Comments on: Thanks for the PC. What do I do with it?

Bringing technology to students is a noble goal, but unless teachers are shown ways to use that technology to achieve their teaching goals, it's much harder to make academic progress.

[inouyde]

I used to teach kids who couldn't figure out why they kept getting the wrong division answer on their calculators. Turns out they were entering the numbers in the wrong order. Learning first, then technology. Computers will only make dumb kids be dumb faster.

[smokified]

You used to teach kids, but yet you use the term "dumb kids". Kids without REAL mental disabilities are only "dumb" if their parents and TEACHERS are dumb. Unfortunately 100% of students will have at least 60% dumb teachers. You I think fall into that category.

Computers are the best tool for knowledge ever created. Instead of searching an acre sized library for a book that might contain the information you need to learn what is necessary, you have to go to one place.

With proper guidence and education ABOUT COMPUTERS, children could learn at unprecidented rates.

Your theory is all wrong and I hope that when you say you "used" to teach kids that you mean that you do not anymore.

[mudixon]

Well, this is an obvious observation. I'm an instructional technology consultant, which is also sometimes called an instructional technolgy designer, academic instructional specialist, and numerous other titles. Regardless, my job is to work with instructors and find best practices in utilizing technology in curriculum, where it makes sense of course. Integrating technology won't improve all subjects, and can be even detrimental to some. I work in higher education, where there tends to be more people like me in the field. However, K-12 schools really need more people like the position I hold. Trouble is, they can seldom afford to add such positions because of limited funding and/or because universities often pay better for the same positions.

I am not an information technology person (help desk, fix computers, networking troubleshooting, etc.), although I have the expertise in that field. Some schools think if they hire an information technology person, that person can help with instructional technology. BAD IDEA. While they are good a what they do, they often do not have any knowledge in the instructional design field, they can't shift gears and talk technology at the instructor's level, and they probably have never taught a course in their life (and I'm not talking about training sessions here!). As an instructional technologist, I have asked my university to teach online university courses regularly (in a field I am qualified for) so I can "be on the same page" as the instructors I serve. This is the best of both worlds: living in the environment as well as working with those to be more comfortable in that environment.

Schools and universities need to get their acts together and bring in more specialists in instructional technology. Otherwise, there will be a lot of wasted money buying technology that does little good.

[smokified]

How can the lagest database of knowledge EVER be detrimantal to some subjects? What concept in this world has not benefited from computers?

[smokified]

The problem is the old bastards that are teaching our children refuse to grow with the rest of the world. The baby boomer generation has destroyed all progress made by the human race with their inability to adapt, be held responsible, and learn beyond what they THINK they already know.

America's economy is screwed. Health system, screwed. Education...yup...screwed. Government....once again...screwed. Everything that I was taught in school was ********. If I was not motivated to just learn things for myself I would be just like every other zombie american walking around completely clueless thinking that I have it all figured out but wondering why nothing is working the way "it is supposed to".

Get a clue.

[Lerianis]

I have to agree. I was labeled as a 'slow' student in elementary school, until they finally sent me for a evaluation at Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore..... where they found out I had an IQ that was OFF THE SCALE and everything that they put in front of me, I could do.
The reason that I was 'acting out in class' (which was total ********, I acted out LESS than other students in reality!) was because I was bored and I challenged the teachers on all sorts of different things.
We really need to realize that our students would be better off being home schooled, with the internet programs that are used by the community colleges.
I'll be blunt: I could not STAND to go to community college in person, but when I did my classes online..... I passed all of them with quite a high GPA.

[The_Decider]

Thanks for the laugh leria, you have an IQ "off the scale"? What a hoot!

[rcrusoe]

I don't care if you are an expert in Excel, if you can't read well, express yourself clearly in writing, or don't decent math skills (add, subtract, multiple, divide - without using a calculator or computer) then you won't get hired at my company. Our major applications are custom written so our employees couldn't possibly be familiar with them when we hire them. The computer skills most people need in business can be taught in a very short time. Schools need to prepare students with the basics and the ability to continue to learn after they enter the workplace. And that doesn't require a computer.

