Technology and diets have one thing in common. Neither works unless you work them, and, when it comes to school technology, for the most part, we educators are more like dabblers than implementers.
In a recent New York Times article, Matt Richtel put it bluntly. “Schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning.”
I’m not sure what approach Richtel is talking about. I will be just as blunt. We cannot fairly evaluate something that we have not implemented. We can’t say that a diet didn’t work if we never tried it. Until every student has his or her own device, we have not fully implemented technology. We are still dabbling around the edges of technology integration.
In fact, we educators are unintentionally doing more harm to the argument for more technology than we are doing any good. Because we are so used to “making do” with less, we are actually doing technology integration a disservice by allowing people like Matt Richtel to believing that we have fully implemented technology in our schools when, in actuality, scarce resources are forcing most schools to tinker around the edges giving lip service to technology integration without the tools needed to make it happen school wide.
Novelty, Nicety, or Necessity?
Twenty years ago, computers where a “novelty” in schools. Teachers would tell students, “We’re going to the computer lab tomorrow.” A few innovative teachers were willing to take a risk to use computers and technology as a “special” part of the learning experience in their course.
Since then, technology and computers have evolved to “nicety” status. Schools have both fixed and portable computer labs, but, in general, students don’t use computers in most classes on a daily basis. Computers are “nice,” but not a integral part of the teaching-learning experience. In other words, we can do without them.
I have even gone into schools where students did have their own laptop and I would see signs on the classroom doors “bring your laptops today.” I remarked to one administrator that when those signs disappear, you will know that you have moved from “nicety” to “necessity.”
In the “necessity” stage, computers are just as essential as paper and pencil used to be. I knew that we had reached the “necessity” stage when our teachers started complaining that the repair desk “was not turning around laptops fast enough, and my students can’t participate without their laptop. They are lost without them!”
Learning Is a 24/7 Process
Learning doesn’t stop when the students leave the classroom. If the students are denied access to the resources they used in the classroom, how can they be expected to carry on with the learning process? In most schools, students share computers or they have the use of a computer. In all but a handful of schools across country, we simply aren’t there yet. Until each student has his or her own device 24/7, we haven’t fully implemented technology.
Think about it! What would the classroom be like if we had no paper and not enough pencils or pens to go around? We already know. Students would be writing on pieces of slate with chunks of chalk. Can you imagine a teachers wheeling a cart into a classroom once or twice a week and telling students, “come up and pick up your pencil and paper?”
How extensive would your personal use of technology be if you had to share a computer with two or three other people in your office? My guess is that you would be years behind where you are right now. I know that I would. The fact is that, when it comes to adults, we know that they need their own computing device. Why not our students?
I have believed for a long time that, until each student has his or her own computing device, we have not fully implemented technology and we cannot claim to be serious about integrating technology into instruction. Going from a high school with an excellent computer to student ratio that took years to achieve, my move to a school in which every student had a laptop confirmed for me that my dreams of a paperless classroom and 24/7 learning could be realized.
For example, our district had made a sizeable investment in a well-known content management system (CMS). I was committed to having all our teachers trained and actively using the system. After going to my new school, which had a one-to-one initiative, I realized that my previous efforts were window dressing. Not until I personally witnessed what we could do with a CMS when every student had his or her device, did I realize what a waste of time my efforts were.
All means all, not most!
As long as fixed or portable computer labs are the best that we can do, technology will be a “novelty” or a “nicety.” Only when every student has a personal computing device will technology become a necessity. Until then technology integration is only an experiment, and a partial experiment at that.
To Matt Richtel, I say give every student his or her own device and give us three to five years to fully implement tem and to change the culture of the classroom, then evaluate technology in the schools.
Next: Is BYOD the answer?