Apparently Technology is Ruining Education…

At least that is the impression one gets after reading this article in the New York Times.

I actually got a little angry as I read this article. <You are going to have to read the article now if you haven’t yet.>

First of all, I think smashing a cell phone in class because a student happened to forget to turn it off is a little extreme. Yes, I know it was just a ruse cooked up by the professor to “teach” his unsuspecting students a lesson, but really, was it necessary?

“The poor schoolmarm or master, required to provide a certain amount of value for your child’s entertainment dollar, now must compete with texting, instant-messaging, Facebook, eBay, YouTube, Addictinggames.com and other poxes on pedagogy.”

I have news for you professor, if you are not interesting your students, they will find something else that will whether that means thinking about their upcoming weekend, doodling on a piece of paper, surreptitiously reading a magazine or searching the web. Instead of viewing technology as the enemy, why not use it in your favor to help engage your students in the content you would like them to learn? I realize that college courses have subsisted on lecture since the dawn of time, but is it the best mode of teaching you can muster?

“If you start tolerating this stuff, it becomes the norm.”

No, not the norm! Please say that technology use in the classroom won’t become the norm! Yes, I am being sarcastic, and yes, I realize the professor is actually referencing off-task behavior with technology and not just technology itself… but really, I still find the comment ridiculous.

“The baby boomers seem to see technology as information and communication,” said Prof. Michael Bugeja, director of the journalism school at Iowa State University and the author of “Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age.” “Their offspring and the emerging generation seem to see the same devices as entertainment and socializing.”

Wow! I am sure am glad that this guy came along with his stereotypes and cleared it all up for us. <Sorry, my sarcasm is getting a little out of hand.> But really, I know several “baby boomers” who use technology as a means of entertainment and socializing, and I have a classroom full of students who use technology as a means of locating information and completing assignments. Do my students use technology as a means of entertainment and socializing as well? Sure they do… just like they used to write notes and pass them in class.

“All the advances schools and colleges have made to supposedly enhance learning — supplying students with laptops, equipping computer labs, creating wireless networks — have instead enabled distraction. Perhaps attendance records should include a new category: present but otherwise engaged.”

So again, I say, use technology to your advantage. TEACH your students how to use it properly to help with their education instead of hinder it. Join the 21st century.

“The idea that subject matter is boring is truly relative. Boring as opposed to what? Buying shoes on eBay? The fact is, we’re not here to entertain. We’re here to stimulate the life of the mind.”

Hmmm… I am not exactly sure what to say here. Buying shoes on eBay is more fun to me than Calculus but not as fun as reading a novel, so yes, subject matter is relative; however, it can still be engaging to the majority of the class. Do you need to tap dance in front of the class for an hour. No, but you might try something different than just talking at them.

Call me crazy, but I think technology can and is beneficial to education and should be incorporated in the classroom.

Your thoughts?

I’m a Little Disappointed

I was contacted the other day by a reporter from the Dallas Morning News who wanted my thoughts on laptop use in our schools for an article she was writing. I am guessing this is the article she wrote, but my thoughts are not mentioned in the article, so I thought I would share them here instead.

How has instruction changed since laptops have been implemented? The implementation of laptops in the high school classrooms has made it easier for teachers to shift from being the purveyor of all knowledge to being a guide/coach who assists students in locating, synthesizing and presenting the information they need to complete assignments. Laptops have also made it easier for teachers to differentiate instruction for the numerous ability levels and interests of students in their classes. Students are able to work at their own pace instead of being locked in to the pace of the others in the classroom. When you enter my classroom, it is not out of the ordinary to see students working on different assignments and to see me walking around instead of standing at the front of the room.

What do students use them for? Students use their laptops to learn and create. Laptops and the Internet give students access to up-to-date information, and students are able to take this information and present it in professional formats. Students use laptops to take tests, manage data and information, write, record, remix and present. Laptops help students actively engage in their learning process by allowing them the freedom and responsibility of finding and verifying information on their own.

