Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Ben, While the standardized test scores may show no increase in the scores of schools heavily invested in technology, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Does anyone really argue that technology needs to be just another tool to teach content? (I know, I know...) I have my students use technology to consume and create content. The higher level thinking skills required to do this would be very hard to test using standardized multiple choice and short answer questions. I used to believe that "Content is King" and prided myself in trying to get as much material covered as possible. Now I realize that content is ubiquitous, what we do with it is much more important.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Tech departments *should* be educating upwards and outwards about the value they add to the school, both in the instructional and operations sides of our work. Experience in my own school and consulting work with clients bears out the observation that senior administrative staff, and most folks who don't do tech have little idea what we actually do every day and what it means to our school districts. Tech leaders need to be communicating regularly in accessible terms people can understand about their goals, plans, accomplishments, and yes, even setbacks. People think they don't have the time to do this, but they don't have the time not to, really. And it's not bragging if you tell the whole story--none of us bats 1.000--and set the accomplishments in the right context so folks understand what it means to them.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Hi Ben, One of hte Michael Jordan commercials prompted me to think about tech in schools - because I've often found that the "it's not about technology" sentiment sometimes meanders dangerously down the road of "maybe we should stop doing it"! I wrote then (and couldn't say better now: Yes, computers are a tool and they’re not the be-all-end-all. AND computers can support learners, open doors to a world of possibilities and learning opportunities and global thinking. They can provide a chance for every child to learn their own way and construct their own knowledge. They can facilitate conversations with other people and other children around the world. They can knock down the isolation of a classroom’s four walls and invite in the voices, experience and passion of the entire planet. They can engage a bored, disengaged student - whether because they’ve already learned the current topic and they can explore it to a deeper level, or because they don’t get it and they can find another perspective, application or explanation of that topic from another source. To read more or see the commercial I mentioned above, see: http://www.iwasthinking.ca/2008/10/09/its-not-about-the-technology/ This is an important conversation - keep it up!

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

This is my second contribution to this dialogue. The Important Question: Part 2 of A Dialogue withBen Gray and Respondents http://strangethoughtsbyjohn.blogspot.com/ Read my first comment first: A Dialogue and Response to Ben Gray http://strangethoughtsbyjohn.blogspot.com/2009/05/dialogue-and-response-to-ben-gray.html They are rather long so I put them in a separate blog post. Leave comments here

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I've been hearing rumors that our tech. ed. department teacher may not have a job next year due to the economy. I would address this question first with "Why?" Secondly, the board of ed. would need to come up with a better reason than the fact that the economy is bad. Yes, it does seem that at this time test scores hinge on standardized testing; however, today's students are so much emersed in technology that this is how they want to learn. If we as educators give them opportunities to learn this way, then their critical thinking skills will deepen and learning will be more authentic to them. Our world is moving and has been moving into the technology age and digital age. It's here to stay, and cutting it from the budget will not make it go away. Students will find other ways, inappropriate ways to technically connect with the world. Shouldn't we show them through education the right way?

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

The use of technology has definitely changed the way that students and teachers do things in the classroom and at home. If I was asked by school board members why taxpayers should continue to support such programs, I would simply invite them to come to my classroom and see for themselves. In the classroom, they would find that every student has an Apple laptop which they use not only for simple word processing, but for communication with teachers and peers by blogging about a social studies project or current event. They would see the interactive SMART board at the front of the class which has incredibly possibilities when it is used to its full potential. Lessons can be recorded and then posted as PDF files, or as a podcast for students to retrieve from home if they were sick or absent. I strongly feel that technology is not only a great asset for the classroom, but as a communication piece with the parents and community members to have access to what is going on in the classrooms.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

