Premise of article: Teachers change instructional practice over time - specifically toward a constructivist pedagogy. There are interrelated beliefs/causes, that are usually looked at separately by other studies. People are complex; meaning that there are complex reasons how and why teachers teach. Some of the interrelated beliefs include the perspective of the learners, the definition of good teaching, the role of technology in the learner's lives. One participant in the study went all the way, making the classroom completely out of collaborative student work and project-based learning.
Desktop computers have been available for classroom use longer, which is why there are more studies on them. In New York, I wonder why they picked 4th graders to get laptops? Or 7th graders in Maine? And so would each new year of fourth or seventh graders get laptops as well, or would this be a one-year deal to see how it went and then the funding runs out? Or the next legislative session votes in new people who stop the program? Now I see why people can get so passionate about starting a laptop program in the first place.
I think St. Joseph School in Downers Grove has the most comprehensive program I have seen, even down to students performing maintenance. I know more about the program than I do about the teacher's using them, however.
I agree that studies have focused more on how professional development facilitates the use of technology, whereas with these studies they're looking at it from the teacher's perspective, and factoring in the entire spectrum of what influences how that teacher teaches.
My personal perspective on teaching is skewed by a variety of factors:
- teaching K through 8
- teaching to students of higher socioeconomic background, and fairly consistent ethnic backgrounds
- teaching to Catholic school students
- teaching something I know well vs. teaching something new to me
- limitations of available funds and available software and students various medical or learning limits
- time of day/year I teach them
- how stressed I am or they are
- Principals or Administrators pushing and using me as a resource
- how much training or prep time I have had
- what seminar I have attended recently to gather new ideas and try them
In the article, it quoted the ACOT study and 5 stages of technology integration of teachers, but it didn't say what the stages were; very annoying.
There is a need for all students to have a computer or laptop in the classroom, or for the teacher to have consistent access to the lab or laptops to create constructivist pedagogy. It is rare but possible to create that in a one-computer classroom provided the supports are in place.
The word "facilitator" keeps popping up; in my head if not on paper. To have the teacher as facilitator, and not the center of attention seems to be the goal. I find that as ages get younger, the discussion of technology exponentially increases - which technology is better than which and what works best. I saw a Discovery channel program once that stated that 13-year-old Japanese girls were driving the innovations in the cell phone market, with very convincing arguments. I believe that, as that age group purchases or gets purchased for them the most amount of technology. Overall, the discussion about technology has increased everywhere you go; it is such an integral part of society. Yet as with all things, the more people involved in a decision, the less decisions are made, or the less gets done. I also disagree with the premise in the article that parents have to buy the laptops; most programs I know of are loaners with fees.
I identify more with Carol than Stephan or Julia, although I have used all three elements in my classroom; integrating technology projects in the older grades, and drill and practice for the younger grades. My language arts teachers in fifth grade do the word processing - highly guided practice/assignments to help students understand the writing process. I have more of Carol's beliefs of teaching with technology and her classroom sounds a lot like mine. There are some days I feel like Julia where the students have too much freedom, and are too loud, and we as a faculty are working on aligning our curriculum to Archdiocesan and state standards. My math teacher, unlike Stephan, uses a combination of Carol's and Stephan's approaches. She also has set times in the computer lab each week to bring her kids in and do projects as well as drill and practice. My Language Arts teachers for Jr. High also do more project-based assignments with the computer lab than just word processing.
If my administrators were not behind the use of technology, pushing the teachers to show them some way to use the technology of the year during their evals, my school wouldn't be where it is today. I can tell you who is open to new tech, who is an over-achiever when using tech in their classroom, and who is still tech-phobic. I give varying degrees of professional development and tech support to the teachers, speak to them on their individual levels, and I have found that the tech discussions are much more in-depth, much more technical, than I had ever hoped. My teachers know the basics of Word and Powerpoint, use SMARTBoards and MimioXis, have hookups to their TVs, and all use the technology available in some way in their classrooms. This year, with me being maxed-out on jobs, they have turned to each other for more help as well, and are making it just fine. They also listen closely when I tell them how to fix or how I fixed a problem, and they are able to duplicate that if it happens again. They offer suggestions for things for professional development to me. I think it's great. I enjoy my job and it is still challenging - especially this year! But if it wasn't, I wouldn't sign the contract each year.
Two things that initially came out when Apple and IBM hit the market: kids would isolate themselves in their homes, and computers would do away with paper. Both have been blown out of the water, and Stephan commented on the first part of that - students are incredibly more social. They also find ways around blocks by firewalls to stay social throughout the day.
I find that teachers who are very into directed instruction will not move toward a constructivist pedagogy. Like Julia in the study.
I think that if the administration of Woodvale had forced the teachers to use the laptops, that the administration will come in and look at one project being done by the students and teacher, that more integration would take place. These three levels of integration would still exist, but it would force the opportunity to find/figure out something that would work in their classrooms. And once they have a handle on the one project, they tend to do it yearly, maybe modify it a little, but it does change them in some small way. It puts the thought in the back of their minds that this is here to stay, and the administration thinks it's important enough that they need to see what you are doing with it. I do think this study was a "slice of life" that you can find in most schools.
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