Foundations of Technology in Education

Social and Historical Foundations

The debate over the role that technology should play in education began in the early years of the 20th century. Organized state controlled schooling first appeared in the 19th century as a social institution. According to Kerr, (2005) the key demand of the schools was basically to produce a literate worker, someone who could follow instructions and operate unfamiliar types of machinery, make simple adjustments to that equipment and function well as a solitary cog in an industrial machine (p.1005). Societal changes as well as changes in the job market have resulted in a need for change. These changes demand a worker be able to collaborate, to find solutions to more difficult problems and to take part in the decision making process in their organizations. Kerr (2005) believes “Today’s image of why computer-supported learning is desirable is linked more to notions of transfer (real world situations and problem solving; simulations; active learning), remedial support (students working with a patient; non-judgmental tutor), collaborative or team effort (working and learning in groups) and identification and application of practical information (searching the Internet and evaluating materials located there)” (p.1006). School agencies at all levels invest time and money into technology plans, teacher training, and helping teachers integrate the technology into their classrooms.
There is great enthusiasm for using technology; however, there is a lack of supporting evidence to show that its use leads to improved student learning. Multiple issues contribute to the discrepancies: how well are the teachers trained in using the technology; are the teachers confident in the use of the technology; how easy is the hardware or software to use; does the school system support the software being used; how motivated are the students to learn and use the new technology; how will student learning be assessed; finally are the parents and the community willing to accept the new technology.
It is evident that the enthusiasm for using technology out weighs the questions that emerge because of the attention that is paid to technology in education. Schools push for smaller classes, better-prepared teachers, improved testing, and a more culturally diverse curriculum. Yet Kerr (2005) says, technology seems to have a particular power and its extensive use in schools is a position strongly supported not only by educators but also by business groups, local citizen initiatives, parent organizations and so on (p. 1006)
In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education published a report stating that we were producing a generation of illiterate Americans in the fields of science and technology. This report received tremendous attention and lead to an era of education reform. Zhao (2006), writes, education reforms have generally not changed, let alone improved, U.S. schools (p.28). According to Zhao (2006), Bill Gates summed it up this way in a report at the National Education Summit on High Schools in 2005, “U.S. schools are not only in trouble – they’re “obsolete” (p.28).
This leaves administrators, teachers, politicians and everyone concerned asking: “Did reforms overlook the real problem and try to fix something that wasn’t really broken?” (Zhao, p. 29) Schools are still facing a wave of education reform similar to that, which followed the 1983 report. At the National Education Summit on High Schools, it was reported that China graduates six times as many engineering majors as the U.S. and South Korea and Japan graduate four times as many. The U.S. is falling behind in the engineering/knowledge worker field because our students do not test as well as their peers in Asian countries. Reformers recommend dealing with the crisis the same way as they did the first time around, they just vow to work harder this time to implement the changes.
“The push for ubiquitous computing (UC) relies on an understandable and well-intentioned belief that teaching and schooling need to be transformed. This view appears credible based on large-scale criteria, such as test scores relative to other countries, drop-out rates, and economic changes. And the use of technology to achieve this goal is attractive, given the dramatic advances that have recently taken place,” according to DeWitt, (2005, p.6).
Ubiquitous means to be everywhere. Technology is ubiquitous. Your new car has a computer in it; you buy a hamburger at a fast-food restaurant they use a computer to sell it to you, no matter where you go you run into a computer. Unfortunately, there are still schools today without computers or where the only computers they have are in a corner to be used only on special occasions. Home environments are rich in computer technology while many school environments are impoverished. According to Horn (2005), in many places schools are beginning to offer ubiquitous computing to students in one-to-one laptop classrooms (p.7). UC does not mean that students do all of their work on the computer, it simply means they have technology available to them as a tool. Books and teachers remain a part of the system. Students in laptop classrooms get excited about research. They spend more time on task, and learn to cooperate and share learning. According to Horn (2005), we need to prepare students for the future through ubiquitous computing for all students” (p.8).
