I recently read yet another article that questioned the effect of using technology in education. I believe it stated that there are 3.6 million educators using edtech as the basis for the post. The post itself was well done, but throughout my reading I was troubled by what defined an edtech-using educator. How is it determined that an educator is truly an edtech user?
I have been in meetings where educators had to fill out questionnaires asking about their technology experience. They claimed to be technology-using educators based solely on their use of Power Point for lectures. Technically using Power Point for a lecture does require technology, but that is like claiming to be a social media guru after using Facebook to only follow some family members who post their family vacation pictures at every opportunity.
If we were to do a survey of ten educators who claim to be edtech-users and six of them base their claim on power point lectures alone, and two use tech to send digital worksheets to their students, and the final two educators have students using tech apps for collaboration, curation, communication and creation of content, we could confidently claim that Edtech is not having a great effect on learning. It would be effective for probably less than 20% of the students. The next obvious question would be, how much of an effect is tech having on learning in the classes of those final two educators alone? I imagine the resulting percentage would be a much more positive influence than the other classes, but we lump everyone together.
If we are to establish data on the effects of technology in education, we need to first establish a valid method of evaluating the information from a level playing field. We need to evaluate the experience of the educators claiming to use it. Teachers, who have been identified as users of tech to teach need to, at the very least, be digitally literate. Consequently, we first need to define what is meant by digitally literate. It should not require that a person needs expertise on every application available, but it does assume at the least a comfort with some tools for collaboration, curation, communication and creation of content, the very things we want our students to learn. How many schools can claim a majority of their teachers and administrators have such a comfort level with technology?
In order to determine the effect of technology on learning for students, we need to establish the effects of technology on teaching for teachers. Let us collect data from tech-savvy teachers who model tech use as much as they would hope for their students’ use to be. We need to clearly state what we expect a technology-literate educator to be. It is no longer acceptable to allow educators or administrators to determine what they are minimally going to commit to when it comes to learning tech for professional development. We have reached a point where what was minimally accepted even five years ago is not acceptable now. We must have higher standards for educators if we have certain expectations for students. The education system does not create what society demands for students to survive and thrive in this technology-driven world. It does however need prepare kids for that very life.
Of course this will never be a popular position to take with most educators. They have all attended school for years to prepare for their positions. Their preparation to become an educator was left in the hands of the colleges and universities under the scrutiny of accreditation organizations. The question is how do those institutions stay relevant in an ever-changing technology-driven world?
If the demands of the world that we live in keep evolving and changing at a pace never before experienced in history, we need to adjust what we are doing to meet those demands. We cannot count on 20th Century methodology to prepare our kids for 21st Century demands. Before we redefine what we expect from our students, we need to first redefine what we expect from their educators. If we need to determine if technology is having a positive effect on learning, we need to determine if it is being equally provided to students by educators who have a thorough understanding of technology and are flexible enough to meet the inevitable changes that technology fosters. As always, if we are to better educate our kids, we need to first better educate their educators.
Hello Tom,
As a minor contributor to the current revisions of the ISTE standards, https://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students
I am proud and enthusiastic about the results. The 2016 ISTE-S standards focus on learning dispositions supported by digital tools and modern learning skills. The new ISTE standards for teachers will be released in just a few weeks. My recommendation is for teachers to review and discuss these professional learning dispositions and engage in activities to develop competencies for each of the seven standards for teachers. Each standard will be supported with four or five indicators which can be written in the form of rubrics to gauge progress towards professional goals. Fortunately, the language in the ISTE standards parallels the language of 21st Century Skills, the Danielson framework, and many current state and local learning standards. Knowing, discussing, and practicing towards these targets will help clarify expectations for teachers, and ultimately students. I am looking forward to the unveiling of the ISTE-T 2017 standards because I feel they place a proper emphasis on learning dispositions supported by technology.
Bob
The short answer to the headline question is “yes”.
I draw on my own experience as an experienced practitioner of information technology to expand on that answer, and to address some of Tom’s points. I have delivered learning to both students and fellow lecturers in this context.
When either planning a lesson or working impromptu, I draw on whatever information technology solution is most appropriate for the task of the moment. It often happens that IT is not relevant at that moment, and so it would not occur to me to try to use it. In no particular order, and far from being exhaustive, I use PowerPoint, Google Docs, html/css, Scratch, Javascript, Java, GIMP, PhotoFiltre, XML, Linux, VLC, C, Visual Basic, Blackboard Collaborate, email and Twitter. While it would be impractical to expect even a majority of teachers and lecturers to have even half of this breadth, I think that it is the *attitude* of { (1) being wiling to harness whatever technology is most appropriate to the moment, and (2) the willingness to learn new technology } that is crucial if we are to best serve today’s learners.
I must confess that I have neither the political expertise nor the social connections to make this apparent to decision-makers. All I can hope is that others will pick up these ideas and run with them.
This is fantastic Tom. College and University has BADLY underprepared us for teaching. This isn’t entirely their fault but the rapid expanse of tech and dirt slow approval of PD.
Most of what I have learned in tech has been self taught reading sites like yours, Richard Byrne’s and others.
I consider myself light years behind many teachers but was sent by my district to the ICE conference on tech twice.
I 100% agree that teachers are the solution to the education problem we currently face.
Thanks Tom!