I have several friends who are teachers, and I constantly talk to them about how they integrate technology into their classrooms. One friend who teaches 2nd grade in an economically depressed area replies that she can't even begin to think about computers in her classroom: most of her kids are coming to class hungry, or traumatized by dysfunctional home environments. She is also challenged by the oppressive No Child Left Behind focus on achieving specific test scores. This leaves her little time to contemplate how technology can transform her classroom.
In my daughter's middle school, computers are still in a "computer lab" off the library. So students have an allotted time during the day to "go to computer lab". They even get to "choose" to work on a Mac or PC based on their personal preference. I find this wholly inane (especially since we live near Silicon Valley).
What we need to do is throw out textbooks completely and provide students with an internet-enabled computer IN the classroom (and note that I used to work for a textbook publishing company). Not only would this save the backs of our small children (who have to lug the outrageously over-priced and cumbersomely heavy books in backpacks that must be causing damage to the spine), it would also transform how people learn.
In this New York Times article a Boston school that uses the "disruptive innovation" of computers to transform their curriculum is profiled. It states that kids are handed a Mac laptop when they enter the classroom. For their math work, they access special software that allows them to play against the other students in class in a game setting. It has been highly engaging, fun, and "makes the students learn more."
Students and teachers also IM, blog, and complete assignments using GoogleDocs. At the end of class, the students hand back the laptops and head for home. No heavy books to lug around and no "dogs to eat homework."
I often hear from educators and administrators how computers should not be the focus in the classroom, that they are disruptive to a learning environment. On the contrary, computers in my opinion make more sense: they enable all of the curriculum to be accessible in a small package, they enable network-based learning, they are easily managed and controlled, and they widen the boundaries of what is possible in an educational setting. What teachers and administrators need to realize is that they are a replacement for the book, pencil, and paper -- not a "device" to populate a "lab" in the library. Kids already recognize this. Teachers and administrators need to get on board and understand that the catalyst for positive change in education is staring them right in the face.
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