Perceptions: Computers and Education

1. “As the third millennium begins, it is evident that the development of digital technology has had and will continue to have a profound, pervasive impact on the course of global civilization” –You know that this is evident when you can be in out in the sticks of west Africa and there as many cell phones as people in a small village. Technology is making our world very small, and it is getting smaller everyday. Educators need to help equip students with the tools necessary to navigate this source of information and community.

2. “The mind coupled with a computer infinitely amplifies its capacity to perform the basic cognitive functions. Yet, there is no configuration of microchips that replicates the interactive, vital interface between mind and emotions – a basic limitation of computers.” – Computers can not replace the human, at least not in the sense that we have emotions and feelings. I think of poor Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As an android he could function as human in the fact that he could make decision, solve problems, communicate, but he still could not feel emotions (well not until they added the emotion chip later in the series). The point is that computers are not able to replace the human, so the human is still a vital part (the part that interjects empathy, value, aesthetics, and other emotions) of the implementation of computers as a tool.

3. “Computer technology has been adapted to amplify the capacity of professionals in virtually every aspect of society – with the exception of the teacher. Rationalizing this reality becomes increasingly difficult, since teaching and learning is an information-intensive process.” – Why is education last? Reluctance to change. How long will it take to catch up? Will we be bale to in the current system of education? Will our system have be modified drastically or thrown out? These are questions that need to be answered in the coming years, if not today.

4. “There is a generalized intuitive feeling that computers should have a vital role in teaching and learning. What is lacking is a sharply focused definition of that role and a strategy for integrating computers into education alongside books and chalkboards – in a mode that secures the teacher’s central role.” –Technology can not be the next sweeping change that takes education by storm. It must be intentionally planned and implemented so that there is buy-in from all stakeholders. The teacher can be replaced, but must have a clear understanding of how technology can and will improve education.

5. “The new literacy –interactive multimedia- offers teachers opportunity to improve the fidelity, the relevancy, and the accessibility of the information driving the teaching-learning process and thus enhance student achievement.” –I enjoy giving my students as many multimedia experiences as possible. If I have a student who has never been to the beach, wouldn’t seeing a video and hearing the sounds of the ocean be much more effective than me explaining my experiences with mere words? Teachers help students to acquire new information. We should use the best methods available.

6. “There is ample evidence that after more than a quarter century of high expectations, dedicated effort, and substantial expenditures, computers have failed to improve what happens in the classroom. Additionally, it appears there has been no serious attempt to analyze and thereby learn from this failure.” –If we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. I think someone famous said something like that. It really rings true with this issue. If we can’t step back and look at why the billions of dollars spent to get computers and the Internet into our schools are not affecting the students’ achievement, then we are only going to continue to buy the new thing without knowing how to make it a part of what we are doing and more importantly without making an impact on the learning that takes place everyday with our students.

Educational technology is a means to an end, the end being increasing student learning. I have chosen these perceptions because they deal with some of the issue that are in the foreground in the path of change that will help lead to the previously stated end. Technology must become a tool in the process of learning, not continue to be the piece added on the top of the current curriculum.

*All quotes taken from Romano(2003)