Just finished reading The Technology Fix - the promise and reality of computers in our schools. by William D Pflaum. This book is published by ACSD and is based on case studies in the USA, written up as examples of Commitment and Focus”, “Commitment, less focus”, “Hit or miss commitment” and “Too troubled to focus”
In summarising, the author notes that computers were used in five ways:
- Computers as teaching machine (in CBT sense)
- Computer as productivity tool (largest proportion of use)
- Computer as internet portal (an extension of productivity use)
- Computer as test giver
- Computer as data processor
The author expresses a personal view that the investment by teachers is not justified by the return (for productivity uses) and cites the logistical challenges of classroom manangement of limited resources as one of the main reasons.
His conclusions are summarised thus:
1. The time students spend on computers is too limited to have significant impact on measured performance.
2. The impact of computers has been diluted by the need to provide equal access to all students
3. Computers may deliver the greatest benefit to students at the low end of the performance curve.
4. Classroom size limits successful computer use
5. Computers can be effective tools to support alignment of standards, instruction and assessment
6. Schools ha no shortage of software: instead, they have a surfeit of digital materials but a shortage of tume to evaluate and use them.
7. Most teachers are not computer phobic, but their ability to use productivity tools odes not necessarily carry over to the effective use of computers for instruction.
8. Teachers and administrators are driven by proficiency testing, which determines what is taught, how time is used, and how much money is spent.
9. Technology is used best when the principal is committed and the school has a full-time technology co-ordinator.
10. Too much time is spent on the mechanics of computer-based tools and too little is spent on the content being studied.
11. Computer technology is too complex to be cost-effective for many school uses.
Apart from the inelegance of having 11 rather than 10 or 12 points (!), I think that this paints too much of a “glass half empty” view and not all points necessarily apply to our Australian context. However, it does give one food for thought.
He goes on to make four recommendations for “fixing the technology fix”
Recommendation 1: Focus computer use on students who will benefit most; don;t dilute the value of computers by insisting that all students have equal access
Recommendation 2: Use computers to support the alignment of standards, instruction, and assessment (utilising learning management systems).
Recommendation 3: Use computers for assessment; benefit from their ability to correct tests automatically and provide test results quickly.
Recommendation 4: Teach students to use productivity tools and the Internet, but wait until students are ready; coordinate such teaching within and across grade levels.
I understand where he is coming from, but does he take enough account of the reality that school is not the only source of students’ computer experience? The book is largely opinion based rather than research. ISTE’s standards get quite a serve as being overly idealistic and not practically achieveable for many students. It is also interesting to note that non ICT specialist journals are increasingly writing about ICT and those authors are understandably quite sceptical about the benefits of technology.
Janine Bowes 2006. May be used freely for educational purposes under provisions of license. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
