According to a recent New York Times Article, a district in Mooresville North Carolina created
sweeping changes in its schools three years ago by providing a Mac Book laptop
for every child in the school system.
Now, Mooresville is held up as an example of the potential that
education technology can have to transform education. According to administrators in Mooresville, test scores and
graduation rates are up, the achievement gap has narrowed, and both teachers
and students are more satisfied.
The obvious question is whether a similar investment could be a boon to
cities like Baltimore that have long struggled to improve education and close
the achievement gap.
A transformation like Mooresville’s highlights some of the
key issues in the education technology debate – the costs (over $1 million per
year and teacher jobs), the potential to personalize education for students,
and the need for accompanying changes in attitudes and teaching methods. As researchers
and technology supporters recognize, the implementation of technology without
an accompanying transformation in teaching and pedagogy has little affect on
student achievement. Indeed,
teachers and administrators in Mooresville are quick to emphasize the
importance that professional development and changes in pedagogy have made in
school culture and achievement surrounding the implementation of their program.
If the claimed successes in Mooresville are true, then it has
significant implications for a city like Baltimore. In a city that struggles to find the funds to maintain and renovate its school facilities, is the cost of investing in technology the best use of funds? More
importantly, if the transformation is as much a function of professional
development and a transformation of teaching styles, could not some of these
components be implemented at less cost than a 1-to-1 computer program?
Although the use and integration of technology in classrooms may be inevitable
and ultimately even beneficial, it clearly must be accomplished in a thoughtful
and balanced manner that carefully weighs both the costs and benefits of such a
transformation.
2 comments:
Your post asks some very important questions about technology in education that is fundamental in all policy issues. The key, I feel, is the implementation aspect of any policy decision, regardless of what teaching strategy or tool is being used.
There is no question that technology will be a central part of any student's experience in, out of, and beyond school. Smartphone and internet penetration, especially among minority and poor populations, is increasing. Many of our students, down to the elementary levels, are already using services such as Facebook. Furthermore, due to numerous examples of cyber-bullying, beyond using technology as a tool to educate students, schools are need to help educate students about how to use technology responsibly in the first place.
In that regard, it would certainly make sense to expose all students to technology. Since lower income students, like the majority in Baltimore City's schools, tend to not have the same at-home access to technology as their wealthier peers, it may be smart to attempt to make up that gap by providing students with constant access to technology at school, both as a tool for learning and as a platform to learn responsible practices for technology. However, the effectiveness lies in the implementation, and the instruction provided by the teacher.
Schools like School of One have built their entire structure upon technology, and using it to be as effective a tool for teachers as it can possibly be. Their model leads to a special brand of success and without a doubt, their teachers must be trained in the school's unique educational paradigm. However, in my limited experience in Baltimore City, when students (and I teach elementary school) go to Technology class, they are told to play undifferentiated math games or find something on "the website." Technology is not being taught as a tool for students' use . Students are not even being taught to type properly, which strikes me as one of the most basic requirements for effective use of technology.
So, yes, technology has huge potential upside in a district like Baltimore City. As a tool to reinforce lagging reading and math skills, or to build competency in using technology as its own end, computers and increased access to technology are essential for students. But, before using places like Mooresville as a model, policymakers need to ask the exact questions you do, specifically, "How will it be implemented?"
Jeff brings up some wonderful points and I would like to second everything he said.
I teach at a school whose reconstruction and development was supported in great part by the Gates Foundation. My school was intended to provide students with the opportunity to gain necessary technical skills and be prepared for college and careers in the digital age. Although I was not teaching at the school in its earliest years, students claim that they were enticed to the school by promises of everyone having a laptop. Since the construction and initial grants to our school, however, we have struggled to keep up with the ever-changing demands of technology.
When our enrollment was fewer than 400 students, this could have been feasible. Every student enrolled in a technology course and received specialized instruction in a particular technical field. Students’ technical proficiencies would be beneficial as teachers of other content areas could assign research and at-home computer assignments.
As our enrollment has ballooned to over 1,200 students in the ten years since our inception, this has become increasingly unrealistic for our students. I have no computer in my classroom that students can use and do not have wireless internet for myself. I do, however, have space heaters to account for the deteriorating quality of our HVAC systems. Class sizes and my cynicism have increased greatly. If we cannot afford wireless internet in all classrooms at Baltimore City’s computer-focused high school, how in the world can we afford to provide every student with a personal computer?
Our first step must be to focus our finances on securing the most talented and dedicated teachers to work in our classrooms for as many years as possible. Computers can be a partner (especially if you are utilizing resources like the Kahn Academy) but cannot supplant the necessary direction and instruction of a teacher in front of the room.
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