It's a great question and one that I've had to answer as an assistant superintendent for instruction. Here's a few elements of what I'd say to the school board. As more information is digitized, we move from a top-down broadcast model of communications to one that fosters creativity and collaboration. The digital age devalues lower-order thinking skills but provides tools that allow us to analyze, evaluate and create. New technologies can put our students in charge of the information they access, store, analyze and share. Many of our students only have access to those tools in our schools. They have the right to participate in the digital age. Investing in technology should not be an thoughtless response. New technology does not necessarily improve the quality of instruction (We have all sat through dull PowerPoint presentations that were as "mind-numbing" as an old filmstrip.) We should continue to look for a ROI on our technology investments, but it may not be tracked in test scores that simply measure lower order recall of information. A better metric would ask if a technology helped us to create learning experiences that provoke student reflection in a new, more engaging and collaborative way. Such as... Wordle, a free Web 2.0 offering allows students to visualize and interpret text. Google docs allows students to share their thinking in a way that is difficult to replicate on paper. Web access and social networking allows students to collaborate beyond the confines of the classroom and school day. Here's an example of all three put to use in a collaboration by a self-directed international group of teachers (It was mainly coordinated / promoted via Twitter.) "Build Literacy Skills with Wordle" http://bit.ly/PHKgF Shouldn't our students have access to the technologies that allow them to create, collaborate and share their thinking on subjects that matter to them?

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

See my comments at http://strangethoughtsbyjohn.blogspot.com/

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I think I would tell the board that we need to use technology because our students are surrounded by it everywhere except at school. They come to us many times with the experience of creating work using technology and they more and more expect to be able learn this way in school as well. I argue that technology can make it easier to help kids think at a higher level. It can make it easier to help students understand how to use critical thinking skills. It is being used by the other most powerful nations in the world to effectively take control of global commerce. The question we need to ask ourselves is, Do we want the next generation to be key players in world? We are not seeing increases in state assessment scores, but do state assessments really shows us whether or not a student will be able to compete in tomorrow's global economy? Obviously, cramming computers into classrooms is not the answer. Just ask Clayton Christensen. I believe the answer lies in professional development. Do not just teach teachers how to use the technology, but show them and teach them how it can be utilized to facilitate higher level think. Give them solid examples of how disruptive technologies can help them help students make connections that are meaningful using the technology they know and love. I can't accept that the idea that we should stop using technology in school. I do however think that our the past several years have not been all that successful. I have hope that many are headed in the right direction. "Listening" and participating in conversations with other technology educators has shown me that there are people out there who have the right ideas. Now is the time more than ever that those ideas should get pushed forward.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Ben -- I do enjoy reading your thoughts -- but am having a very hard time with this sentence: Why should your district continue to use and pursue technology? Because it is putting tech into a box by itself -- Do we hear the question -- Why should your district continue to use and pursue pencils, paper, maps, books, calculators (oh wait, we did have a big discussion on that one)? My honest thoughts are until "TECH" is no longer seen as an addition but a constant....it will always be debated, questioned, and ignored. My question to the district would be "Why should your district continue to not offer the most learning opportunities for your students?" Perhaps I have rose-colored glasses on and hope someday all teachers would want to offer the ad many learning options for their students. I just believe that the word TECH is tripping everyone up. Jen

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

One word: affordances. Technology should be adopted/integrated where it affords opportunities that were either not possible without it or where it affords "better"/more efficient ways. Think of all that technology "affords" for teaching and learning. Let me just list a few for starters: 1. Connections/collaboration/communication 2. Anytime, anywhere learning 3. Data processing (you knew I had to use the word "data" somewhere in this comment) Each of those affordances deserves blog-length treatments; they're huge. To me, they are some of the parts of the "game" that have been changed by technology. Wish I had more time...end of semester...

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Great post! Exemplifies why the standardized tests don't show the true influence a school is having with their students. We are testing on yesterday's thoughts while teaching to the future.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

To piggyback on the earlier comment about what technology "affords": - Technology affords a student with weak fine motor skills an opportunity to produce work that looks the same as that produced by classmates. This alleviates some of the friction that erodes the self-esteem of such a student. - Technology affords a student with weak decoding skills access to the same texts as his/her peers. Understanding the content/ideas was never the issue for this child. Now, technology allows them to prove to peers and teachers that they too can handle the sophisticated ideas presented in print texts. It would be difficult (impossible!) to explain to these students why my school board was no longer going to continue to use and pursue technology.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

