In a free
society we have the right to criticize and/or reject what has been proposed and
we also have the implicit responsibility to offer alternatives—this is NOT optional.
Barriers to integrating technology
in classroom instruction
i.
The
key is to consider how other professionals have been empowered with technology
and apply the same approach to teachers
If
technology increases the teacher’s capacity to function—as it has done for
other professionals (i.e., scientists, doctors, et cetera)—would it not
increase a teacher’s intrinsic value to society?
The use
of technology demands changes in deeply held beliefs about the respective roles
of teachers and students, the goals of education, the very concept of knowledge,
and the means to measure student success.
Simplicity
is hard when opportunities are many—start with a few concrete and simple
things.
Technology
must be grounded firmly in curriculum goals, incorporated in sound
instructional process.
Establish
the role for technology in education
*No
revolutionàjust
evolutionàa gradual change (incremental
changes)àless is more
Train
teachers to do research (and give them support as they do it)
Remember
to keep these costs in mind:
Ø
Upkeep
Ø
Replacement
Ø
Cost
of new software
The new
must be linked with the old (compatibility
factor)àTeachers are the critical factor in achieving
change. Innovation must be carefully folded into…
Ø
what
teachers have been trained to do,
Ø
what
they can easily be retrained to do,
Ø
what
they believe is best for their students,
Ø
what
they believe is best for their careers,
Ø
what
the feel best meets the requirements of the curriculum in place,
Ø
what
they feel best works within the constraints of their classroom support system
Perceptions…
Technology can amplify human
capacity (allows humans to do what they do—better; that is more effectively and
efficiently).
Ralph
Waldo Emerson (1850) noted that all of the tools and technology on earth are
only extensions of humanity’s limbs and senses.
Dierker
notes that the impact of a given technology can be quantified by determining
the extent to which it multiplies human capacity alone to accomplish the same task. For example, considering that
the average person can walk about 4 miles an hour, an automobile traveling at
60 miles an hour represents a 15-fold multiplier. A jet airplane at 600 miles
per hour represents a 150-fold multiplier. Humanity has experienced a
million-fold multiplier only 3 times
Ø
In
communications—our ability to send
messages and conquer distance (from wire to wireless)
Ø
In
the production of energy (from the
output of crude mechanical to abundant nuclear)
Ø
The
computeràMcKeefrey notes that “With the convergence
of computers, linked to world-wide distribution technologies, we will, for the
first time, have a million-fold
multiplication of a million-fold amplifier.”
A
100-fold multiplier brought about the Agricultural Revolution
A
1,000-fold multiplier brought about the Industrial Revolution
The
implications of a million-fold multiplication of a million-fold multiplier are
almost too awesome to contemplate
How much
amplification of a teacher’s capacity to function is narrating over a video of
a moon landing, compared with narration using only a whiteboard, a podium with
notes?
Technology can enhance the force
that powers the teaching-learning process
All human activity is driven by information;
the more demanding the activity—the greater the need for information.
Therefore, information can be called the fuel that powers the teaching-learning
process.
We live
in an information-dependent society. We literally become personally and societally dysfunctional when we are cut off from
information. A general understanding of how information is managed at a broad,
as well as personal level is useful in appreciating/understanding the
connection between information technology, what teachers do, and how they can
do it better.
Information
technologyßsome
kind of connectionàwhat
teachers do
You are
the sum total of all the information you have ever acquired, which you
consciously (or unconsciously) summon up to help you make decisions and,
literally to function. Therefore, your behavior, your opinions, and your skills
are all the sum total of information you’ve processed throughout your life.
Technology can vastly heighten
sensory perceptions.
At a
fundamental level, it can be assumed that all learning is initiated by
information perceived by the senses—specifically, what you see, hear, taste,
smell, and feel. As we develop from infancy, our progress—in great part—depends
upon the development of our sensory perceptions. Relating this to learning, it
can be assumed that, in general, computer-generated, interactive multimedia
greatly heightens sensory perception as compared with those provided by books,
whiteboards, and teacher-talk.
Technology can empower teachers by
amplifying their capacity to readily provide their learners the
heightened sensory perceptions of multimedia.
