Ch. 1 Blog

There are several issues shaping the role of technology in education today. There are five issues in education today involving technology. They are: societal, educational, cultural, equity, and legal/ethical issues. I am going to talk about three of these issues.

The first issue is societal. The problems that arise in this area are economic conditions, anti-technology positions, and the NCLB act of 2001.

Economics- When the economy is down, there is a decrease in funding for education. Even after the economy begins to recover from the recession, experts predict funding will not return to where it was before the recession hit.

Anti-technology- Some experts believe that technology interferes with privacy. They also say that it can create problems in one's daily life. Others believe technology is not as important as appreciation programs that are being cut, such as art and music. Finally, other critics believe internet use has become unsafe for students and there should be limited access to technology.

NCLB Act of 2001- This law requires that government programs be scientifically based research and must show students are meeting content standards.

Basically, all this means is educators are having to watch their money is going. They are having to choose between essential materials and technology and technology is not being put as a priority.

The second issue I am going to talk about is educational.  There are also three parts to this issue. They are the standards movement, reliance on the internet and long distance learning, and debates over instructional teaching methods.

Standards movement: students must meet and pass content area skills in order to receive certification in a subject area. This drives teachers towards technology in hopes to pass content area subject matter.

Internet and distance education: more and more educators and students are turning towards distance education. This can in return lead to higher drop out rates, because of lack of face to face experiences. It also can create a digital divide amongst educators.

Instructional methods: There is an ongoing debate on which instructional method best serves are students. There are arguments on both the traditional and constructivist side on how technology impacts students learnin the standards.

Cultural and Equity Issues:

Digital divide: this phrase means to refer to a discrepancy in access to technology resources among socioeconomic groups. All children have access to the internet in some where or the other, but populations where students to not have access to computers at home are lagging behind their peers who do.

Racial and gender equity: the technology field is dominated by white males. Studies show other genders and minorities enter fewer fields of study involving technology. Studies also show that even children who are in title one rarely use the computers for work other than remedial skills.

Special needs: technology is available for students who have special needs. However, most of this technology is too expensive for schools to purchase.  Even if the programs are purchased, the teachers have a hard time incorporating the technology into the curriculum and so the programs are going unused. Schools are also claiming insufficient funds in order to bypass government laws that state resources must be used with special needs students.

There are several things we have learned from the history of technology in education. I am going to talk about three of them. They are: no technology is a panacea for education; computer literacy offers a limited integration rationale, and teachers do not development technology materials or curriculum.

No technology is a panacea: We do not need to have such high expectations for new programs that are created. Current technology does not mean that there is a going to be a permanent fix to the problems that arise in education. We need to keep this in mind and integrate new material cautiously and know that it may cause more problems that it fixes.

Computer literacy offers limited integration rationale: Many parents and educators want technology incorporated into the curriculum because they feel it will help their students be successful in a job later in life.  However, some work places limit the amount and use of technology. Teachers need to make sure the resources much match the skills needed for the current system of education.

Teachers usually do not develop technology materials or curriculum: Most teachers do not have time to develop software programs due to the demands of the job. Most of the time, the districts have funded other people to create programs teachers use. This is not likely to change anytime soon.

Doering, A. H. & Roblyer, M. D. (2010). Educational  technology into teaching. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.