DeWitt wrote that even though it was important to teach students to use software it was also important to teach them the effects of the tools they were using so they could make informed choices about technology. DeWitt’s approach is based on two premises: “First, the technology available to students two decades from now will be different than what is available today. Second, and more significant, technology use has consequences” (p.7). True UC will not be achieved unless fundamental changes are made in our educational systems. Declining enrollments, huge deficits, campuses that are falling apart, pressure for improved test scores, makes it difficult for schools to invest the money needed to implement UC.
Educational Foundations
Technology can be used to rebuild teaching and learning concepts. Bull (2005) states, “the majority of instruction in schools still occurs in the classroom. Yet, ironically, the majority of technology use currently takes place outside the classroom” (p.42). A one-to-many paradigm is a theme looked at by the National Technology Leadership Summit. According to Bull (2005), Susan Patrick observed, “that a typical student has fewer than 30 minutes of computer access per week in school. She contrasted this with the extensive access to technology outside of school that has been documented in numerous studies” (p.44). Schools are on the horizon of a new age of classroom technologies. A never before seen investment has linked the majority of classrooms to the Internet in a very short period of time. Projection systems have been designed for classrooms that can be used with the lights on. Moreover, a plethora of digital devices have come onto the market for the schools to use from the digital camera to the digital microscope.
At the same time that all of these new technologies are coming available Bull points out (2005), “the climate of increased focus on accountability makes it more difficult for teachers to explore innovative approaches to learning” (p.44). These new technologies can facilitate understanding and engage students in ways that go far beyond what the traditional classroom could, but the teacher must be prepared to use them. However, not only is there cost to purchase these new tools and to train the teachers to use them, but it must be noted that teachers must reconfigure lesson plans, redo the activities that go with the lesson plans and modify the assessments to make effective use of the new technology. Research is necessary to best assess how the new technology will be used most effectively.
Signs are beginning to show ubiquitous computing taking a foothold in the K-12 environment. According to Swan et al (2005), this vision is accompanied by a need for systematic research to investigate its effect, which is especially important given the argument that technology can play a more significant role in education and everyday life if it becomes more human-centered and less visible. (p. 99) Handheld computers are becoming increasingly more popular in the K-12 classroom. Swan et al (2005) reports that “Early evaluation indicates that teachers and students respond favorably to handheld devices, and suggest handheld computers have the potential to affect student learning positively across curricular topics and instructional activities.” (p.100) Handheld computers support learning outside of the classroom because of their portability.
However, their limited size can also be a liability as well. The small screen and the lack of a keyboard, especially on the elementary level can become a real disadvantage. Full size keyboards can be attached to them, but they are expensive and cumbersome. Students liked the beaming feature for sharing information. The findings also indicate an increase in student motivation to learn and an increase in participation learning activities. There was also an indication that teachers needed to be trained in case of technology problems, be it equipment problems, or technical support.