That
knocking sound you hear is the Information Age. It wants to get into your
classroom.
The master teachers of the
Information Age are those who develop the capacity to navigate the
abundance of worldwide information and selectively retrieve that which
can provide an enriched experience for their learners.
Downside
to the Information Age:
Ø
People
who do not educate themselves—and keep educating themselves—to participate in
the new knowledge environment will be the peasants
of the information society.
Ø
Some
people blindly believe that computers and networks will make society better
Fundamentals of Information
Management
What is
information?
Anything
we can see, smell, taste, touch, hear. Every input of
information stimulates or impacts the mind and causes a reaction. Up to a
point, the greater the number of inputs, the greater the impact on the mind.
Beyond that point comes overload and short-circuiting
of the mind.
What do
we mean by managing information?
Finding,
extracting, and converting information into a form that is suitable for
transmission and immediate reception and storage for subsequent reception.
Conveying verbal information to one person standing next to you does not
require much managing. Speaking to an audience of 100 people in the same room
requires amplification or management of the information. Managing information
is central to what teachers do.
What are
the basic components of information management?
Ø
The
senderàsource of the message
Ø
The
receiveràthe interpreter or recipient of
the message
Ø
The
messageàthe information
Ø
The
mediumàhow the message is transmitted or
conveyed
Ø
In
education, the teacher is the primary
sender and the learner is the receiver. The selection of the medium—based
on the message—is central to the outcome.
What are
replicas and referents?
Referentàthe “real” thing
Replicaàa substitute for the “real” thing
A replica
is a substitute for something that can be seen or heard, called the referent.
Examples
of replicas
Sound
coming from a speaker
Image on
a television screen, printed page
In
education, the disparity between the referent and the replica determines the
fidelity of the information provided to the learner and is a major factor in
determining the efficiency of the teach-learning process.
How teachers manage information
has a major impact on the outcome of the teaching-learning process. Technology
facilitates and amplifies the teacher’s capacity to provide learners with
information of higher fidelity in individualized, interactive mode. The
successful teacher manages information, not students.
What do
teachers do?
Ø
Planning—design of the curriculum depends
on the objectives
Ø
Communication—make information available to the
learner
Ø
Guidance—guide the learner in applying
and/or attempting to understand the information
Ø
Evaluation—assess how well student is
learning, provide feedback and if necessary remediation
Anything that allows the teacher
to do those 4 things (plan, communicate, guide, and evaluate) better should
enhance learning
Planning:
Provide a
template that prescribes how technology is to be deployed so that the task of
planning does not depend upon trial and error, the time-consuming selection of
software or retraining
Communication:
The
communication of information is the essence of education. Information is the
fuel that powers the teaching-learning process. Anything the teacher does to
improve the quality of the fuel (or the fidelity of the information, its
relevance to the course objectives, and its accessibility) should boost
learning. Empowered with technology, teaches can readily make visually rich,
course-specific multimedia available to learners in an individualized,
interactive mode.
Guidance:
Teachers
compensate for the disparity in individual learner aptitude by one-on-one
tutoring. The amount of guidance is seldom as much as the teacher would choose
because it takes time. Empowered with computers programmed with course-specific
software, the teacher can readily provide guidance based on the learner’s need,
not the teacher’s availability.
Evaluation:
Limited
by the size of the class and the amount of time the teacher has.
Technology-enhanced curriculum should allow the teacher to deploy computers to
evaluate, provide feedback, and immediate remedial measures. This is based on
the needs of the learner rather than the availability of the teacher.
As teachers plan, communicate,
guide and evaluate, information technology can be adapted to allow the teacher
to do these 4 things better and thus, impact positively the efficiency of the
teaching-learning process.
The teaching-learning process has
been primarily fueled by words—the lecture and the textbook—mainly because
until now teachers have always found words easier to use; not because it has
been determined that words impact learners better than the combination of words
and images.
A verbal
description alone of anything that can be seen must be considered a compromise; a compromise made everyday
in classrooms in an age when technology makes it unnecessary. (No such
tolerance is afforded in a courtroom—images weigh out over verbal
descriptions). We have replicas at our disposal—very good replicas! The greater the fidelity, that is, the
greater the quality of the information, the greater the sensory impact on the
whole brain (left and right)—inevitably resulting in more effective learning.
