Into the next decade...

In his article, “Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade”, Larry Cuban addresses three different scenarios for what technology might look like in the schools within the next ten years. The first one is the one that I felt was the most far fetched and Mr. Cuban called it the “Technophile Scenario”. This scenario talked about making learning more productive and meaningful through immersing schools with technology and creating a fully student-centered school. The second scenario is the “Preservationist’s Scenario”. This scenario still includes technology in the schools; however, the use of the technology would be more for productivity than to improve upon existing school instruction. This vision likes to hold onto the idea of schools doing what they have always done and using technology as more of an aid in doing those things. The third scenario, Mr. Cuban called the “Cautious Optimist’s Scenario”. In this scenario people believed that just putting computers into the classrooms would eventually encourage teachers and schools to make changes in technology. They have a similar ultimate goal as that of the technophiles but want to go about getting there in a much slower and different way.
The single most interesting thing to me was when this article was published. I looked through and tried to find a date, but I was unsuccessful. I looked at the many resources that he used in writing this article and discovered that the latest date I could find was 1994. So, my best guess would be the late 1990’s. I agreed with Mr. Cuban in that the technophile scenario is far out of reach. There is not enough money, time or willingness to take this approach. I also agreed that introducing technology into the classroom would need a much different approach depending on the school. Elementary and secondary schools are different in many ways and in introducing technology into the classroom we must keep these differences in mind.

Blog 2

In a society which has a growing dependence on technology and computers, are teachers’ changes in their teaching style directly affected by the prevalence of technology and computers? This study looked into this very question. They separated teachers by their instructional style into three categories; non-constructivist, or instruction based, weak constructivist and substantially constructivist. In asking a certain set of teachers if they felt that their style of instruction had changed over the years and if so, was technology a catalyst for that change, they got similar answers across the board. Many teachers said that their style of teaching changes over time with reflection and new research. However, when considering technology as a catalyst, they felt that it was not the catalyst for change but more of a direction in which they can take their teaching style after deciding to make a change.
I feel that although technology may not be the catalyst for change, the direction in which teachers take after making a decision to change is based mainly on their own teaching philosophy and education. Teachers who are less comfortable with technology will be less likely to consider technology as a direction in which to take their teaching. On the other hand, teachers who are more comfortable with technology will be more open to technology as an option. This could be due to both generational differences in teachers and availability of training and equipment.

Digital Divide

Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka addressed equal education opportunities for all students. Equal educational opportunity does not only include the differences in race, but also gender, socioeconomic status, and the digital divide. This article discusses what the digital divide is, how it affects our students, and what teachers can do to help eliminate the divide.
Although our society is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, about half of all American households don’t have a computer and more than half don’t have the internet. Therefore, if students are not able to learn to use computer technology at home, society turns to the schools to provide for these students.
As of 2007, all schools are not able to provide the amount of computers needed for all students to learn the technology skills required to survive in our society. Brown and colleagues, McKenzie, and Neumann provided some suggestions such as; offering evening, weekend or summer computer technology classes, holding summer technology camps, or having computer technology clubs that would meet at lunch or after school. Although these sound like good suggestions, I feel that the reasons for needing these have been overlooked. One of the main reasons students aren’t getting equal access to computer technology is due to their low socioeconomic status. Students with a low SES would be less likely to be able to attend evening, weekend or summer classes or summer camps. Also, these classes or camps would likely cost money that they would not be able to afford. Finally, a computer technology club sounds like a good idea as well, however, the likelihood of students attending a computer class during their lunch or free time is low and the student who would go would most likely be those who are already familiar with computers and comfortable enough to show up.