Oregon Technology in Education Network

Teacher Quality Enhancement Partnership Grant

• Evaluation form.

• All but one of the sessions are in Franz Hall where you registered.– Sandra’s Smartboard session is in the

basement of the library

• Lunch

• Resources

Connecting to the internet during the conference

• Access to the University system is based on a master list.

• Your computer must be known.

• Your computer must have login software.

• Registering guests takes a week.

• Registering lots of guests takes longer.

Connecting to the internet during the conference

• As a teacher my instructional strategies must be selected based on the available resources and infrastructure.

• In this case, my selection of instructional strategies must be made based on decisions that Information Services made.

Connecting to the internet during the conference

• IS made their decisions about the system we use in part because of two things:– Hackers – Cisco Systems

• The decision to do this was made mostly by one man whose background was military intelligence.

Connecting to the internet during the conference

• And, of course all of this had to work with the budget constraints of an institution that is trying to do a lot of other things in addition to protecting us from terrorists.

Connecting to the internet during the conference

Budget

Security

Cisco Systems

The Master List

Selection of Instructional Strategies

No Internet Access

Connecting to the internet during the conference

• In the ed tech literature we talk about these as affordances and constraints of technology.

• How many of you have checked your text messages or email in the last 15 minutes?

Technology is Just a Tool:

The Myth of the Neutral

Machine

Oregon Technology in Education NetworkFall, 2008

The Argument

• Technology is a means to an end.

"Technology is just a tool to let you do what your are interested in.” Bill Gates

The Argument

• Technology is a means to an end.

• It doesn’t teach by itself.

“Technology, like money, functions or, really, hyperfunctions as a lubricant does for machinery: it facilitates education, communication, etc. but is NOT a substitute for the true acquisition of knowledge.” Anonymous Blog Response

The Argument

• Technology is a means to an end.

• It doesn’t teach by itself.

• It is inherently unbiased.

“In and of itself, technology contains neither pedagogical philosophy nor content bias.” Barbara Means

Thinking Back

• Were automatic looms a means to an end?

• Did they teach anything?

• Were they unbiased—value neutral?

Maybe a Bit More on This

• Prior to automatic looms weaving was done as cottage industry.

• Automatic looms needed to be housed in factories.

• Luddites appeared.

• Indian weaving almost disappeared.

Thinking Back

• Were automatic looms a means to an end?

• Did they teach anything?

• Were they unbiased—value neutral?

Information Technology

• Is information a means to an end?

• Does information teach us?

• Is information biased?

• Information literacy

Access

Curriculum and Instruction

• Choosing to use technology

The Six Stages of Educational Media Innovations (Davis, 1987)

Wild EnthusiasmUtter ConfusionDeep DisappointmentSearch for the GuiltyPunishment of the LoyalPromotion of the Non-Involved

Curriculum and Instruction

• Choosing to use technology

• What you choose

Curriculum and Instruction

• Choosing to use technology

• What you choose

• Standards

Common Curriculum Goals1. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of technological tools and

devices.

2. Select and use technology to enhance learning and problem solving.

3. Access, organize and analyze information to make informed decisions, using one or more technologies.

4. Use technology in an ethical and legal manner and understand how technology affects society.

5. Design, prepare and present unique works using technology to communicate information and ideas.

6. Extend communication and collaboration with peers, experts and other audiences using telecommunications.

Curriculum and Instruction

• Choosing to use technology

• What you choose

• Standards

• ISTE

Corporate Cultures• Apple II

Corporate Cultures

• Instructional Software

Doing the Old Better

• Teachers tend to adopt technology incrementally. They use it to do what they already do more easily, effectively or efficiently. (Mumtaz, 2000)

• Technologies have always been adopted this way. Judging against the known.

• Modifying aspects of existing practice. (Goodman, 2002)

Student Digital Experiences

• Differences in experience inside and outside of classrooms

• Digital immigrants and digital natives (Prensky, 2006)

• Insider knowledge (Sefton-Green, 2003)

• The long list of the impact of the net: communication, playful learning, new literacies, forming identities, new politics (Tapscott, 1998)

Another Digital Divide

• Access and filtering

• Decontextualized skills

• Restricted audiences

Reducing the Divide

• Informed intervention (Buckingham, 2007)

• Media literacy

• Audience

• The nature of working together

WikipediaSocial Constructed

Knowledge • Isn’t all knowledge social constructed?

• It is a question of the authority

• The Britannica study

• Tagging– Social Software

Tagging

Unintended Consequences

Driving and Cell Phones• MIT simulation (Devereaux, 2002)

• Normal drivers miss about 3% of potential hazards.

• When experienced drivers dialed the phone missed hazards went up to 12%.

• Young drivers dialed the phone while driving twice as fast as older adults on average.

• When young drivers dialed the phone missed hazards went up to 50%.

• Levels of impairment using phones are worse than alcohol (Strayer, Crouch & Drews, 2004)

Libraries

• School libraries are full of developmentally appropriate materials.

• The internet is the antithesis of that.

• The nature of school libraries and school librarians had to change as they moved toward the internet.

… and Books

• Books last a long time• Half life of a webpage is a bit less than

2.5 years (Koehler, 1999)

PDAs

• Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan

• PDAs in the classroom

• Kids were taught to search for and download applications

Speaking of Technology• Technology demands literacy

• As if I’m a prisoner in Andy’s jail in Mayberry

• Filling up a whole in the ground with water

• I feels like we are caged mice

• Demi-techno-god-monster

• I think computers are awesome but way overwhelming

• Technology makes life simpler

• It sucks my energy

So, Now What?

• The the single solution approach• Media literacy• Whatever you choose be aware

– A means to what end?– A pedagogy of its own?– The bias of every tool?

Considering the Adventure

• Information technology• Your school culture• Your students’ lives• The impact of the for-profit sector• The nature of authority• Unintended consequences • The language of technology use

Just• Usually the second definition of the

adverbial form of the word:

merely or simply;and nothing more;he was just a child