lastly, education is the tool for synthesizing cultures and utilizing technology to help make people better. Better may not be the right word there…perhaps, more productive people is a better way of putting it. So in conclusion, all three things influence each other and help shape people into who they are.
My gut reaction to reading this introduction took me back to my undergraduate years and studying books such as Savage Inequalities by J. as well as other books about the status of public education in America in the 1990s. As many of you will remember, Kozol described many of America’s schools in this book and the extreme divide between schools in poor neighborhoods and those in affluent ones. It describes the dire conditions of the schools and the lack of educational opportunities for so many American students. Like Kozol, Solomon describes the disadvantages of many students due to their socioeconomic status, language, race, geography, cultural background, gender, etc. In this book though the reader will see the disadvantages from a technological perspective.
I have to argue about the idea of being “disadvantaged” when students are not provided access to technology. Many schools rich with technology are also filled with disadvantaged students because they are not using the technology to enrich students’ learning. Schools are filled with teachers that are not afforded the time or opportunity to learn how to use the technology themselves. How could they be expected to teach students how to use it? So my point is students in schools without access to technology as well as students in schools with technology access but with limited instruction on how to benefit from it are both being given a disservice. So the divide in my opinion happens with and without access to technology.
One thought in the introduction that was close to home was the idea of the student being controlled by the computer or the computer being controlled by the student. On one hand many students utilize computers for remediation of basic skills and that is the extent of their access to technology. On the other hand, students are learning to program the computer so it will perform functions needed by the student. Is there a relationship between this scenario and the student’ futures? Will one student be told what to do and how to do it in his/her job while the other student is a leader and one who tells others what to do?
Hello everyone. My name is Cathy Bechtel, but most everyone knows me as Katie. I am in my 9th year of teaching, 8 of which have been at Greysbranch Elementary in Greenup County. I teach fifth graders and enjoy my job. I am a coach for our school’s Academic Team. I also enjoy discovering new activities and strategies to use in my classroom, especially for Math. On a personal note, I am married to a great guy and I have two young boys.