There is compelling evidence that
learning is heightened when teachers create visually rich experiences, thus
engaging the learner’s entire brain—rather than half (the left).
Schools
traditionally focus on left-brain teaching techniques and ignore the right
hemisphere. Indeed, there is a gap between the two hemispheres of the
brain—leaving adverse implications for learning. So much of the behavioral
problems and failures in school come directly out of boredom which itself comes
directly out of the larger failure to stimulate all those areas in children’s
brains that could give them so many more ways of responding to their world.
The
effectiveness of the communication component of the teaching-learning process
determines the outcome. Additionally, there are 3 critical factors that determine
how well learners assimilate the information made available to them:
Ø
fidelity,
Ø
relevancy,
Ø
and accessibility.
Fidelity: Is it real or is it a replica?
If it is a replica, how close is it to the real thing (the referent)? For
example, when talking about reptiles, did the teacher allow students to handle
a snake? Did she produce a rubber snake and comment on its similarities to the
real thing? Did she show a video, project a still image onto a screen, draw a
snake on her whiteboard, give a verbal description, or say and do nothing,
assuming that students knew that snakes were reptiles? Each of these examples
represents a level of fidelity.
Relevancy: Each student in the class has a
different information bank, learning aptitude, and motivation. Is the
information provided what the learner needs, what the learner understands,
and/or what the learner wants? The relevancy factor is at its highest when the
learner engages in one-on-one tutoring. It is at its lowest when the student is
in a huge class.
Accessibility: Is the information available
when the learner wants it, where the learner wants it, or as many times as the
learner needs it? Books offer the highest level of accessibility (however, the
fidelity factor is low since books do not store information involving motion
and sound).
Information technology skillfully
integrated into the curriculum will allow teachers to improve the fidelity,
relevancy, and accessibility of the information they make available to the
learners. This empowers teachers so that they might do what they do—better.
Television
By the
age of 18 students will have…
spent
15,000 hours in front of a television set
spent
11,000 hours in front of a teacher in a classroom
(Minow, 1995)
Television
stimulates the whole brain whereas teachers stimulate half. Television’s
generates a dependency on whole brain stimulation.
A CD-ROM
can store about 275,000 pages of single spaced text
Computers actively engage the
human mind and create a synergism. However, nothing happens unless the human takes
the initiative to interact; and then the mind is locked into an active,
progressive, collaborative thinking mode. Thus, using a computer can be
considered aerobics for the mind.
Computer technology has been
adapted to amplify the capacity of professionals in virtually every aspect of
society—with the exception of the classroom teacher. Rationalizing this reality
becomes very difficult since teaching and learning is an information-intensive
process.
Contemporary
society utilizes 3 literacy modes:
Ø
Print
literacy
Ø
Video
literacy
Ø
Computer
literacy
Society
is driven by information in three literacy modes: print literacy, video
literacy, and computer literacy. To maximally empower teachers, all three
should be integrated into the implementation of the curriculum. But how?
Convergence is the storage and retrieval of
multimedia by one information system. It is sort of like the intersection of
the richness of movies with the depth of print and the interactivity of
computers. Furthermore, society is becoming rapidly dependent on convergence—an
entirely new kind of literacy—interactive
multimedia.
The new literacy—interactive
multimedia—offers teachers the opportunity to improve the fidelity, the
relevancy, and the accessibility of the information driving the teaching-learning
process and ultimately enhance student achievement.
The use of technology should
stimulate—not irritate—the teaching-learning process.
Thought:
are we (teachers) thinking at low levels on Blooms taxonomy when we do
everything out of a book instead of making (synthesizing) what we need in order
to teach
Information AgeàTransformation
Age?
Dierker,
R. (1995) The future of electronic education in The Electronic Classroom:A handbook foe education
in the electronic environment, ed. Erwin Soschman.
Minow,
N. (1995) Abandoned in the wasteland: children, television, and the first
amendment.
Romano, M. (2003) Empowering teachers with technology.
“Without
analyzing failure, one is, at best, groping for success.”
Michael
T. Romano