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Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Assignment 14: Reading: Reasons For Bringing Technology Into Schools

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/

EdTech/reasons.html




From case studies (reference not cited on webpage) the authors determined that there were 6 overarching reasons to bring technology into the classroom:



  1. Support thinking processes
  2. Stimulate motivation and self esteem
  3. Promote equity
  4. Prepare students for the future
  5. Support changes in school structure
  6. Explore technology capabilities

Support thinking processes: i.e., technology provides opportunity for thinking development which is not found through other media.

Stimulate motivation and self esteem: i.e., using technology provides motivating opportunities and thus, helps build self esteem, especially in regards to low income students which leads to #3.

Promote equality: i.e., technology helps provide equal access to educational opportunities.

Prepare students for the future: closely tied to promote equality, educators see technology as a necessary part of their students' futures.

Support changes in school capabilities: a potential to lower boundaries and free up teachers' time for other things (administration, etc.).

Explore technology capabilities: interest in the possibilities and attitude of embracing technology.

While I found this interesting and it all made sense, I wonder how the educators surveyed would feel some years after this study. I think most of us realize that technology does not give us more time, because we are even taking on more duties and responsibilities. In some cases, training people/students in technology use and dealing with problems (hardware/software issues, etc.) take as much time if not more than before the technology was implemented.

I also want to point out that this is an archived US governmental website. While this site is here, I would not be surprised to see it disappear suddenly because it has been taken down. Sad really.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=03web.h22

http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Terrorism/

antiterrorism_chill.html

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