The Future of Computers in Classrooms

In response to Larry Cuban’s article, “Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade,” I would just like to say:

The question of why information technologies have not been as successfully integrated into schooling as they have been in every other major institution in our society seems to be at the heart of Cuban’s inquiry into the future of computers in schools. As he notes, public expectations for schools differ substantially from other institutions, such as business, and there is considerable resistance to changing the status quo of teaching, especially in an era of reform that is reductionist rather than progressive.

Moreover, teaching with innovative technology conflicts with popularly held beliefs about what constitutes good teaching; beliefs that are anchored in our society by a generation that grew up with a relative deprivation of information of technology. However, the same constituency aspires for greater productivity in education of the masses, and thus desires the results that technology-based educational reforms could bring about.

The preservationist doctrine seems to deny the necessity for changes to the underlying structures of schools in order to facilitate greater productivity, even though the basic structures of every other social institution (banking, commerce, communications, travel) have been completely altered by the advent of information technology. I think Cuban is right then when he points out that, “The nature of education must inevitably adapt to the nature of work in society” (p. 8).

It seems clear that the potential for greater efficiencies through technology will eventually be made plausible through, what Cuban calls, an evolutionary scenario of slowly altering school structures through creative uses of technology. Hybrid schools, those that use a combination of time-tested methods and new technologies, have the potential to help “bring schools more in sync with the technological imperatives of the larger society,” (Cuban, p. 11) and thus are a model for the future.

Teachers as Catalysts in the Digital Age

It was interesting for me to find out that it is not computers that are compelling change in teaching practices towards a more constructivist approach. I was set up to believe the premise that technology was the agent of change, to which teachers must inevitably adapt. It made sense, initially, because of how learning is changing among the generations that grow up avidly using new digital technologies.

It was welcome news, then, that teachers have a say in the matter, as the main decision-makers in their respective classrooms. It makes sense that teachers would view technology only as a tool towards their own ends – employed to achieve the goals teachers make with respect to teaching.

I think the most critical change involved is the mindset concerning the role of teacher. By relinquishing their roles as ‘information giver,’ and instead seeing themselves as facilitators of student learning, teachers are able to embrace computer programs which allow their students a greater deal of autonomy in constructing their own understandings, which is what constructivist practices are all about. Relinquishing this control, however, can be difficult for some teachers.

The facts show, however, that more progressive teaching practices are ones that can successfully integrate more technology into them. Computers allow for more student participation, getting them actively involved in their own learning and keeping them interested. It seems like every teacher would want that for their students. However, not all teachers have the same access to technology.

As many teachers’ experiences and reflections lead them to embrace the idea of more student-centered instruction, I think they will embrace computer technologies for the structure and support they can bring to the process. It is still up to the teacher to make these changes, but a supportive environment and more exposure to educational technology could help them along the way. In the end, however, teachers must see technology as helping to accomplish their personal goals for teaching, in order for it to be viewed as a worthwhile means.

Breaching the Digital Divide

In response to Morse’s article, “Ensuring Equality of Educational Opportunity in the Digital Age,” I would just like to say a few things:

First, I believe that the so-called 'digital divide' is becoming an increasingly important issue of equity between students in this progressively more technological age. This disparity in access to computers and Internet by various social groups manifests itself in disparities between educational achievement and professional achievement in the greater world. Studies have proven the correlation between higher education, higher-paying jobs and the use of computers at work. That is why the school system must do its part to ensure equal access to current computer technologies, the skills to use them, as well as the appropriate uses for which they can be employed. I believe this is a legal mandate if we are to live up to the ruling issued so long ago in Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, (1954.)

Next, I believe that right now teachers are in a unique position to potentiallly provide more equity in access to computer technologies. Teachers may serve a gate-keeping function to the use of computer technologies in their classrooms, and thus it is up to them to demonstrate appropriate, effective, and equitable uses of technology during instruction. I found it interesting that Morse remarked on the servant/master roles that students may adopt towards computers; either allowing computers to be the controlling agent of passive students learning, or to use it as a tool which they control to actively engage in learning. Teachers should make every effort to use computers to empower their students, especially minorities and the disabled, and to develop higher-order thinking. I think Morse is right that their experiences with computers impact how students view their roles with respect to this technology, which can have long-lasting effects.

Technology is coming to fill many diverse and powerful roles in our society. Likewise, it should be used to address the diverse needs of students, and encourage their greatest potential.

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