“Computers” In Education. When Will We Decide If They Are Just A Fad?
September 14, 2007 by Brian Crosby
In the early 80’s when Apple ll’s and Commodore 64’s and the like were first thrust into homes and schools, many said it was just another passing fad. Schools and parents have tremendous experience with education fads. From since way before I was in school right up to today there seems to have been not a stream, but a river (maybe a flood) of fads or “new initiatives”, methods and programs moving in and out of our schools. Most are quickly forgotten, some leave scars and others hang on in one form or another for one reason or another.
I still remember back in the early 80’s when it wasn’t called tech in schools it was “computers,” and there was as much certainty that they belonged in schools as there was fear and suspicion that they were just the next time and money wasting fad. Even those that were sure computers were a savior … maybe THE savior of education though were not good or successful at explaining exactly how they should be used to achieve that. And that is still at least somewhat true today.
I had conversations with administrators, teachers and parents (there was no IT in schools back then, just computers … those were the days) and many saw how excited kids were to use and interact with the computers and it brought memories of Birthday and Christmas toys past and present. “They’re all excited about them now, but that will wear off in weeks, months at the most, and then these things will just be big doorstops that cost too much to throw out,” was a common sentiment. Many schools bought just enough computers to look just progressive and future thinking enough, but not too many to be saddled with if the interest and faith in them waned … and then we began the waiting game.
How long will the allure last? Interest would ebb and flow somewhat, but telling a classroom of kids that computer class is cancelled today has always been almost as sure a way to elicit moans and groans of disappointment from students as I can think of. Recess is more popular, as are PE and art for some students, but computer class is right up there.
Outside of sports and recess games, can you think of anything students do or interact with in AND out of school more consistently than technology? (Computers, cell phones, music players, video games and the like?)
Sports and the arts have been used to give reason and meaning to students to attend school and do well in school for many years. Some even teach subjects by incorporating these intriguing activities into lessons when possible to raise interest. But try to use sports or the arts as a tool to consistently, maybe daily, to teach say math? Not probably. As an incentive yes – as a tool? Not very often. (Let me add here that I am a huge supporter of both athletics and the arts in school … so I don’t want my last comment to be taken as a swipe at them)
So it looks to me like we have well over 20 years (at least) of computers/technology as a fad in schools and education and the allure hasn’t really gone away. Besides the fact that they are powerful teaching tools I think that puts them at least one-up on most of the programs that have come and gone before. How many (and I am sure there are some) programs out there elicit as much sustained interest and effectiveness as computers and other technology when teachers and students are trained and use them effectively as learning tools?
When I do tech trainings and presentations with teachers and administrators I’m still struck by how many are waiting to adopt tech as a teaching tool until it has a track record. I think we can put the computers are just a fad thinking to rest. Or maybe bury it.
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I don’t know if I’ve ever thought of them as a fad item. But I’ve been frustrated over the years by the way that they’ve been casually dropped into classrooms in insufficient numbers for teachers to use in lessons with a whole class. We were told to use them as “learning centers” and to rotate kids throughout the day.
But then, the computers would freeze, or the software the kids were using was often not very engaging, or I’d check what the students were doing only to see they were mindlessly clicking the mouse to move to the next screen in a game of some kind – finding a way around a feature designed into a program intended to trigger what I can best describe as a “learning response.”
We’ve taken kids to the lab, and taught them to type, and to manage folders and files. And they’ve been given games to play there, too, to practice skills that would be as easily done with a worksheet. They learned to search the web, but in the early days there wasn’t much content for kids. And also in the early days, there weren’t many pictures, either. That’s changed now, though.
You’re right. The allure hasn’t gone away, but it seems like school is the only place where we call them “learning tools.” It reminds me a little bit of public television many years ago; we called it “educational television,” which was another way of saying “boring television.” Kids come to school now with expectations of technology that schools are still not prepared to honor. They see them as communication tools, and as entertainment devices. They (my students, anyway) still don’t know very much about the world beyond their neighborhood, despite being wired to the WWW.
It is better now. We have more machines on hand, and they can do lots of interesting things. I do wonder about all the time and money that has gone into the larger project of putting them in schools during the past twenty years, though. I know I’ve learned a lot, having a teacher machine to create assignments, and to find professional resources. But I wonder about time in school that has been squandered with technical glitches, lousy software, and insufficient numbers of machines to make the most of the kids’ time in school.
I’ve never thought of them as a fad. But I have wondered if schools were (and are) ready to deal with the possibilities of what they could be. The promise of technology to enhance the classroom experience for kids is better now, I think. But we still need to iron out some pedagogical wrinkles.
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Doug – the “fad” reference is really me, probably ineffectively, evoking how sad things are that so many still treat tech in schools, even though it has been there now pushing 30+ years, as, “maybe just a fad that will go away, so why should I take the time to get onboard?”
I am overall actually more optimistic about things – but in the course of the teaching week I still too often run into the, “What’s an attachment?” or someone needing 30 minutes of training to learn how to cut and paste … and it is almost a life changing experience … like it was just invented and it soooo cool!
Brian
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A kindergarten teacher came to me recently and asked me if there was a program that could put text on a curve, because she wanted the title for a little class book she’d made to wrap around a circular drawing. I asked her how much time she wanted to invest in learning a new program that she might not use for more than a couple of projects. And I told her that her book looked perfectly fine to me as it was. She thanked me, but was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t just do it for her.
There are levels of understanding among all of us, and the people who are the hardest to work with are the ones who refuse to engage unless someone else makes them. I know the type you’re talking about, but I don’t have to deal with them very often. I give that kindergarten teacher a lot of credit for her idea, and for thinking that there might be a simple solution.
But knowledge comes with a cost, and some of us have been more willing than others to pay dues and figure things out, and to wrestle with problems because we have a vision of how we want things to work.
After reading other commentary similar to yours, I’m wondering if people in Alaska may be more open to new technology than folks elsewhere. I don’t see a lot of total ignorance or resistance among the people I work with. And as I indicated, I’ve never heard anyone call edtech a fad. There’s a little bit of alienation, though. And it’s hard to convince those folks to try things. Which is why I’m offering a class this fall. They’ll show up for a credit, and because I told them they could all learn how to make their own web pages. They’re going to be shocked at how much else I have to show them.
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We talk about technology as the ‘hook’ down here – a very fishing oriented society! In fact my research project I am completing at the moment is called ‘The Lure of Podcasting’. Over 17 years working with Maori and Pasifika students at Pt England School I have experienced the power of technology as a hook to engage our students in the learning process. BUT not through word processing (which only replicates boring pencil and paper) or through educational games (which don’t resemble the games they play online or Playstation.) Instead we have pursued the concept of sisomo (sight, sound and motion – Kevin Roberts) and multimedia and focussed on our students creating content, not consuming it. And unfortunately, you need the right equipment in school to do this on. A cheap, underpowered bargain computer doesn’t cut it for this kind of experience. Our students are also motivated by the Arts and PE (and achieve highly in this area – and kapa haka/culture groups) but as you say, it is challenging to use this in the context of basic literacies.
But we have demonstrated many times that eLearning technologies , with careful planning, become a powerful hook for disengaged students.
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