Technology Free Education?
So it seems parents of Silicon Valley children are sending their kids to technology free schools. Good for them. My son, a first grader, goes to computer lab already. And I was appalled to learn that his school recently had “electronics day” where kids could bring their ipads, iphones, and whatever else to school as a reward for something. His contribution to technology day was Velcro. A friend of mine told me recently that his nephew was reading a little political philosophy in junior high school. Wow, a bit early for Machiavelli I thought, but more power to them if they actually work their way through some text. Then he told me the assignment: design Machiavelli’s own Facebook page. Yuck.
I’ve never used PowerPoint in my own teaching. Films or film clips are used very sparingly. We read books, we think about books, and we talk about books (to paraphrase the coach in Bull Durham: “you throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.”). And I even (gasp!) lecture sometimes. But I suspect I am in the minority at my college. We are supposed to be on the look-out for new and creative ways to teach and use technology to “enhance the learning experience” or something like that. If all of this technology centered, interactive learning begins already in primary school, it’s no wonder college students can’t sit through a 50 minute lecture! So I tip my cap to those parents in the article. What say you?
h/t to Peter Lawler at The Postmodern Conservative.
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Jun '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
This puts me in mind of a buddy, who had to fight with his daughter's grade two teacher, because the woman would not correct her hand written assignments. You guessed it, Flagg, she wanted them handed in nicely printed after they'd been typed in MS \Word. My friend, the anachronism that he was, had other ideas. Ideas such as having his daughter learn spelling, grammar, and cursive hand writing. Go figure!
Jan '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
It's another symptom of a society that values novelty over substance. In the constant struggle to reach kids where they're at, we abandon the things we're actually trying to teach them.
Dec '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
I like technology to supplement actual instruction, not supplant it. It is but a tool for the craftsman, not a replacement for the craftsman.
Sep '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
In my consulting day job I spend at least half my day explaining to people how to properly integrate analog and digital. Most of the time is spent weaning them off mindless technology and using it properly, along with an explanation of how cognitive neuroscience supports their efforts.
The money wasted on technology for younger students would be better spent on proper fine arts instruction (music and classical atelier skills) and I will put in my vote for fountain pens and 16th century italic print.
I have a Member Feed post up about Freshman Composition with a Youtube video excerpt of R.V. Young's thoughts. If kids are already immersed in technology why would you give them *more* of it in the classroom?
Sep '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
Pseudodionysius: In my consulting day job I spend at least half my day explaining to people how to properly integrate analog and digital. Most of the time is spent weaning them off mindless technology and using it properly, along with an explanation of how cognitive neuroscience supports their efforts.
The money wasted on technology for younger students would be better spent on proper fine arts instruction (music and classical atelier skills) and I will put in my vote for fountain pens and 16th century italic print.
I have a Member Feed post up about Freshman Composition with a Youtube video excerpt of R.V. Young's thoughts. If kids are already immersed in technology why would you give them *more* of it in the classroom? · Oct 24 at 11:14am
Pseudo-
I saw your fine post. Yet another reason to avoid technology is its effect on student writing. Texting is not helping!
Sep '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
So all other things being equal (cost, etc.), would you opt for a tech free school like the parents in the article? Are there dangers down that path too?
KP's suggestion is much trickier to execute than it seems.
Edited on October 24, 2011 at 8:54pmOct '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
I work in IT - spent about 17 years as a developer. And I've been arguing forever that folks in my industry would most benefit from a hardcore course in the syllogism. Forget the toys - understand the principles behind them.
Nov '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
I had computers in my kindergarten classroom. In 1991.
But I never had to type an essay or anything until 5th grade maybe, at the earliest, and even then the point was the typing - all the drafts, including the "final," had to be hand-written. Typed essays didn't really become a "thing" until I got to high school.
Dec '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
Flagg Taylor: So all other things being equal (cost, etc.), would you opt for a tech free school like the parents in the article? Are there dangers down that path too?
KP's suggestion is much trickier to execute than it seems. · Oct 24 at 11:52am
All other things being equal, I'd opt for technology free because of the temptation to supplantation over supplementation. Technology cannot respond in an individual way to the specific needs of a given child. I suppose the children are what prevents all things from being equal.
Nov '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
I'm with King Prawn on this. On the other hand, I would admire a school that chose to go tech-free in order to focus diligently on rigorous content. The importance of technology for teaching and learning is overstated. Catchy YouTube productions claim that we should be working with students through the medium in which they are most familiar, but I'm thinking that catering could be bad for the students' educations in the long run.
I would like to leave a fuller comment, as I've been thinking on this for the last couple of years, but I don't have time. Instead, here is a link to a delightfully titled article on the Core Knowledge blog concerning the technology issue: http://blog.coreknowledge.org/2011/09/07/my-district-spent-33-million-on-technology-and-all-i-got-are-these-lousy-test-scores/
Here's a sample: "Every trade celebrates its tools, but education has made a fetish of it, too often treating technology as an end, not a means."
Mar '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
Our school district has a bond issue up for a vote. This would do needed renovations but would also put "Smart Boards" in all the grade school class rooms. I do not feel that Kindergartners need interactive technological displays. My grandpa went to school in a single room school house in the middle of no where.He did just fine.
