I have been cleaning out old digital files. Here is an interesting piece I found:
The computer technologies introduced to schools in the last quarter of the 20th century were part of a long parade of electronic information technologies that were introduced first into the popular culture and then into education throughout the 20th century; that parade continued to the end of the 20th century, and appears to be showing no sign of slowing. In 1986, Larry Cuban reviewed the history of radio, movies, and television in schools and he observed a common pattern:
- First, advocates argued the technology could be used to make teaching more efficient and more effective.
- Second, dubious research (frequently supported by the manufacturers of the technologies) was used to support the advocates’ claims.
- Third, the technologies were introduced to schools but soon fell into disuse.
- Finally, the next technology with promise to transform teaching was introduced and the pattern was repeated.
Cuban identified several reasons that each technology fell into disuse and failed to transform teaching as was predicted. He was able to cite evidence that each of these factors contributed to the failure of each technology to live up to its promise. First, Cuban found limited access to the technology is an obstacle to its use, and access can be limited by many factors:
- Access to equipment—The expense of obtaining equipment, the need for expertise to maintain and operate the equipment, and the inflexibility of schedules are all factors the limited teachers use of electronic information technologies throughout the 20th century. Access was also limited by teachers’ inability to operate the equipment; and inadequate training exacerbated this factor.
- A lack of curriculum materials dissuaded teachers’ use of these technologies; because other resources were available that were better aligned with their classroom goals and with their previous teaching experiences, so many educators avoided the new technologies preferring to use the safe, familiar, and reliable materials with which they had been teaching.
- Finally, many decisions to introduce these technologies to classrooms were made by leaders who had little understanding of the logistical challenges of inadequate access and training and weak curriculum materials that had little connection to existing classroom goals.
School and technology leaders appear to have paid attention to the lessons learned by the failure of radio, movie, and television to meet the promised effect in schools when planning to introduce computers to schools. There have been systemic efforts to ensure all schools have the resources to install computers and connect them to the Internet; there have been efforts to develop resources to support curriculum planning, and there have been efforts to provide educators with on-going professional development. While they added computer processing power and memory, broadband Internet connections, and useful software to their schools, school and technology leaders also hired technicians and network administrators to manage technology systems and professionals to work with teachers to support technology-based curriculum and instruction.
I wrote those words about 15 years ago. Since them, I have lost my optimism. We do have equipment, people, and curriculum. What we don’t have, however, is wisdom. We are now seeing “technology-free” days in local schools. We never stopped to think about the appropriate use of technology. We never stopped to think about what unfettered access to devices might do. As a society, we gladly accepted any tool and “strategy” advocated by the same companies we know do not care about humans or the healthy development of their brains.
We can do lots of great things with technology, but not everything needs to be done with technology. Just over a decade ago, when I was preparing to leave my career as a teacher, I saw high schools dismantling libraries. I questioned those decisions. When I heard principals telling me libraries are no longer needed, I made the decision to find another line of work.