What are the challenges for teachers in using laptops? I think the largest challenge for teachers using laptops is to keep up with the continual changes in technology. Teachers need to be dedicated to continually learning new programs and approaches for implementing technology use in the classroom. In order to teach effectively with laptops, teachers have to invest time to learn and plan, and sometimes this requires attending training outside of the school day which is difficult for many teachers. Teaching with laptops also requires teachers to make a paradigm shift from a teacher-centered class to a student-centered class because when students have access to a myriad of information at their fingertips, the teacher is not always the only one in the classroom with accurate knowledge on a given topic.

I think I did a decent job of answering the questions. Maybe I turned them in too late to be considered for the article, or perhaps, they weren’t what the reporter was looking for… I don’t know, but I think I will take a minute now to respond to a few portions of the article.

Actually, before I move on to the article, I must first discuss one of the questions I was asked… I had a tough time answering the question, “What do students use them for?” I find this question odd… why, after seven years with laptops, are we still asking this question? We don’t ever ask business professionals or our teachers what they use their laptops for. We assume they are using them to accomplish their work; it is the same with our students. Now, on to the article…

“But teachers say it’s hard to find meaningful ways to use the laptops in class. And some report students using the machines for instant messaging and Internet surfing during class time. Some teachers have even told students not to open their laptops in class.”

I don’t understand how it is hard to find meaningful ways to use the laptops in class… I don’t get it. How are worksheets more meaningful? Or creating posters? Or writing an essay on paper? Teachers do not seem to have difficulty integrating these sorts of traditional lessons into their classrooms – it shouldn’t be about the laptops. It should be about meaningful lessons and the laptop as a conduit.

NEWSFLASH – Students might use their laptops to IM or surf the Internet during class. OMG! And when they are not allowed to bring their laptops to class, they will revert to passing notes, daydreaming, drawing pictures, etc. when they are unengaged with their lesson… nothing new here.

“Laptops will not replace teachers, but teachers who refuse to use the laptops – those teachers will be replaced,” he said.

If only this actually happened… after seven years, teachers need to either get on board or get off. Perhaps my view seems a little harsh, but if we are trying to prepare students for the future, then we might have to actually change our teaching practices a little.

“The Academy of Irving ISD has adopted the technology well, but other schools have struggled, Mr. DeWitt said.”

“Unless you get teachers to buy into the use of technology it doesn’t matter what you put into kids’ hands,” he said.

Yes, The Academy has adopted the technology pretty well, but we have had something that the other schools have not consistently had, and that is sustained support from our administration. Teachers on our campus are EXPECTED to use laptops and training is offered online as well as after school. Technology use is a priority. Is our technology integration perfect? Of course not. We have teachers who integrate technology use seamlessly, and we have others who simply replicate paper and pen work on their laptops; we are a work in progress.

“The study so far has noted no significant impact on TAKS reading or math scores.”

BEATING!! I am sooo tired of laptops in education being tied to testing. Laptops should enable teachers and students to explore learning in a different format than traditional pen and paper, so why are we still trying to validate the use of technology via the same ol’ standardized testing? I don’t get it.

Well, I guess that is about it for my rant.  🙂

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic as well.

I Am Having A Tough Time

School has barely started and I am already struggling… and it probably isn’t what you think — the students are great. 

I am struggling with what I always struggle with… the curriculum, the TAKS test, what I think my students need to know.  I am struggling with reconciling them all in a manner that does not leave my students feeling beaten down.  My problem is that I question too much.  Sometimes I seriously over-think things.

My problem is that I want my students to learn what they need to know to pass TAKS, pass my class, be productive citizens and be overall nice people, but I want them to learn all of these things while being engaged and having at least a little bit of fun… I know, it is a lot to ask.  So this is the pressure I place on myself when I plan each week of lessons, and I think I am falling a little short.  But, I am trying and questioning and getting feedback from the students, and I am not giving up.

Now, for a side note… when did we stop trying to make learning fun for our students? By “we” I mean us — educators.  I have been talking to some of my friends who have students in elementary schools in Texas, and it just doesn’t sound fun to learn anymore.  Apparently it is all about the TAKS test at the schools where their children attend, gone are the days of carefree recesses, there are no naps in kindergarten anymore… and reading is REQUIRED.  Not required as in story-time, but required as in, the teacher will deduct X-amount of points from your grade if you don’t do your required reading. 

When did students stop enjoying school, discovering on their own, questioning, running around carefree at recess, reading because they wanted to see what Ramona Quimby does next?  When did it stop being fun?

