The Future of Technology in Schools

citking writes "The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is running parts one and two of a three-part series dealing with the future of technology in America's schools. Part one asks whether technology in schools is merely a fad or, as some may argue, a necessity in today's technology-driven society. It raises some interesting points, such as the contrasting the wide availability of computers in schools to the generally limited use among students. Part two goes in-depth about the technology's cost, citing the dependence of grants that are disappearing and the effects of reducing technology staff. For part three you will have to tune in the the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tomorrow."

Comments

Re:It's nessecary.

[Nairoz]

Of course, literacy is also a part of the world - hence it's nessecary to teach that too.

I said technology should only be part of schools for a reason - not that it should be the ONLY thing taught in schools.

And yes, there is nothing you can do on a computer on a schooldesk that you cannot do with books, pencils and paper. But what good is it being able to write really good stories, for example, without having been exposed to a word processor in your life?

It's a skill you're pretty much gonna have to learn sometime.

Call me old school

[dogugotw]

But the basics my parents learned are more relevant today than ever - reading and writing and arithmatic should be the core studies required for all students. Add in history, language (especially for those of us in the US who think English is the only language), PE and an artistic course and that's a sound core curriculum. All of this can be taught without tech. Teach the buggers how to talk, write, and think.

I love tech and think it can have a place in schools if a few simple rules are followed. Use tech where it makes sense. Make sure the teachers know how to use the tech FIRST. Make sure there is sufficient and appropriate tech for the audience (skip PowerPoint and Word, geez, use a good text editor, who needs all the formatting whizbang crap anyway?). Try and find an IT support person/group that understands education and can communicate with the staff (nothing worse than a locked down desktop just because the IT dept can't be bothered to understand the teacher's needs).

I think it's more important to have teachers who understand their subject, are enthusiastic about it, and love to share that enthusiasm than to have computers for computer's sake.

I also think it's important that we stop adding course load on kids and trim the subject list back to something that is more human AND make the classes a bit longer (I had 1 hour classes when in high school, my kids were down to 45 minutes - how soon before we get to 1/2 hour of McEd?).

Tech is fine when used sanely with a purpose within a larger designed teaching environment. If something has to go, let it be tech in favor or better teachers.

It's not about the computers

[RAMMS EIN]

That doesn't address the question at all, namely why students don't use the available computers.

I think the reason is very simple: people like to work in private (thus not at school), with things arranged in their own way (thus at home), and with their own software and settings (which school computers often don't allow).

Whether the computers at school run Linux or Windows, and if they cost three hundred or three thousand dollars is completely irrelevant, except, of course, in cas the computers at school have some software that students need but is expensive for them to have at home. And guess what? Those are the cases where you do see students using the computers at school.

Is Football necessary?

[Chordonblue]

I'm sorry, but I'm fairly certain that these school districts have football teams along with swimming pools, etc. I know of a local school (Manheim Central) who prides itself on having a killer football team. God knows what would happen if one day they didn't have one. My guess is that the funding of the team always manages to get through.

I wonder if these same schools are struggling for a tech budget while sports are funded this way. That would be the first question I'd have for the Racine district (in the article).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against sports in school per se, BUT... I AM against funding non-academic activities over academic ones. What are the priorities for funding here?

Re:Forget about "teaching technology"

[Tim]

"the ubiquitous pull becomes even worse when the last thing a student wants to do is read a boring math text. I'm less inclined to simply blame the student - is it really their fault?"

Of course not. It's the parents' fault. Even today, I know plenty of kids who were raised without video games or (gasp!) television in the home. It is possible.

That said, yes, it's still a virtue to be able to read a "boring" math text. And not just in the abstract, back-in-my-day, walked-uphill-both-ways sense of the word "virtue," either. Some things are hard to learn, and take dedication and study. No amount of pointy-clicky technology magic will change that fact.

I say this as someone who spent two-thirds of last year grading some of the most attrociously-written papers you can imagine from junior and senior undergraduates. By my estimation, only 10 percent of my students were more than functionally literate. As my students will prove to you when you encounter them in the workplace, an extensive knowledge of Microsoft Word doesn't teach you how to write....

Re:Rethink needed

[jglen490]

Yes, a re-think is needed, but I believe the re-think must be in terms of the use of technology, rather than what technology is used.

The essentials of learning, reading (#1), writing (#2), math skills (#3) are still the essentials. Technology is dependent on those skills, not vice versa. Technology can supplement libraries, but must NEVER replace the hard bound word. In my opinion, writing skills are de-emphasized at the altar of tech and speed, with the resultant loss of clear and concise communication and the increase of frustration at communicating thought. Math is an absolute necessity at any level of learning, and most especially at ALL levels of living. Technology, oddly enough, is subverting math skills. How many times have you seen a store clerk struggle with counting change? How many times have you seen a person of average, or even better, intelligence struggle with a simple addition problem when presented with a few numbers and no access to a calculator.

All other modern human activities depend on these three, simple skills. Yet we insist that technology replace, not help to learn, these skills. In elementary school, there should be very little technology presense, other than administrative. In the middle and high school levels (speaking from an American viewpoint), technology should be taught as a tool for research and for recording. It should be until college/university level that technology should become an assistant to the learning process.

Yes, the old "Dick and Jane" readers should be dusted off and used, writing skills with pencil and paper must be exercised, and memory exercises with math tables should be re-emphasised.

The human brain is a marvelous tool, it demands use!

Re:Rethink needed

[OMGBBQ]

Someone may've already addressed this (so I apologize for not reading through...)

So who's paying for the technology? I mean, donated stuff is great, but then there's the software for computers, the upkeep & upgrades, the cost of replacing the broken stuff later (who am I kidding, technology don't break!), then the cost of security and network policing... theft, damage... irresponsible teachers...

Being a former teacher, I have plenty of frustration with the school system that I could soapbox about. Regarding this issue, though, my opinion is that computers are being used as a crutch in classrooms; teachers are letting the program teach the kids. Teachers are becoming hardware babysitters (software if you include the kids.)

Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be better to teach a kid to think about how to solve and/or do (write, draw, etc) something and then apply it to the computer?

(I was a music teacher, by the way. My program was cut due to lack of funding, but that's another story.)