You do not need high-tech to teach. I would opt for the tech free school.
Sep '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
I would like to leave a fuller comment, as I've been thinking on this for the last couple of years, but I don't have time. Instead, here is a link to a delightfully titled article on the Core Knowledge blog concerning the technology issue:
I'm a fan of the Core Knowledge folks. I noticed one astute commenter lamenting the educationist infatuation with "student engagement" as if "being engaged" means "learning". I heard a retort once that went like this:
"Porn is riveting and would guarantee almost 100% student engagement. Why aren't you teaching that instead if its "all about student engagement.""
Aug '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
The dirty little secret is that teachers love computers in the classroom, because they serve as electronic babysitters and tranquilizers, leaving the teachers free to play on their own computers, instead of teaching.
Re: Technology Free Education?
Two thoughts on the subject:
1. You really need to get The Great Lie on Kindle. In the end, I convinced all of my San Francisco reading group friends to buy the old school book, but there were grumbles from the Kindle crowd.
2. My fiance teaches math in a high school that prides itself on being the first in the nation to ensure that every pupil had an iPad, and that every course offered integrates the iPad into the curriculum. Fiance, for the most part, very much dislikes being forced to incorporate iPads into his lesson plans. For one thing, he finds that students are much more distracted than they used to be, and there's no way for him to ensure at all times that students aren't exploiting their iPads to play games or do other naughty things. He tells me that the science teachers -- especially chemistry -- are even fiercer opponents to the iPads. (As an addendum, I'll mention that the highschool --my own alma mater-- did away with the library when they introduced the iPads. You can no longer find any physical copies of any novels or reference books in the school. Everything is electronic)
Sep '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
Pseudodionysius: I'm a fan of the Core Knowledge folks. I noticed one astute commenter lamenting the educationist infatuation with "student engagement" as if "being engaged" means "learning". I heard a retort once that went like this:
"Porn is riveting and would guarantee almost 100% student engagement. Why aren't you teaching that instead if its "all about student engagement."" · Oct 24 at 1:06pm
"Engagement" is indeed the buzzword. The other you hear a lot is "passion." I'm not generally a fan.
An anecdote: a gradeschooler in computer lab tried to flick the monitor--like you would do on an ipad. Is there a word for that besides flick?
Sep '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
Diane,
I'm doing what I can on The Great Lie--there are issues with rights and permissions I think. Your fiance's experience with ipads is similar to the laptop issue in class here. I don't allow them in my classes because now every classroom has wireless internet--the students certainly won't pay attention to me if they can facebook or who knows what else! I've heard some universities have gone back and removed the wireless from certain buildings for this very reason. And libraries--that's another rant--don't get me started.
Jun '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
Two thoughts:
1. I have a visceral hatred of Powerpoint. After a long corporate career, I learned that once a Powerpoint presentation begins, so did my nap. Powerpoint isn't thought, it's just a poor substitute for it.
2. Electronic books. I own a Kindle and it's an easy way to have massive amounts of literature immediately at hand (and very inexpensively, since most is out of copyright). Example: I have the complete works of Dickens, Trollope, Eliot, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Burke, etc. etc. easily accessible. But if I think a book is worthy of a close read and that it may have some lasting value, I always buy the book.
Edited on October 24, 2011 at 11:17pmApr '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
One year, I taught basic math skills to 2nd and 3rd graders at a private elementary school. There were no computers in my class -- I had at most six students at a time. The main classrooms had one or two computers, but they rarely were part of the main lessons of the day. For the most part we relied on overhead projectors and chalkboards. Strangely, the children still learned! Funny that. Granted, this is anecdotal, but the fascination with technology in the class is detrimental at best. Considering you are putting an entertainment device in the hands of students, I'd be outright against iPads in the class. I own an iPad, and 90% of what I do with it is entertainment.
More anecdotal evidence, and just to help nerd up this discussion some more, I used to have a regular table-game group up in Oregon. When I moved, we set up voice chats and cameras to keep our game-days going. Those running such things have expressed frustration that even we adults get distracted browsing on our laptops or computers and generally not paying attention. Technology is offered up as the latest panacea for education. It's not.
Jul '10
Re: Technology Free Education?
Diane Ellis, Ed.: Two thoughts on the subject:
He tells me that the science teachers -- especially chemistry -- are even fiercer opponents to the iPads.
Chemistry professor here. Yep. I loathe technology in the classroom.
In the lab, I'm all for it.
Too often I see my colleagues run through 40+ slides in a hour lecture from a Powerpoint deck while the students nod off (or worse) in front of their laptops where they're supposed to be following the lecture via their electronic devices. Then there's the clickers where multiple choice questions are asked in lecture and like a game show, the results end up on the screen. What a waste.
I have .pdfs of my lectures that I share after I given it as some students learn by writing. If it were a Powerpoint presentation, I'd average about 15-20 slides per hour lecture.
The students actually like that better because it keeps them more attentive.
Problem is we're switching from chalk to whiteboards and whiteboards are awful.
Edited on October 24, 2011 at 11:18pmMar '11
Re: Technology Free Education?
My wife is an teaches college level medical laboratory science. In the medical school there are several Smart Board- interactive white boards. They are not used by the staff and half of them do not work.