Answering the Critics of Educational Technology

The Computer Delusion  At a time when school districts are zealously investing into new computers and technology (through the blessings of the Clinton Administration), programs such as shop classes, art, music, and physical education classes are being cut to fund the new innovations.  Critics of new technology in education are afraid that the possibilities of students incorrectly using the technology outweigh the positive possibilities.  Critics state that studies that show improvement with the implementation of technology do not take into account other influences that may have contributed to the positive change.  Critics state that computers have become the filmstrips of today allowing both the teacher and student to operate on automatic pilot.

The Computer Delusion continued…  When educators totally rely on software programs such as Reader Rabbit, critics say that students show a decline in creativity.  By implementing techniques that utilize the five senses through real world experiences, students will learn more than through a mediated world.  Critics fear that the business world will influence the curricula taught too much because of the amount resources they contribute to schools.  If students start using computers at too young of an age, they will diminish their abilities to use imagination.

Thwarted Innovation  The only way that e-Learning will be effective is when instructors change the methodology of their teaching.  Because of the economic situation, institutions have not been able to fulfill the promises of e-Learning due to financial difficulty and longevity (Fathom and NYUonline).  Critics state that one of the major obstacles to distance education is the fact that there is no “dominant product design.”  In this 15-month study, e-Learning did not have an overall positive benefit shift in the attitudes of the institutions involved.  When compared to other areas of e-Learning, providers of the services focused more on Business and Investing instead of Education.

Thwarted Innovation continued….  Students are more concerned with being connected with each other (in today’s time this would be Facebook and MySpace) as compared to valuing e-Learning.  Critics state that PowerPoint allows instructors to incorporate past lecturers into fancy presentations. However, the content has not changed.  Critics of e-Learning state that the zeal to create new avenues of learning online was too hasty in promoting products that were not tried and tested before implementation.  According to this 15-month study, the failures of e-Learning outnumber the positive contributions.

Unintended Consequences  Critics point out that institutions rely heavily on adjunct professors to teach the distance education courses instead of full-time faculty members.  Critics state that the money that is saved by hiring adjunct instructors is actually wasted in maintaining the IT department within the university.  Because of the cost to maintain the IT department, the cost of tuition has increased rapidly.

How Computers Change the Way We Think  Turkle states that she concentrated not only on what computers did for us but also on what they do to us.  Turkle states that computers have changed our “sense of human identity.”  With the new technologies that allow students to share their private lives, Turkle and other professors are afraid that students do not understand that “privacy is a right” not just a “privilege.”  Because of the new simulated realities, students may not have the abilities to relay their emotions and feelings with others.  Turkle states that PowerPoint focuses on the presentation aspect and not on conversation or debate.

What are the benefits of educational technology?

A Retrospective on Twenty Years of Educational Technology Policy  We need to invest in educational technology to help deliver instruction to diverse audiences located in various locations.  We also need to invest in educational technology to further sharpen the skills of students to collect, organize, and apply complex data.  To ensure that the United States maintains its dominant role both economically and politically in the global community, students must be able acquire the skills necessary.  Culp, Honey, and Mandinach state, “…the technological literacy of the public would improve decision making, increase citizen participation, support a modern workforce, enhance social well- being, and narrow the digital divide (National Academy of Engineering, 2002, Chapter 2)” (6).

A Retrospective on Twenty Years of Educational Technology Policy continued…  Through the use of word processors and distance learning technologies, students will benefit by increasing their writing skills. This is especially true for students located in rural areas.  Instead of using technology just as a classroom tool or resource, educators should use the opportunity to use it to reform schools.  “…educational technologists have begun to understand with more nuance that technology needs to work in concert with other factors like effective leadership, instructional priorities, and the day-to-day demands of classroom practice” (22).

A Retrospective on Twenty Years of Educational Technology Policy continued…  As the technologies have changed, educators have also shifted in their views of how to utilize them in the classroom to enhance student achievement.  “…technology shapes, often in unanticipated ways, how we live and work as well as how we educate our children” (24).

Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 year-olds  “The sheer amount of time young people spend using media-an average of nearly 6 ½ hours a day-makes it plain that the potential of media to impact virtually every aspect of young people’s lives cannot be ignored” (39).  Since students are using the various forms of media, educators should find ways to utilize them and apply them to student learning.  Contrary to popular belief, studies have shown that students who use a variety of media actually are more involved with hobbies, family activities, and physical activities.  Because students spend so much time with media every day, our attention as educators should be on how to harness the technology for learning.

The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement  The following are quotes from John Schacter and the findings of many educational technology studies.  Research shows that technology does have a positive impact on the overall success of student learning.

The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement continued…  Kulik’s Meta-Analysis Study (James Kulik 1994)  “Students who used computer based instruction scored at the 64 th percentile on tests of achievement compared to students in the control conditions without computers who scored at the 50 th percentile” (4).

The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement continued…  Sivin-Kachala’s Review of Research (Jay Sivin-Kachala 1998)  “Students in technology rich environments experienced positive effects on achievement in all major subject areas” (5).  “Students’ attitudes toward learning and their own self- concept improved consistently when computers were used for instruction” (5).

The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement continued…  The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT 1994)  “The ACOT experience appeared to result in new learning experiences requiring higher level reasoning and problem solving, although the authors claim this finding was not conclusive” (5).

The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement continued…  Harold Wenglinsky’s National Study of Technology’s Impact on Mathematics Achievement (1998).  “Eighth-grade students who used simulation and higher order thinking software showed gains in math scores of up to 15 weeks above grade level as measured by NAEP” (7).  “Eighth-grade students whose teachers received professional development on computers showed gains in math scores of up to 13 weeks above grade level” (7).

Learning Effectiveness Online: What the Research Tells Us  One benefit to computer-based education is that it allows students to have an individualized program and immediate feedback.  Computer-based technology eliminates the old obstacles of time and space and allows for more flexibility in educational goals.  “…students perceive online learning as more equitable and more democratic than traditional classroom learning…because it allows for the presentation and inclusion of multiple points of view” (9).

With the studies supporting the use of technology in education, where do we go from here?

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21 st Century  With the use of technology, Henry Jenkins (Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) suggests eleven new skills that students need for the 21 st century.  These skills will assist students with the skills needed to be productive in the 21 st century workforce.  Students will need to be able to use images, sound, and other digital media and know how to apply or manipulate them for the future.  “…youth need skills for working within social networks, for pooling knowledge within a collective intelligence, for negotiating across cultural differences that shape the governing assumptions in different communities,…to form a coherent picture of the world around them” (20).

Henry Jenkins’ 11 New Media Skills (4) Play The capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem- solving. Performance The ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery. Simulation The ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes.

Henry Jenkins’ 11 New Media Skills (4) Appropriation The ability to sample and remix media content. Multitasking The ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient points. Distributed Cognition To use tools that expand mental capacities.

Henry Jenkins’ 11 New Media Skills (4) Collective Intelligence To pool knowledge and compare to achieve a common goal. Judgment To evaluate the credibility of different information sources. Transmedia Navigation To follow the flow of stories and information across modalities.

Henry Jenkins’ 11 New Media Skills (4) Networking To search for, synthesize, and disseminate information. Negotiation To travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives.

Resources:  Culp, K., Honey, M., & Mandinach, E. (2003). A Retrospective on Twenty Years of Education Technology Policy. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology.  Goode, B. (2004). Unintended Consequences: Distance Learning and the Structure of the University. Distance Education Report.  Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2005). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21 st Century. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  Oppenheimer, T. (1997). The Computer Delusion. The Atlantic Monthly. 280 (1) pg  Rideout, V., Roberts, D., & Foehr, U. (2005). Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.  Schacter, J. (1999). The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the Most Current Research Has to Say. Milken Exchange on Education Technology.  Swan, K. (2003). Learning effectiveness: what the research tells us. In J. Bourne & J.C. Moore (Eds) Elements of Quality Online Education, Practice and Direction. Needham, MA: Sloan Center for Online Education,  Turkle, S. (2004). How Computers Change the Way We Think. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 50 (21), pg. B  Zemsky, R. & Massy, W. (2004). Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to e-Learning and Why. The Learning Alliance at the University of Pennsylvania.