Well, I for one am not giving in to this new breed of fun-less learning.  Fun is good… let’s bring it back.

No Power = No Technology

Seriously… none. 

Since the storms came through on Wednesday evening, I have been without power at my house.  I have since realized that I take electricity for granted because we use it for almost EVERYTHING.

In fact, here is a list of things that I have been unable to do because of the lack of electricity…

1. Wash/dry laundry – I was right in the middle of doing this when the power went out 😦
2. Pay my bills on-line – Something else I was right in the middle of doing when we lost power.
3. Watch television (or TIVO shows to watch later)
4. Talk on the phone (I have a cordless which requires electricity)
5. Use the Internet
6. Read (after about 7:00pm)
7. Charge my iPod or cell phone (I had to purchase a car charger for my cell phone yesterday)
8. Vacuum
9. Dry my hair, straighten my hair and/or see to apply my make-up well (candle light just doesn’t seem to do it)
10. Iron my clothes
11. Cook ANYTHING… but since ALL of our food has spoiled, I really have nothing to cook at this point 😦

I could go on and on, but the point is… I do these things EVERY day and I never think about how lucky I am to have electricity.  It certainly makes life easier.

I will say that I am ECSTATIC to still have hot water (our water heater is gas). 🙂

Hopefully, I will have electricty when I get home today, and I can rejoin the 21st century.

Is Failure an Option?

A little over a month ago, I posted about Failure is not an Option, which is a book the team leaders and administrators on my campus are reading and discussing.  And a couple of days ago, I received a very lengthy and intense comment from James O’Keeffe.  I have put off responding to the comment because it has taken me some time to formulate my thoughts on the matter, but I think I am ready now, so here goes… 

Let me start by saying that I disagree with almost every point Mr. O’Keeffe makes in his comment; however, I will only choose a few of them to discuss here. 

“Just what teachers everywhere should be doing more of: writing vision statements and mission statements.” 

I honestly do not see the harm in having teachers and administrators spend time on developing vision and mission statements.  In fact, I think it is a good idea because, as with goal setting, it gives individual teachers, teams and the school at large, set ideals to work towards.   

This is something we do at our school at the beginning of each year.  The school’s mission statement – providing a relevant learning experience for life – is revisited; each team is ask to set team goals and each teacher is asked to set individual goals.  The process itself takes minimal time, but it gives everyone specifics to strive towards and creates a cohesive environment in which to work. 

“The Professional Learning Communities movement is the latest educratic fad to be dumped on the already overburdened shoulders of American teachers…” 

The one point I do agree with is that many teachers feel overburdened, but I don’t see how creating Professional Learning Communities adds to this. In my opinion, PLC’s actually help by taking some of the stress off overburdened teachers. The purpose of PLC’s is to create a cohesive learning environment where, if instituted correctly, teachers are working in a collaborative effort to create lessons, support each other with discipline problems and parent contacts, (through teaming) and share instructional strategies. 

Mr. O’Keeffe also spends some time discussing how the thoughts in the book are not necessarily new but are being touted as such.  In all honesty, there are very rarely in actual new ideas in writing (and education for that matter).  Most books are spin-offs of thoughts expressed by someone else at a previous time, and I think the same can be said for educational theory.  I don’t think, however, that this excuses the need to continually read and discuss current publications because in doing so ideas are revisited and perhaps addressed in a different matter because of changes in culture, economic factors, societal issues, etc. 

“Today’s students have been so protected from themselves by coddling parents, shallow curriculum, and reduced standards that they are blissfully unaware of the danger they face as incompetent and illiterate adults. They’ve never been made to experience the consequences of failure and thus have nothing but contempt for our warnings and our repeated attempts to motivate them.” 

Wow!  This statement makes me sad, and makes me hope that Mr. O’Keeffe was just having a bad day when he wrote it.  Yes, teaching is a difficult profession and students can be down right infuriating at times because they don’t turn in their work or don’t see the importance of learning something we feel is necessary for their future success, but I think this statement is a little harsh.  I would guess that a large majority of the students I have taught over the last nine years know pretty well what failure feels like because they have failed grade levels, failed subjects, failed standardized tests, and failed to learn how to read and write English at their designated grade level.  I am also fairly certain that many of them have also felt the sting of failure in their personal lives as well because they have not lived up to their parent’s expectations, have failed to be successful at work and at school, and in countless other ways.   

