IT in the Classroom
Technology is coming to your classroom, partly because it offers benefits that can’t be delivered any other way, but even more because we will desperately need it. Some see IT (“Information Technology,” the combination of computers and communications) as a threat in a human versus machine conflict. But the real issue is not “teachers versus IT,” but “IT assisting teachers,” and that’s going to be vitally important because we’re rapidly running short of teachers (see “Teacher Shortage: The Coming Crisis,” May/June issue of Teach). We will need ways of extending our human resources, of allowing fewer teachers to effectively teach more children, not because we want it to be that way, but because demographics say it’s inevitable. But what can we do?
I have two suggestions. First, we need to start using computer based resources to allow more self-directed learning in the higher grades. The commercial training industry has shown Interactive Multi-media (“IMM”) to be cost-effective, producing better retention in shorter periods, and giving students a higher sense of achievement and self-esteem than classroom presentation. School boards need to investigate how to transfer this technology to public schools, freeing teachers to work one-on-one with struggling students.
One potential side benefit is that IMM may allow us to customize each student’s education to their personal abilities and interests. Not only would this give students an education that is more likely to be of value to them in the real world, but it would also eliminate the debate over streaming vs. de-streaming, as well as eliminate the “dumb kid” vs. “brown-nose” labeling that goes on today. If each student is following her own path, there are no smart kids or dumb kids.
However, this is a ways off, and would require a major change in the way we view education, and the manner in which we design, organize, and pay for education. It’s going to be a long fight, though I believe it will ultimately be inevitable. Meanwhile, we need something more immediately applicable, and less controversial, which is where the second possibility comes in: stretch resources by making extensive use of the Internet.
This is being done successfully already, primarily in private schools. However, the fact that it is being done means it can be transferred to the public system. Take, for instance, Holy Trinity School, an 8-through-12 school in Richmond Hill, Ontario, just outside Toronto. Teacher Art Lightstone, of whom I’ve written before, has this to say about his Internet site, <www.newlearner.com>:
“I know it seems like a lot of work to set up these online infrastructures, but in the end, I couldn't imagine how I would manage without it. You see, teachers do a pile of administrative work in addition to the more obvious tasks of curriculum development, planning, teaching, and marking. We have to be our own managers, secretaries, publishers, and public-relations officers. So, in fact, I benefit from IT in the same way that businesses and government agencies do. …
“For the most part, parents and students can interface with me without ever having to actually speak with me. If I answer one student's question on the FAQ [Frequently Asked Questions] board, I answer the same question for everybody else. Course policies are presented to parents over the web. Tutorials, guidance with respect to assignments, and review exercises are all provided to students over the web. Frantically photocopying before class is a thing of the past – all my handouts are obtained from the web site and brought to class by the students themselves. Students no longer need to see me for missed work due to illness, or to obtain work in advance due to an expected absence.
“Quite simply, digital technology allows teachers to retain the fruits of their efforts for future use and future refinement. Given the demands on our time, we cannot afford to spend time on any tasks that will be lost once they have been completed. Heaven help the teacher who spends his/her time writing notes on the board – that teacher is, in my opinion, doomed. The more a teacher can prepare ahead of time, the easier the rest of his/her seemingly impossible day will go. My web site allows me to prepare every detail of every class in advance for the entire year! Believe me, my web site works its butt off! I take care of it, and it takes care of me.”
This is not some ivory tower theorist, but a fellow teacher in the trenches. Of course, the main advantage of working with a private school is that parents are required to have computers available in the home for each student. Those public school educators who want to find an excuse to avoid IT will seize on this as being sufficient reason to sidestep something that makes them uncomfortable. But given that we have to find ways of stretching human resources, and spend money to do so, we cannot afford to accept “I don’t wanna” as an answer. For instance, we might go back to computer labs, only ones that are open well after the rest of the school closes, where students have access to large numbers of computers, and can do course work as needed. Regardless, solutions can be found – if we are willing to find them.
We don’t have a choice. Without enough teachers, we’re going to have to find other ways of doing things. IT can provide tools that allow us to come up with at least partial solutions. If instead educators fight a reactive rear-guard action, IT will be forced down your throats – and warnings about its failure will be self-fulfilling. That may give some satisfaction to those who don’t like computers, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory, and students will suffer.
Richard Worzel is a Toronto futurist who volunteers his time to speak to high school students. Contact him care of Teach Magazine, or at futurist@futuresearch.com