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The Role of Technology in the Systemic Reform of Education and Training: Part 3
Current Use of Technology in Education
"In the 1980s, reform efforts tried to improve student performance by increasing course requirements," according to Means and Olson (1994). "Reformers did not, however, examine the way that teaching and learning unfold." Technology applications "exist primarily on the periphery of a school's instructional program" (Farrell and Gring, 1993). "Many technology initiatives are unconnected to the school's improvement activities and not part of any long-range plan.
Means and Olson (1994) believe that earlier attempts to introduce technology into schools failed because "the attempts were based on the wrong model of teaching with technology. Product developers believed in their content knowledge, pedagogical techniques, and in the power of technology to transmit knowledge to students. With satisfaction, the developers touted the so-called 'teacher-proof' instructional programs." Means and Olson observe that the vendors must have been surprised that their applications were never used for very long. Another primary problem is that the applications were an "imperfect and incomplete match with the bulk of the core curriculum" (Means and Olson (1994). They believe that education reform and the use of technology is a basis for optimism.
Ohler (1991) lists a number of ways that distance education has been used.
"Schools are not moving to integrate technology, nor are they keeping up with the latest development; in fact, they are falling farther and farther behind as the equipment they purchased in the 1980s becomes obsolete and they are unable to purchase new equipment" (Elkmer-Dewitt 1991). "Schools are out of step with the times," according to David (1991). "Inside and out, schools today look very much the way they did a hundred years ago: the buildings, the size and shape of classrooms, the divisions based on age, and the ways of delivering instruction have changed very little. Yet the world has changed remarkably. Families, jobs, social organizations and entertainment look nothing like they did at the turn of the century. From inside a school, however, one would hardly know that visual images, rapid motion, technology, and change are pervasive in the world outside."
"Schools are neither organized nor funded in a way that enables them to keep up with changes in knowledge or changes in technology used to store and present such knowledge" (Elkmer-Dewitt 1991; Levinson 1990). "Schools have defined technology as computers. There are many types of technology in addition to computers that will have an equal or greater impact on learning" (Conley, 1991). "Textbooks are an obsolete technology, yet they continue to be central to the way schools conceive of teaching and learning" (Conley, 1993). "Statistics such as the number of computers per teacher are worse than useless as a measure of progress to determine effective use of technology in schools; careful examination of schools' attempts to use computers yields results that are dismaying and disheartening" (Borrell 1992).
Conley (1993) says that the most striking observation one reaches about technology in education over the past dozen years is not its impact but its lack of impact." Informational technologies have been adopted in the central offices, but "technology has not revolutionized learning in the classroom, nor led to higher productivity in schools. While telecommunications may prove to be a powerful tool for restructuring, its use at this point is primarily to expand, not to change, the existing curriculum by offering courses such as physics or French to schools not otherwise able to offer them and by employing traditional instructional strategies." Certain technologies have definitely found niches in education, but Smith and O'Day (1990) say that the technology of the last two decades has changed schools far less than it has the worlds of work, entertainment and communication. On the whole, they say, teachers have simply closed their classroom doors and gone right on teaching just as they were taught.
According to the Information Infrastructure Task Force (1994) (IITF), while computers and some communications capabilities are present in American schools, high speed communications technology is limited to very few classrooms. Substantial local infrastructure investments will be necessary to realize the promise of NII applications. The installed base of computers, modems, networks, and video technology indicates that growth has been, at best, uneven. Most schools, communities, and state and local governing bodies have neither recognized nor acted on the need to build the technological capability to access the information superhighway. A key, but not well understood requirement, is for technical expertise to install and maintain high speed connections to the NII. Once the high speed communications linkages of the NII are brought to the schoolhouse door, the challenge is to build the internal high speed linkages within the building to connect the user hardware.
Instructional video has made the most notable inroads into the schools. Seventy-five percent of America's schools have cable television, and half of its teachers use video material in their courses (CPB, 1991). The Stars Schools programs are reaching over 200,000 students in 48 states with advanced placement courses in mathematics, science, and foreign language instruction using fiber optics, computers, and satellites. Cassette videotapes for instruction are widely used in schools and work places, and the development of these videotapes for both education and training has become a vigorous industry.