Is it important to teach our students our academic subject area?  Of course, it is, but I think you can achieve this while helping the students overcome failure and feel successful… maybe this is just the eternal optimist in me. 

Mr. O’Keeffe continues by discussing what he feels to be the misuse of educational funds to purchase books like Failure is Not an Option for the purpose of book studies because he feels the money could be better spent on computer labs, sets of novels, etc.  I agree with Mr. O’Keeffe that purchasing a book for every teacher in a school district might be excessive.  In fact, I can see how even purchasing a book for every teacher at a school might be excessive, but I don’t see the problem in purchasing books for a group (i.e. a leadership cadre, a department, a team of teachers, administrators) who can then read and discuss the ideas in the book and share with the staff as a whole.  The books are then available on campus for those who were not necessarily included in the “top rung” of the book study to check out and read.  I am not going to say that Failure is an Option is the best educational book I have read because it is not.  However, I do see the value in the book because it has given us the opportunity to revisit and discuss ideas that are pertinent to our field.  It has given us the opportunity to hear the perspectives of others. In my opinion, it is the discussion and the importance placed on continual growth that is important. 

“Here’s a new paradigm, everyone: return to substantive teaching and learning, value teachers for their expertise in the subjects or grade-levels they teach; leave psychology to the psychologists, motivation to the counselors, and social problems to the social workers.” 

Really?  I think this statement is naïve.  Yes, teachers should be valued for their expertise in the subject that they teach, but subject area knowledge is not the only thing that makes a good teacher.  Effective teachers build relationships with their students, and it is through these relationships that students are motivated to learn the subject that the teachers teach.  Students have to know that the teacher cares about them – that they are just not seen as a receptacle to deposit knowledge in.  Why do you think new teachers have such difficulty their first year teaching?  Hopefully, they are pretty well-versed in their subject area, but what most of them need assistance with is how to relate to students, how to manage discipline issues, how to assist students with learning difficulties, how to teach in a classroom with students of varying ability levels, and how to help a student concentrate on school work when their basic needs are not being met at home.  Should a teacher have to worry about all of these things?  In a Utopian society, I would say no, but the fact of the matter is that they do and just focusing on creating teachers who are experts in a subject area is not going to produce effective teachers. 

“Send every midlevel “facilitator,” “leader,” and “coordinator” back to the classroom and force them to teach again.” 

I think this could potentially be a good idea.  Having administrators revisit the classroom every few years would certainly help them stay current with the ever changing conditions of the classroom as well as give them more credibility with teachers.  Administrators could be asked to teach a summer course every couple of years or pick up a class in the schedule ever so often… it is an idea worth considering. 

I don’t know.  Maybe I am in the minority, but I like the fact that my administrators encourage our professional growth in our subject areas as well as in pedagogy, technology and leadership.  I am glad they encourage us to discuss and work collaboratively. I think not doing so would be irresponsible.

Why Not Rant on Someone Else’s Blog if You Get the Chance?

So, I was reading Miguel Guhlin’s blog yesterday and I came across a post entitled Shocking Education Culture.  It is a great post and brings up some interesting and thought-provoking ideas, but I was taken aback when I read this as one of the potential solutions to a stagnating culture…

“Link compensation to desired performance goal (e.g. technology use) – For K-12 educators, this would means having a high stakes test that measures student technology competencies within the content areas…not a separate technology test, but a content area test that uses technology.”

After reading the above statement, I couldn’t even concentrate on the rest of the post until I left a comment.  So, this is what I said…

“I enjoyed your post until I got to this statement…

‘Link compensation to desired performance goal (e.g. technology use) – For K-12 educators, this would means having a high stakes test that measures student technology competencies within the content areas…not a separate technology test, but a content area test that uses technology.’

I beg of you… no more high-stakes testing!! Not even the re-vamping of current testing to include technology… We need a better and differentiated way to assess what students are learning – portfolios, projects, presentations, discussions. Anything but standardized tests!!”

And then he said…

“Angela, thanks for commenting. I’m exploring ideas here, so let me go out on the limb a bit further.

