Technology, Teaching, and Educational Theorists

Pamela Wilson
Blog 7
LS 589-W1

In chapter 7 of Ashburn and Floden (2006), McCrory states that teachers need to know how to use technologies as tools for meaningful learning and they need an assortment of technologies to keep students engaged. They also need to know what the use of technology for engaged learning looks like in practice (p. 141). While it is true that some teachers don’t take the use of technology to higher levels of learning because of lack of knowledge, experience, and support, I submit that educational theory such as is found in Chapter 7 does not help teachers improve in practice. In some ways it frustrates us.

For example in the second sub-section of Ashburn and Floden (2006) about stability under the heading entitled “Affordances for Teaching,” McCrory notes that technology changes rapidly and teachers should select from technologies that don’t change rapidly (p. 150) so that they can become proficient in the technology. This chapter gives examples of science technologies which have been relatively stable, but the chapter doesn’t deal with the issue that technologies that are subscriber based are often chosen by the curriculum department of the school for use across the entire district. The teacher doesn’t have much voice in what is chosen. Sometimes the subscription is kept for a couple of years and then changed for something newer and better. This as McCrory notes does not give the teacher enough time to learn to use the technology effectively. An example of this occurred in my school district recently. Teachers were required to learn and use GradePro for all of our grading. We had GradePro for three years and then the school district switched to Infinite Campus. This required more training and time spent in learning the new application. The settings of the program were fixed by the technical people in the district and are not user friendly for the teachers who have to manage their classrooms and input grades. The process of simply copying and pasting assignments between classes has now become a multi-step process which takes more time and has more room for error. The advantage of Infinite Campus is that it is Internet based and attendance and grade books can be viewed by others in the district and eventually by parents at home. But it was just one technological change of many that teachers have had to adapt to in the last several years.

In the sub-section about authority, McCrory (2006) states that, “Deciding whether curriculum materials present information that is true or false, reliable or unreliable, or relevant or irrelevant is not a routine activity in classrooms using conventional resources.” McCrory goes on to state that incorrect information is often contained in textbooks but teachers are “free or even encouraged to count on textbooks as authoritative” (p. 150). These are very powerful statements which imply criticism on the quality of pedagogy by professional teachers using traditional texts. Yet McCrory offers not one endnote, study, nor authoritative source to back up this claim. The implication is that teachers have little critical reading skills and little knowledge of their subject matter. Yet when it comes to using technology teachers are supposed to be able to teach critical evaluation of online materials. What is the difference? One of the duties of teachers is to teach critical evaluation skills to students no matter what the medium used. I think that it is unfair to publish such statements without supporting evidence. This type of argument isn’t needed to promote the use of technology for meaningful learning in the classroom.

I support the use of technology for meaningful learning in the classroom. My point in this blog is that educational theory is not what teachers need. We need practical help in applying technology to our classroom situations. We need positive support and time to develop detailed projects and plans. We are the ones in the trenches and we don’t need to worry about friendly fire as we do our jobs.

Reference

Ashburn, E. A., & Floden, R. E. (Eds.). (2006). Meaningful learning using technology: What educators need to know and do. New York: Teachers College Press.