The Promise Of Technology In Schools

Why simple technological solutions to complex social issues continue to appeal to politicians and professionals who should (and often do) know better. Why do we keep trying to solve poverty with technology? What makes us feel that we need to learn to code--or else? In The Promise of Access, Daniel Greene argues that the problem of poverty became a problem of technology in order to manage the contradictions of a changing economy. Greene shows how the digital divide emerged as a policy problem and why simple technological solutions to complex social issues continue to appeal to politicians and professionals who should (and often do) know better.

The Flickering Mind, by National Magazine Award winner Todd Oppenheimer, is a landmark account of the failure of technology to improve our schools and a call for renewed emphasis on what really works. American education faces an unusual moment of crisis. For decades, our schools have been beaten down by a series of curriculum fads, empty crusades for reform, and stingy funding. Now education and political leaders have offered their biggest and most expensive promise ever—the miracle of computers and the Internet—at a cost of approximately $70 billion just during the decade of the 1990s. Computer technology has become so prevalent that it is transforming nearly every corner of the academic world, from our efforts to close the gap between rich and poor, to our hopes for school reform, to our basic methods of developing the human imagination. Technology is also recasting the relationships that schools strike with the business community, changing public beliefs about the demands of tomorrow’s working world, and reframing the nation’s systems for researching, testing, and evaluating achievement. All this change has led to a culture of the flickering mind, and a generation teetering between two possible futures. In one, youngsters have a chance to become confident masters of the tools of their day, to better address the problems of tomorrow. Alternatively, they can become victims of commercial novelties and narrow measures of ability, underscored by misplaced faith in standardized testing. At this point, America’s students can’t even make a fair choice. They are an increasingly distracted lot. Their ability to reason, to listen, to feel empathy, is quite literally flickering. Computers and their attendant technologies did not cause all these problems, but they are quietly accelerating them. In this authoritative and impassioned account of the state of education in America, Todd Oppenheimer shows why it does not have to be this way. Oppenheimer visited dozens of schools nationwide—public and private, urban and rural—to present the compelling tales that frame this book. He consulted with experts, read volumes of studies, and came to strong and persuasive conclusions: that the essentials of learning have been gradually forgotten and that they matter much more than the novelties of technology. He argues that every time we computerize a science class or shut down a music program to pay for new hardware, we lose sight of what our priority should be: “enlightened basics.” Broad in scope and investigative in treatment, The Flickering Mind will not only contribute to a vital public conversation about what our schools can and should be—it will define the debate.

During the technology boom of the 1980s and 1990s, computers seemed set to revolutionize education. Do any of these promises sound familiar? * Technology would help all students learn better, thanks to multimedia programs capable of adapting to individual needs, learning styles, and skill levels. * Technology would transform the teacher's role from a purveyor of a one-size-fits-all curriculum to a facilitator of student exploration. * Technology would replace static textbooks with dynamic, interactive learning resources that were always up-to-date. * Technology would boost test scores, as engaged and motivated students acquired advanced skills, problem-solving abilities, and a growing thirst for knowledge. By 2001, educational materials developer William D. Pflaum had begun to suspect that technology was not the all-purpose solution it had seemed. He decided to see how computers were really being used in U.S. classrooms and embarked on a yearlong road trip to a cross-section of elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the nation. In this book, he recounts his journey. Although he did find technology application to admire, too often he found broken promises: millions spent for little measurable gain, problems instead of solutions, a fix instead of a fix. This inside look at computer use in our schools shares the voices, experiences, triumphs, and frustrations of educators and students in urban, rural, and suburban settings. The author provides insight into the key roles that computers currently play in the classroom and clarifies what we must do ensure that the promise of technology is fulfilled . . . and that students truly benefit. Note: This product listing is for the reflowable (ePub) version of the book.

How can educators survive in the whirlwind restructuring and reform caused by the digital age? Will the impact of information technology improve learning, and how? The Promise of Technology in Schools answers these questions, by surveying the next 20 years in education. First, Stallard examines why the transfer of technology to education has taken so long and has been so difficult to accomplish. Then, he examines what challenges educators will face, how technology will affect school organization, why the K-12 education market is so important, and more.

How can educators survive in the whirlwind restructuring and reform caused by the digital age? Will the impact of information technology improve learning, and how? The Promise of Technology in Schools answers these questions, by surveying the next 20 years in education. First, Stallard examines why the transfer of technology to education has taken so long and has been so difficult to accomplish. Then, he examines what challenges educators will face, how technology will affect school organization, why the K-12 education market is so important, and more.

This book presents a wide-ranging and critical exploration of a topic that lies at the heart of contemporary education. The use of digital technology is now a key feature of schools and schooling around the world. Yet despite its prominence, technology use continues to be an area of education that rarely receives sustained critical attention and thought, especially from those people who are most involved and affected by it. Technology tends to be something that many teachers, learners, parents, policy-makers and even academics approach as a routine rather than reflective matter. Tackling the wider picture, addressing the social, cultural, economic, political and commercial aspects of schools and schooling in the digital age, this book offers to make sense of what happens, and what does not happen, when the digital and the educational come together in the guise of schools technology. In particular, the book examines contemporary schooling in terms of social justice, equality and participatory democracy. Seeking to re-politicise an increasingly depoliticised area of educational debate and analysis, setting out to challenge the many contradictions that characterise the field of education technology today, the author concludes by suggesting what forms schools and schooling in the digital age could, and should, take. This is the perfect volume for anyone interested in the application and use of technology in education, as well as the education policy and politics that surround it; many will also find its innovative proposals for technology use an inspiration for their own teaching and learning.

This book addresses whether digital technologies can transform teaching and learning in America’s P-12 classrooms.