A second technological device to be tried in mass and more recently with the improvement of wireless technology is the laptop. Barak et al (2006), writes, “Indeed, wireless technology in general – and wireless laptops in particular – have the potential to become an integral component of teaching and learning, as well as to change the way class communication and information flows.” (p. 246) Studies have indicated an increase in student motivation, an improvement in student problem solving skills, an improvement between the disciplines with the use of laptops in the classroom. Like anything, the laptop did have some disadvantages: some students used it for non-learning emails; some used it for surfing the Web. Some students indicated that it was a distraction for them while they were in class. Barak et al (2006) concluded, “the use of wireless laptops within a large lecture hall classroom successfully supported students’ active learning and problem-solving activities and gave students an opportunity to share thoughts, difficulties, and ideas with peers and instructors.” (p.258)
“During the last decade, the use of computer–based technology in college education has dramatically increased to include emerging technology for visual presentation, simulation, accessing course materials, and World Wide Web resources, and interactivity,”(p. 293) according to Debevec et al (2006). When used properly multimedia instruction will increase student learning because the student will be learning through different modes. Debevec et al (2006) defines the term “multimedia” as using some combination of text, graphics, animation, video, music, voice, and sound effects to communicate. (p. 294) Some students perform better with the use of multimedia while others performed better under the lecture format without the computer-aided instruction. In the end, the key to success was attendance. According to Debevec (2006), “some students in this study chose a more technology-driven route while others chose a more traditional route and both were able to maximize their performance given that they attended class and gained the benefits of the multimedia presentation and discussion.” (p. 305)
Technology and Society
One of the largest social websites used today is Myspace.com. According to Dateline on April 11, 2006 Myspace had over 60 million members, of those 22% are under 18 years of age. Myspace forbids children 13 and under to sign up for a Myspace account. They encourage people when they start their account not to post personal information. Myspace is a personal site where a person can set up a page about them and then invite others to join their “space”. Then they can chat with each other over the Internet. On a social level, I do not see any harm in Myspace. When it first started up and they did not have the restrictions they currently have, I would not allow my children to have one, even though they were adults, they were using my computer. Now that Myspace has added the restrictions they have hired Microsoft to help with safety issues I have allowed my children to start Myspace accounts. I do however restrict them from putting on where they graduated from high school as a request from the school. Educationally I do not see any advantage to Myspace at all. At least not from a schools point of view. From a parents perspective educationally I could use Myspace to teach my child about the dangers of sexual predators or anyone misrepresenting themself on the Internet for whatever reason.
Conclusion
As the needs of society changed, technology advanced. The need for the technology to be taught in the schools has grown with the changes in society. Schools have gone from having blackboards to multimedia classrooms. They have classrooms with laptops or handheld computers instead of pen and pencil. According to McAnear “the ISTE currently have infrastructure and technology for integrated systems that combine data, curriculum, resources, tools, assessments, delivery, and reporting, all at the fingertips of the educators. Driven by No Child Left Behind, efforts are underway to build these systems at the state and district levels.” (p.4) As soon as the school has a curriculum they can look at instructional strategies. Technology supports instructional strategies.
“The important concept is that we need a framework to hang these instructional strategies on. They aren’t effective unless we know what to teach and have a model of how students really learn….A similar analogy can be made for technology. It can’t by itself improve learning, but combined with a well-thought out learning model and curriculum plan including instructional strategies, it can accelerate the process from development to results.” (p.4) according to McAnear (2005)

References
Barak, M., Lipson, A., & Lerman, S. (2006). Wireless laptops as means for promoting active learning in large lecture halls. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(3), 19-245-263. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
Bull, G. (2005). Cultivating whole-class inquiry. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32 n8 p42,(44), 2. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
Dateline, MSNBC, Myspace makes new online safety push. AP updated April 11, 2006
Retrieved 2/12/2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12256764/ .
Debevec, K., Shih, M., & Kashyap, V. (2006). Learning strategies and performance in a technology integrated classroom. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(3), 15-293-307. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database
DeWitt, S. W., & Horn, P. S. (2005). Ubiquitous computing--are we crazy? Point/Counterpoint. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(8), 3-6-8. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
Kerr, S. T. (2005). Why we all want it to work: Towards a culturally based model for technology and educational change. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(6), 12-1005-1016. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
McAnear, A. (2005). Starting at the very beginning. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(8), 4. Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
Swan, K., van't Hooft, M., Kratcoski, A., & Unger, D. (2005). Uses and effects of mobile computing devices in K-8 classrooms. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(1), 14-99-112 Retrieved 2/8/2007, from ERIC database.
Zhao, Y. (2006, May, 2006). [Electronic version]. Educational Leadership, 63(8) 28-31. Retrieved 2/10/2007, from ASCD database.