Today, I facilitated a meeting of campus technology representatives. We shared the changing expectations of teachers in the new long range plan for technology (read earlier blog entry on the subject).

One of the teachers came up afterward and shared how scary this was for teachers…technology on top of high stakes tests. If teachers–and to be honest, blogging teachers are a minority–only pay attention when there is a high stakes test…maybe what we need is a bit more of what we fear.

What’s a better approach?”

And then I said…

“Unfortunately, I can’t claim to have all the answers, but I do think there has to be a better way than how we are doing it in Texas. Here are some ideas…

1. In lieu of an exit-level test, why not a portfolio that showcases students’ strengths instead of points out their deficiencies (and of course, technology would be a component of this… in fact, why not e-portfolios?)

2. If we must have a test, why not “grade” students on how well they have progressed from year to year instead of requiring the same exit-level score for everyone?

3. In lieu of a test, why not have an exit-level project that utilizes skills students have learned to solve real-world problems?

Honestly, I don’t know… I know technology use is scary to many teachers but it is not to the students. Teachers need to learn to give up a little bit of their control and allow their students to teach them once in awhile. It is okay that the teacher doesn’t know everything as long as he/she is willing to learn.

I am just afraid that tacking technology on to the already high pressure and high stakes testing will just result in more drill and kill and less actual learning.

Thanks for listening to my rant.”

<All of a sudden I felt like a teenage girl again. “What did he say next? And then she said…> 🙂

I think it is an interesting conversation and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.  Any opinions?

More Thoughts on Finding Our Way Off the Plateau

So the other day I posted a little rant… I have continued to think about my frustrations and have talked with others at school as well as read the comments left by others, and I am feeling a little better about things.  Nothing has really been “solved” but I think I have come to terms with the root of my frustration… the politics of public education.

As I said in my rant, I know my teachers are working hard and I know they feel pulled in too many directions… let’s face it – we ask a lot of them.  I guess where my frustration arises is that because of everything that is pushed upon them by NCLB, TAKS testing and state standards, district curriculum and benchmark testing, AP testing, SAT and PSAT preparation, there is little to no time to focus on the things that really matter (or at least I think really matter) like making the curriculum relevant, teaching the students to think critically and creatively, building personal relationships with the students, teaching skills students will need in the “real-world,” and, yes, effectively integrating technology.

It is enough to make the teachers and students feel defeated and give up, and unfortunately some of them do and we lose some outstanding teachers and students with potential, but fortunately, the rest of us hang in there and do the best we can hoping it will make a difference to someone.

Finding Our Way Off the Plateau

I have been feeling a little defeated lately.  This happens occasionally for brief periods of time because I get overextended, stressed out or tired and then something happens and I am reinvigorated, but unfortunately I haven’t fully shaken it yet.

At times I am not really sure what it is exactly that is plaguing me.  I love my school, the kids are great, the teachers and administrators I work with are outstanding, and overall, we do a great job… better than most schools (at least I like to think).  So, I should be content.  Maybe my expectations are too high, but I think we should be doing more.  My school is six years old and it is our sixth year with our one-to-one laptop initiative, and I feel like when we started we were continually growing and actively striving to learn and improve.  We went above and beyond to learn new and innovative ways to implement technology in the classroom, to actively engage students and to make the curriculum relevant, but I feel like in the last year or so we have reached a plateau that we just can’t seem to find our way off.

Don’t get me wrong… there are certainly still teachers on my campus who go above and beyond “the call of duty” to teach their curriculum in innovative and relevant ways and there are teachers who are using technology in amazing ways, but there are also teachers who are stagnating – teachers who feel there is nothing left to learn or nothing worth learning.  I no longer feel the climate of continued growth and optimism for learning that I have felt in the past and I want it back, but it seems to be ever elusive.

I know my teachers are working hard.  I know they want what is best for their students.  I know they are tired and feel pulled in too many directions with preparing for TAKS testing, AP testing, SAT preparation and simply trying to help their students achieve basic math, science and literacy skills.

I need to know how I convince them to take some time for themselves to help them grow and improve professionally.  I would love to convince them that introducing some Web 2.0 technologies like blogs and wikis might actually help students prepare for the TAKS test and add some relevancy to their curriculum, but I only have a handful of teachers that seem to be buying in to the concept.  And although I didn’t comment on Will Richardson’s rant, I appreciate his post and the eloquent way he verbalized my thoughts.