[kwnsi]

Yes, of course children won't learn something just by sitting i front of msn or myspace. They should be able to access programs that they will be interested in. That way the children that have "talent" on computers will be motivated to learn from THEMSELVES. If we like it or not, not every child can use a computer properly and by taking computer lessons, i don't think that will make them reach the expectations for their academic success.In my opinion, if you want GOOD scientists you will have to take the ones that were really interested in what they are doing and not the ones that were made into scientists because they had to.

[kwnsi]

[Lerianis]

The best thing that computers could be used for in the classroom is to cut down on the amount of paper used by the schools. You could do all your reading, writing, etc. on a computer instead of on a regular piece of paper and save a WHOLE lot of trees in the long run.
Really..... we are going to have to realize that some children simply CANNOT learn some things. There was one black teenager who I went to school with who they kept putting in remedial math programs (this was in high school) and he just COULD NOT LEARN MATH! His parents finally got fed up with the school system and told them "Look, he is not going to play with friends, he is not taking anytime for pleasurable things. He is just doing these things over and over and over, and HE STILL CANNOT LEARN THEM! We are just not going to go through the blood, sweat and tears of this when he is just INCAPABLE of learning this stuff!" He graduated, but the state had to waive the math test requirement because his parents threatened a lawsuit.

[The_Decider]

A piece of paper without the knowledge that it implies is worthless. The guy doesn't need a diploma if he is truly incapable of learning (not that likely) because someone with that level of mental deficiency couldn't hold down any but the most simplistic jobs.

[cyclelogicpress.com]

A problem is that some school districts do not realize how much time, effort, and dollars it takes to educate the teachers who will use this technology in their classrooms each day.

[Melekai]

OLPC was created with the idea of "
A potent learning tool created expressly for the world's poorest children living in its most remote environments." The problem is, people living in these environments have no access to the internet. When the governments of these third world countries have the money or incentive to expand the infrastructure only then will we see progress.

[CosmicRay]

It's clear the the question "Thanks for the PC. What do I do with it?" is not one that the student asks, but one that puzzles the teacher. The issue stems as much from the official school curriculum as from the hidden curriculum.

[The_Decider]

You would think so, but my recent experience in teaching computer literacy classes to college freshman (supports my graduate program) says the opposite. Kids know how to get online and go to myspace, but they have new clue about computers. I was shocked to see the level of computer illiteracy and incompetence from these allegedly technically savvy kids who grew up with computers.

[Teacherbytes]

Working as a Technology Integrationist in a middle school I have observed the problems with integrating technology into education are complex.

First is the lack of funds to place enough technology into the teachers' and students' hands. Sometimes school boards are reluctant to fund technology fearing voter backlash or feel there are more pressing needs.

Second, even if computers are purchased there is usually never enough training for teachers to use them. This usually comes from a lack of money or time or leadership interest to provide necessary training.

Third, school leaders are under so much pressure to raise test scores to meet goals outlined in the No Child Left Behind standards. This forces principals to focus on what they are more comfortable with and not gamble with methods, such as increased technology use, that are unproven in their eyes. Even if schools have people like me, time and resources are not given or diverted for expediency. In our school two computer labs were turned into remediation classrooms. This frustrated the teachers who had great plans to integrate technology, leaving them with a "why bother" attitude. Other lab time was cut down due to a variety of mandatory testing or preparation for this testing.

Fourth, teachers are already so burdened with outside duties and required paperwork they have little time for training. Other teachers will not take time to do training unless they are paid or school leadership forces them to do it. Unfortunately we have many teachers, while good educators, feel their system is not broken so don't mess with it. I have had more than one teacher tell me that all they want is their overhead projectors, slides, and to be left alone.

Fifth, many teachers know their students are probably better with using technology than they are. This scares these teachers because they feel they will lose control over their students. In the meantime, students who have not been properly instructed will continue to make stupid mistakes because they don't know any better.