Hundreds of thousands of students in schools, community colleges, and universities now take courses via one-and two-way video and two-way audio communication. In South Carolina, high school students across the state study with a teacher of Russian based in Columbia through South Carolina Educational Television. Boise State University offers a masters degree program conducted entirely over networked computers to students all over the country. The University of Phoenix Online Division offers an undergraduate and graduate degree in business. The Education Coalition (TEC) has formed to collaboratively produce programming for teacher in-service and pre-service, and K-12 social studies programming. The California State University System has distance learning classrooms on each campus which can be linked. The University of Missouri - St. Louis and St. Louis Community College offer courses over the Higher Education Channel (cable) that reaches over three million homes. The TEAMS Star Schools program produced by the Los Angeles County Office of Education has provided mathematics and science programs to over 60,000 fourth through sixth graders throughout the U.S. in one year.
The Department of Defense is investing well over one billion dollars in the development and implementation of networked distributed interactive simulation. This technology, which allows dispersed learners to engage in collaborative problem solving activities in real time, is now ready for transfer to schools and workplaces outside of the defense sector.
The IITF states that the installed base of computers in American elementary and secondary schools is largely incapable of supporting multimedia graphical applications because of obsolete or obsolescent hardware. Eighty percent of the base includes Apple IIs (about 55 percent) and IBM PCs, XTs, ATs or similar class machines (about 24 percent), with limited modern graphic or multimedia capabilities; the remaining part of the base is made up of 10 percent Apple Macintoshes and eight percent IBM compatible 386s or 486s and is capable of supporting high level applications. The number of computers in the schools, 2.5 million, is equivalent to one per classroom (Malmed, 1993).
In a 1993 survey of NEA members, only four percent of teachers reported having a modem in their classroom, while 38 percent reported having access to a modem somewhere in the school building (Princeton, 1993). Another survey found that among 550 educators who are actively involved in using telecommunications, less than half have access to the Internet. They use the Internet services twice as often for professional activities as for student learning activities (Honey and Henriquez, 1993).
In 1994, 3Com Corporation based in Santa Clara, CA committed $1.9 million in cash, personnel and networking equipment to link every high school classroom in San Jose and eventually all 35 schools in the county to each other, and the Internet (Bank, 1994). A four week summer institute at San Jose State University trained 450 teachers, 100 students and 50 administrators to master the technology, and develop teaching methods and curricula that take advantage of the new capabilities. By the end of the second year of the project each teacher will have a computer workstation linked to the network, and four student workstations with access to the Internet through the teacher's computer.
3Com was attracted to Santa Clara because they "did not look at this as a technology issue but as a fundamental change in curriculum development and the way teachers collaborate among themselves and with administrators. Networking is just a piece, but it's a fundamental catalyst" according to Eric Benhamou, 3Com's chief executive. When the network is done, the 33-district network will be one of the largest of any kind in the country. David Katz, director of the San Jose Education Network stressed that this is not a project to teach students to use computers, but "rather to use computers as a tool for learning in general. In a world where al the information is available with a keystroke, the teacher has to change to the role of a facilitator, to help kids learn to find information, to think critically, to decide what's important. In the workplace of the 21st century, that's how value is going to be determined, by your ability to add value to information" (Bank, 1994).
Laser video disc-based programs enable the user to interact with still or moving images and print. Texas, Florida, and West Virginia have approved laser video discs for instruction. In 1990, Texas approved Optical Data Corporation's "Windows on Science" program for use in lieu of textbooks. The corporation's studies strongly suggest that the medium improves a variety of educational outcomes (Hancock and Betts, 1994).
Information collection, according to the IITF (1994) includes location and retrieval of documents such as lesson plans and research reports, but it also includes newer data sources such as CAD databases for workplace technologies and equipment, and multimedia information retrieval from digital libraries that can be accessed by students, workers, or people in homes, libraries, and museums. Over 60,000 electronic bulletin boards are used by more than 12 million Americans every day (Investor's Business Daily, 1994). The annual rate of Gopher traffic on the Internet, which directly represents an effort to use NII facilities to gather information, is growing at an annual rate of approximately 1000 percent (Treese, 1993). The Department of Education has a Gopher server which points to or contains educational research information, such as the AskERIC service and information from sources such as CNN, Academy One, and the Educational Testing Service. NASA Spacelink makes lesson plans on space flight and related science topics available on the Internet. Until compelling applications are available, education will not realize the potential of the NII.