Speaking of rants, thanks for listening to mine.  I would love any suggestions you guys might have… 

Maybe it is just time for my Thanksgiving Break. 🙂

“Saying no to School Laptops”

One of my science teachers sent me a link to this article from the Wall Street Journal.  I am sure she couldn’t resist because she knew I would have something to say about the topic.  So here goes… 

“Abby [a sixth grade student] spent class time sending instant messages to friends and wanted to create a page on social-networking site MySpace.com. Her standardized writing-test scores fell, too. So Ms. Adam handed back the computer and pulled her daughter out of the laptop program, which is this year expanding to five schools. “What she learned was how to play games and email her friends,” says Ms. Adam. “School was one big happy gabfest.’”  It upsets me when this attitude is taken regarding laptops in schools.  No, the daughter should not have been instant messaging her friends if that was not part of the assignment; however, note passing was prevalent before computers were present in schools – the problem is not new.  If the introduction of laptops in to a classroom causes a rise in instant messaging, then maybe there is a problem with the structure of the class and the lessons.  If the class and/or lessons do not evolve with the introduction of the laptop then students are most likely going to be bored and unmotivated and thus easily distracted by AIM and social networking sites.  And for a really radical idea – why not try to implement instant messaging and social networking into the curriculum? And while we are at it, why not teach the students to use the laptops appropriately instead of giving up and taking them away?

 “…proponents of the programs argue that constant computer access teaches students skills critical to their success in college and at work, such as how to organize multimedia presentations and conduct research on-line. One-to-one access also makes it easier for educators to spruce up lessons with new educational-computing tools like interactive graphing programs without sending the class shuffling back and forth between computer labs.”  As a proponent of one-to-one initiatives, and a teacher in a one-to-one school district, I think it is bigger than this.  Yes, laptops give students access to create multimedia presentations and conduct on-line research, but they also allow students to take charge of their own education.  They allow students to reach outside the world of their classrooms by giving them access to experts, museums, other countries, planets and a host of other resources.  They allow teachers to more easily create student-centered differentiated lessons.  And probably most importantly, they allow students to learn in a way that is comfortable for them whether it be visually, orally, chronologically or randomly.  Jerry Terman, a student in a one-to one schools says,“… it [his laptop] helps him tackle longer writing assignments without hurting his hand and understand tricky science concepts, like electromagnetic attraction, by watching simulations at his desk. “The only thing I don’t use it for is gym,” he adds.” 

“But some parents worry that the laptops are teaching the wrong skills. Dugan Slovenski, 47 of Brunswick, Maine, says having a laptop has encouraged her thirteen-year-old son to spend more time dazzling up presentations with fancy fonts instead of digging through library books. “They need to be able to learn to research beyond what is accomplished by Googling a word or phrase,” she says.”  Why?  Why does a student need to spend time digging through library books?  Googling a word or phrase lends a plethora of information that students who have been taught new literacy skills can validate and use.  Students have access to many more resources than their parents.  They need to be taught how to utilize the resources they have and not outdated resources from their parents’ era.

“Few comprehensive studies exist on whether these programs live up to their claims to boost achievement, in part because the initiatives are so new. A preliminary study on the impact of laptops in Texas middle schools released by the Texas Center for Educational Research this spring reported that technology immersion improved student attitudes and behaviors but had a neutral impact on student achievement.”  Yes, the initiatives are new, so there will probably not be much data for a few more years.  What I would like to know is what data are we looking for?  How are we going to “prove” that laptops improve achievement?  Are we going to go merely by standardized test scores?  Are we going to implement laptops, ask students and teachers to change the way they teach and learn, and then still assess the program in the same old way?  It doesn’t make sense to me.

I teach in a school district and at a school with one-to-one laptops.  I am not stating that one-to-one implementation is easy or that we have done a perfect job.  But we have recognized the importance and have taken a risk.  We have agreed to step away from the traditional (at least a little) to try and prepare our students for the world of today (not simply the world in which we were educated).  I applaud my district for this.

Can a teacher or a school be effective without a one-to-one initiative?  Certainly, but they can also be effective with a one-to-one initiative.  I am certain of this.