Sixth, I have seen where IT professionals have been left alone to make hardware and software decisions for teachers with disastrous results. What looks good to an IT person may not work in the classroom. Also, I have seen too many classrooms designed by teams of engineers who never talk to each other much less to teachers who have to use the rooms. I walked into a classroom of a new high school and found the television connections in one corners, phone jack in another corner, and the network connections in a third corner. All this with classroom oriented in a direction that made the other three unworkable without laying down lots of cable which is against OSHA regulations. Another new classroom I saw, outfitted for interactive whiteboards, had the network connections several feet from the audio cable jacks. Again creating a dangerous situation when the cables had to be laid out.

Students want to use more technology in schools because it is what they are used to and they like to use it. A basic knowledge of how technology works will be needed by students when they enter the workforce even if their employer will train them on company systems. Someone has to create the programs for the companies, right? Finally, for students to meet the uncertain challenges of the future, they will have to become life-long learners. Finally, if a student writes an essay on a piece of paper, a blog, a wiki, or anywhere else, they still need to know how to write properly.

[kalmarx]

The fault isn't all in teacher training. I run a company that licenses curriculum for robotics, game creation and animation. This is what excites kids about technology and provides an avenue for teaching advanced concepts and things like logic and problem solving that the current school curriculum fails to teach. Students want to learn if we put them in the right environment. Put them in front of a computer and teach them how to use powerpoint--oh boy. Put them in front of a computer and teach them how to program their own computer games and they will come to summer camp to learn more while I teach them x,y coordinate systems, variables, algebra and programming.

Many school districts fail to think beyond buying computers and connecting to the internet. Teacher training is an important component. But so is what we teach and how we teach it. We've got a great opportunity to inspire our children to learn and think in new ways but not if we teach them in the old ways.

-Tom Marx
Bits, Bytes & Bots Computer Adventures

[tehrani625]

I am a student at a school that basically passes out new macbooks to the students and requires that they be brought to school everyday. The problem is that because it is a high school all the students take them for granted and think that its a right. One your not going to get at any other public school in the state. The teachers have no Idea as to how to use the laptops or the smart boards. I browse the web in class becase I would much rather read an article about the lattest mars mission then write a paper for English or finish my lab report in chemistry. Yes eventualy I get all thoes things done but at the end of the day the macbooks are just jiant word processing iPods and asside from that they don't really help the teacher much more then a computer lab would or paper and pencil. I love the laptops I think their great but no one elce sees it the way that I do so I am about the only one wishing for truly educational web sites and some good assignments to go with them. Not a flash animation and all you have to do is click around and copy down the information to a work sheet and their is no thought required. So asside from the fact that teachers seem to have no idea as to what to do with these things and students use them as large iPods. If there is a solution get it out to the world as fast as you can.

[The_Decider]

It is not only the teachers fault. In the area I live in, the school district has a first rate network to all schools and features very cutting edge educational tools and the teachers are all well trained. The school district is still considered crap by most standards.

Kids are not nearly as technically savvy as people think they are. You would think they are, but my recent experience in teaching computer literacy classes to college freshman (supports my graduate program) says the opposite. Kids know how to get online and go to myspace, but they have new clue about computers. I was shocked to see the level of computer illiteracy and incompetence from these allegedly technically savvy kids who grew up with computers. The level of mathematical incompetence is even worse. From all reports my experience is very much normal, I fear for the future of this country when the kids have no clue about the very thing that is driving the future.

[gardenglen]

As an experienced teacher (over 20 years of teaching), I agree there is a need to train teachers in appropriate use of technology. While I teach science, my school dubbed me "the Geek." My goal is to understand and do everything my students might be doing. I have seen that when students are guided in using technology effectively, they can demonstrate deeper levels of thinking than using many other instructional methods. One example is in the use of the Intel(R) Teach online thinking tools. In my classroom, these free tools allow students to show cause and effect relationships with detailed descriptions of each topic as well as describing each relationship. I have also seen how students changed thinking while ranking items from a list. Unlike previous ranking activities, thanks to computer "histories" I observed changes students made as they worked out their answers. In my onion, placing computers in a classroom without providing appropriate teacher training is asking for more frustration than an improvement in student learning.