Two-way communication includes communication via electronic mail and conferencing among teachers, students, workers, mentors, technicians, and subject matter experts of every sort (IITF, 1994). Approximately one-quarter of the teachers in Texas regularly sign on to the Texas Education Network, or TENET, to share information, exchange mail, and find resources. A professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University teaches a writing course entirely on-line. Students swap writing projects and discuss their assignments on-line. In the workplace, electronic mail is used by more than 12 million workers, increasing to over 27 million workers by 1995. Just less than a sixth of U.S. homes now have at least one computer connected to a modem, and this percentage is growing rapidly. As of July, 1993, there were four Internet hosts for every 1000 people in the United States. There are now 60 countries on the Internet. About 137 countries can now be reached by electronic mail (Treese, 1993).
Current application of NII capabilities (IITF, 1994) to work place training is more extensive and technologically advanced than educational applications, yet it lags well behind what is needed and available. Workplace training seems to be a case of the haves receiving more and the have-nots remaining neglected. Small firms, those with 100 employees or less, provide about 35 percent of total U.S. employment, but they lack the expertise to provide in-house training, the resources to pay for outside training, and sufficient numbers of people who need training at any one time to justify focused training efforts. Larger firms are more likely to provide training than smaller ones, but the training they provide is mostly limited to college-educated technicians and managers. The lower the level of skills possessed, the less likely the worker is to receive training from any source. Transportable, quality controlled training and lifelong learning could be made readily and inexpensively accessible using the NII and will have a major impact on improving worker skills and workplace productivity.
In Senate testimony, NEA's Kenneth Malley said, "It should be of little surprise then that teachers and others do not have access to new information technologies and telecommunications services. Last year (1993), NEA conducted a nationwide survey to determine classroom teachers' access to computing and telecommunications technologies. Only 12 percent of U.S. classrooms have a telephone. Only four percent of teachers have a modem in their classroom and these are concentrated in affluent districts. Further, only four percent report having any access to Internet. The consequences of this resource scarcity are obvious. A mere six percent of the teachers surveyed reported that they and their students had ever used electronic networks to collaborate with other teachers. Numbers like these would be astounding in a business environment, yet we continue to expect teachers to work educational miracles without even the most basic communication tools. We do not have any choice but to make this investment. What is at stake is the future of these children, the future of these communities, indeed, the future of the nation itself" (Malley, 1994).
Malley (1994) contends that "we will be unable to attain these technological advances without recognizing that we have a larger problem. Many of our schools are simply incapable of accepting the promise of telecommunications. The physical infrastructure of our nation's schools is in need of massive renovation and repair. Three-quarters of the schools in the nation are at or near the end of their useful life. While we can bring the Information Superhighway to their door, many are not prepared to receive it in their classrooms. Many teachers work in classrooms with only one electrical outlet and when workers attempt to install additional electrical wiring, they often encounter asbestos and other hazards brought on by years of neglect. Computers sit in cartons because they cannot be safely installed in rooms with leaky ceilings. Schools may have telephone lines, but they most often extend to the principal's office --not to the teacher's desk, let alone a student's computer."
"The structure of knowledge is rapidly evolving. The division of academic disciplines is no longer appropriate for understanding or solving the problems that exist in the world, yet schools cling to the old structure" (Conley, 1993). "Information is seen less as an end in itself than as a means to an end, an essential ingredient in problem-solving. Curricula that focus on information as an end in itself (fact-based rote learning) can be counterproductive, extinguishing the curiosity and inquisitiveness of the learner and providing little practice in applying information to solve problems" (Conley 1993).
In 1991, then U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin established a Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) which reported five learning areas of increasing importance in the workplace and foundation skills (Whetzel, 1992). Workers use foundation skills--academic and behavioral characteristics--to build competencies on. Foundation skills fall into three domains:
Competencies more closely relate to what people actually do at work. The competencies that SCANS has identified fall into five domains:
"Economic survival in an information society requires being able to work with media, by using computers to navigate and move information effectively" (Wodtke, 1993). It requires being able to relate to and build computer models that address the realities you are working with. It means being able to work with methods that involve computers and a wide range of electronic devices that enable you to communicate and collaborate effectively using electronic media. These thinking skills coupled with hardware and software application skills are becoming the computer literacy essential for survival on many levels - essential for individuals to survive in an information society, for individuals to compete in the job market, for the enterprises of work groups to be competitive in the marketplace, and for countries to compete in the global community" says Wodtke.