The problem isn't the technology; the problem is the test. The standardized tests we use can't assess the learning technology produces and technology doesn't necessarily produce the sort of learning assessable by standardized testing. Use the right ruler and you'll get valid measurements; otherwise you're trying to measure apples by looking at oranges.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I agree with a comment posted earlier about technology along students to complete work on a more level playing field. When students create smarboard presentations, they are typing, inserting pics, etc. Not all students are artists, but they can create artistic work with the assistance of technology. I view the use of technology as exposing students to what they will see in the workplace and in higher ed. I don't feel all teachers need to use technology and a lot of it. Some are really good at using one piece in their classrooms and also can use a lot. It is the exposure that counts.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

To piggy-back on earlier comments regarding what technology affords...it affords access.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

This is an excellent question, and I'm glad Ben brought it up. First, Peter Pappas had an excellent response in the first comment. Well, said. School ARE asking this question, and many times for a good reason. In a well-functioning learning environment, every support resource, including technology, should justify its status on a regular basis. Every resource should help advance the mission and goals of the district, and many school districts need to confess a disconnect in the past 10-20 years between the objectives in the classroom and the objectives in the server room. A self-serving technology program is destructive to learning, and should be held accountable. A generally good indicator of such dysfunction is when principals, teachers, and students (as a majority interest) don't view technology as indispensable to learning. As learning technology practitioners and leaders the 80/20 rule should apply, with the lion share of our efforts directed toward helping teachers and students effectively use technology to enhance learning. In every school I've visited or worked with, that degree of focus and priority bears the fruit of a pedagogical transformation in which teachers become guides, students become learners, and technology becomes essential (and almost invisible). Unfortunately this is far too rare, and most districts' time, energy, and money spent on technology initiatives yield fragmented implementations due to mis-aligned interests pulling in separate directions: Administrators and board members want measurable results on standardized tests, technology staffers want security and ease of management, and teachers want technology to get the hell out of the way so they can do something meaningful. Often, there is no apparent curricular driver for the technology to be found. We get caught up in debate over content filtering, 1:1 programs, SMART Boards versus Promethean, Mac versus PC, and management of student data, but forget to ask what we need to facilitate learning. When decision-makers see millions of dollars spent on the purchase and support of rooms full of equipment that do nothing to catalyze progress, the question, "Why technology?" is quite fair game. My response to this question would consist of a few reciprocating questions of my own: Is it a core value of our school district to prepare students for the world the are about to enter? What does that world look like? Is it practical to expect students to acquire the skills and competencies they'll need to succeed (either in college or in the workforce) without also providing them access to the very interface of this flattened world we live in? The (hopefully) obvious answers should lead us to apologetically borrowed terminology from the current White House Administration. Education technology is "too important to fail" because technology itself has become too integral to the way the rest of the world functions. We just have to make sure the resource needs of learning direct technology, and prioritize effort that leads to meaningful change.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Wow, what a fortuitous article! Why technology? Well, it can certainly increase the speed in which students are able to find the answers they need. Case in point: what happens when we come across something we're not familiar with and we want more information and access to expertise to help us get closer to understanding? It happened to me ( see http://preclectic.com/?p=675 ) and made me curious about how often students are allowed to solve problems the way the other 21st century citizens do. Why technology? Technology is, or should be, about using the best tool for accomplishing a given task. While it's certainly possible to learn without using hardware, software, and digital resources, will casting these tools aside increase the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. I doubt it. Thanks for the opportunity to share my views!

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Faster, Cheaper, Better. That is the mantra here in Silicon Valley for any tech advance and it applies to education too. Take just the replacement of paper textbooks with online media. A netbook can be had now for about $300. A textbook costs $150. The laptop however has access to almost limitless information and can be used to create. The paper textbook just sits there, static boring text and weighs as much as 4 laptops. I have posted on this before ( http://www.mathopenref.com/site/techreasons.html ) so I will not repeat it here, but online education tools are better, cheaper, lighter, and faster than paper textbooks.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Why should your district continue to use and pursue technology? Ben is correct, it is not an easy answer. I believe that this is a critical pivotal time in educational technology, and in education in general, and I believe that as such, there will be a large number of children unprepared for the rigors of life in a technological world. There is such a disparity across the United States in regard to the "haves and the have-nots." Schools that have full technological integration, where teachers and students are communicating freely and safely across states and countries are countered by schools that have just received connectivity but have not had professional development to harness the power of web collaboration. Various school mottos say: The Race For Excellence Has No Finish Line Committed To Excellence In Education Preparing Students Image by Getty Images via Daylife For Success In A Changing World We Work Best When We Work Together Teaching Turning Today’s Learners Into Tomorrow’s Leaders The US Department of Education states: "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Getting back to the question, why should districts continue to use and pursue technology? Because we have stated, at the US, state, and county levels that we agree to "foster educational excellence". Simply put, it is our responsibility. That's why.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I should have mentioned that my latest post referred to in an earlier comment also respond, in part, to Peter Pappas and William Chamberlain.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I wholeheartedly agree with Jen on this one. Tech is a constant and shouldn't even be thought of as discrete from how a classroom and a school functions. There was a blog post recently, contending that Acceptable Use Policies were no longer needed. (http://www.edjurist.com/blog/acceptable-use-policies-becoming-a-relic.html) They contend in that article that technology is no longer something separate from how students learn. Therefore, it shouldn't be given a different set of permissions from other student behavior and activity. I believe that this notion is right on and can be extended to the question you ask, Ben. In a way, I feel that the question isn't whether or not we should "use technology". The question is whether or not we should rethink how we do what we do (teachers and administrators alike). Technology, among other things, has shown us new ways to teach, learn and grow. However, it's also challenged us to change the system. That's a very uncomfortable spot for some, and the easiest way to shore up the status quo is to fall back on the traditional viewpoints. Therefore, we suddenly ask "why use technology." We might as well ask "why use new methods to engage our students?". Or, we could ask "why give our students experiences that will be valuable for their future?".

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Thank you everyone for such incredible comments. Just so you all know, I do plan to aggregate all the input and include many of these ideas in my next post. Once again, you help prove how learning is an experience best shared with others.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

It is surprising that teachers would be reluctant to implement technology in their classroom. I would want to think that some of us become complacent and afraid of change. One of the reason why we have not seen technology as an effective tool is because teachers implementing and using it might not master the art of its use themselves therefore they do not employ it properly and students benefit very little.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

The simplest example I can give is what has taken place on our campus this year with one class. Through different avenues of technology, we were introduced to a young Sudanese refugee who was in Israel, looking for a way to come to the U.S. and then get his education so that he could go back to his country and show them what was wrong with his country and help the people better themselves. Our students practically adopted him, started working on ways to get him content, creating lessons and podcasts for him so that he was and is able to practice his english and different lessons and then a couple fo times a week they would skype with this young man and visit, and question, and he would answer their questions with and about his situation and the situation of his country and Israel all of this taking place via the web and skype, and wiki's. These students trul;y understand slavery in the world, oppression of peoples, nations and races. They truly understand and can see and hear the impact of their learning and the fact that they have access to technology and the difference it can make. These are kids I want leading in the future. To deny that would be denying the chance for our students to lead the way to better places and people. Paul R. Wood

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

Back in 1991 my parents insisted that I take keyboarding. I complained. "Why keyboarding?" They insisted it would be a skill needed in college and the workplace of the future. I'm not sure whether they were really right or completely wrong.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I'm late to this conversation, but I agree with Jen Wagner's comment about not liking the question (while very much liking the thinking going on around the question). I would pose two different questions we need to address first. 1. Why learn? I think a discussion around this might help with what you're trying to get at. 2. Why should your district continue? I think leaving off the last five words of your question is much more interesting.

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

I'm late to this conversation, but I agree with Jen Wagner's comment about not liking the question (while very much liking the thinking going on around the question). I would pose two different questions we need to address first. 1. Why learn? I think a discussion around this might help with what you're trying to get at. 2. Why should your district continue? I think leaving off the last five words of your question is much more interesting

Why Technology? by Ben Grey

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Why Technology? by Ben Grey

yes about question i think districts have to stand up for the promotion and implemention of technology to compeat with the modren ages katty george special education lecturer in pass4sure JN0-100 oxford college usa