Implementation issues center on the fact that technologies "can be used to deliver instruction," but that "does not mean that they will be" (Means, et al, 1993). What has happened in the past is that the technology is adopted by a school but is adapted to traditional school structures and teaching styles if it is flexible, or is discarded if it cannot be adapted (Cohen 1988; Cuban 1986). Cohen contends that the dominant use of distance learning is wider dissemination of a traditional mode of teaching - the lecture. Microcomputers have provided an on-line version of drill-and practice seat work. Piele (1989) suggests that computer labs have failed to transform schools because they are typically not supervised by the classroom teacher so teachers "can ignore them altogether." Cohen (1988) contends that the central instructional program remains much as it was 50 years ago, untouched by the technological revolution going on around it.
Technology has not made a real difference in teaching and learning primarily because of the "imperviousness of the education system to any kind of fundamental change; the barriers that are specific to technology-based changes are very real, but a lesser impediment (Means, et al, 1993). Sheingold (1991b) asserts that it is now understood that the "challenge of integrating technology into schools and classrooms is much more human than it is technological. What's more, it is not fundamentally about helping people to operate machines. Rather, it is about helping people, primarily teachers, integrate these technologies into their teaching as tools of a profession that is being redefined through the incorporation process (p. 1).
Media literacy also plays a part in the use of technology for learning and teaching. To date media literacy skills are seldom taught to teachers or to students. Four principles have been identified by groups working for media literacy (Thoman, 1993)
Media Construct Reality. Media are constructions made through editing in writing or production edits. What is created becomes a version of reality. Understanding the construction process and how the media shape what we know and understand about the world we live in is an important way of helping them navigate their lives in a "global and technological society."
Media Use Identifiable Techniques. Camera angles, music, special effects, layouts and lighting heighten responses to media and vie for attention. Each medium has production codes that are used to construct media - and can be used to de-construct media so that people are less susceptible to manipulative uses.
Media are Businesses with Commercial Interests. Corporations spent $130 billion in advertising in 1991 - the equivalent of $6 per week for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. Young people are susceptible to advertisers; media literacy provides a grounding to help students gain perspective on what's really important and how to make decisions about commercial messages and the program content that is designed to make sure the right audience is watching when the commercials appear.
Media Contain Ideologies/Value Messages: All media--TV, movies, news, sports, game shows, video games, even supposedly objective newspapers--contain points of view. Media literacy aids in recognizing the point of view and the entertainment. The job for educators is to teach critical thinking and critical reading of all media so that people, young and old, can recognize what values are embedded--and accept or reject them.
Interactive instruction systems, especially those combining video disc and computer technologies, are gaining widespread acceptance within educational and training communities according to Rockley L. Miller (date unknown). These systems have been available for over ten years, with hundreds of off-the-shelf programs and custom applications produced to date.
Johnstone (1991) reported that one of the assumptions "inherent in the design of most contemporary distance learning systems is the need for interaction between students and their teachers. Do teachers need to see one another for effective learning and interaction to take place? Is real-time student-teacher or student-student interaction really the best or only model?" Johnstone reports two instances where teachers said that instructors for computer mediated classes reported higher levels of critical thinking than do traditional class discussions and papers.
Harasim (1989) and Quinn, Mehan, Levin, and Black (1983) found that most of the verbal exchanges in face-to-face classrooms come from the instructor, while the reverse is true on-line. Harasims' research indicated that in an active on-line learner-to-learner exchange, between 60 -80 percent of the verbal exchange in an on-line class comes from the students which indicates a high level of interaction and collaboration. Harasim found that communication in an interactive on-line class is more equitably distributed among class members, whereas a conventional classroom frequently has one or two students dominating the discussion while the majority remain silent.
Quinn, et al (1983) noted that students in their electronic classroom system produced longer and more complex responses than in the classroom groups they compared. The researchers observed that the time-delay in asynchronous communication contributes to the quality and quantity of student interaction. They report that the delay between receiving a message and sending a response allows reflection and the time to compose a substantive answer.
Students using audio conferencing for interaction in conjunction with video programs delivered by satellite, produced longer and more in-depth interaction with a facilitator. Smaller groups produced longer and more in-depth responses than did larger groups (Lane, 1990).
A survey of studies on the effectiveness of technology in schools concluded that "courses for which computer-based networks were used increased student-student and student-teacher interaction, increased student-teacher interaction with lower-performing students, and did not decrease the traditional forms of communications used" (Interactive Educational Systems Design, 1993).