District Administration - June 2008 - (Page 26)

SPEAKING OUT • Gary Stager What’s a Computer For? It all depends on your educational philosophy BEFORE INCREASING YOUR TECH nology investment, it may be prudent to pause and review your expectations. What you and your colleagues believe about learning and the aims of education drives the success or failure of classroom computing. This even has implications for what you purchase. I suggest that it is the combination of a vision deﬁcit, meager goals and technological ignorance that limits the educational potential of computers. Where Do You Stand? A useful paradigm for determining your stance regarding educational computing places three men—Alfred Bork, Tom Snyder and Seymour Papert—at the three corners of a triangle. Bork, a computer scientist and physicist, dedicated several decades to building large computer-based systems designed to teach and assess learners. Bork also viewed computers as a solution to teacher scarcity and skill deﬁcits. He predicted, “Teaching faculty, in the sense that we know them today, may cease to exist, except for in smaller, advanced courses.” Tom Snyder, a former private school teacher and musician, started an educational software company in the 1980s. He observed the classroom landscape and recognized that many classrooms had only one microcomputer. He responded to this market reality by designing software for the “one computer classroom.” In his view, the classroom is a stage, the teacher is the performer, and the computer is a prop. What was a perfectly reasonable marketing strategy 20 years ago has become an ideological position still held by some educators. In the 1960s, mathematician, computer scientist and Piaget colleague Seymour Papert realized that the protean 26 June 2008 Vision deﬁcit, meager goals and technological ignorance limits the educational potential of computers. nature of the computer allowed learners to shape its use and construct knowledge in ways and domains otherwise impossible. The computer could be an “object to think with” and oﬀer a collection of microworlds in which one could explore powerful ideas. Papert oﬀered the computer as a “mathland” in which learning mathematics would come as natural and eﬀective as one would learn French by living in France—as opposed to being taught French in an American classroom. Papert’s inﬂuence led to the creation of Logo, the laptop computer, classroom robotics and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation. He asks, “Does the child program the computer or does the computer program the child?” The diﬀerent perspectives of Bork, Snyder and Papert represent fundamental issues of agency. Who has the power and is at the center of the educational process? Bork views the computer for the system, Snyde, for the teacher, and Papert for the learner. You and your colleagues should consider where you stand. It may also be worthwhile reﬂecting on the technology you own or are considering. Where does each tool or practice ﬁt within this paradigm? While it’s possible to “stand” between Bork, Snyder or Papert without standing behind one of them, assuming a stance increases clarity and makes implementation more consistent. Such consistency increases the eﬃcacy of your district’s tech use. The epistemological relativism of efforts like the ISTE Standards may diminish their impact. An equivalent embrace of Bork, Snyder and Papert sends a confusing counterproductive message to teachers. What’s a Computer For? If you believe that the computer’s optimum role is to deliver content, monitor progress and aggregate data, then you need to invest in large-scale teaching systems with publisher-created curricula. The needs and desires of centralized administrators are favored in such a scenario. Little professional development is necessary for teachers, since the computer lab may be supervised by a paraprofessional. If your goal is to have teachers present District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2008

District Administration - June 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology Update
Inside the Law
Conversations
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Professional Opinion
Crisis Response
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Cutting Costs from the Inside Out
New Literacies: Entering the Future
Online Videoconferencing
Achievement Today
Transporting Special Needs Students
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem/Solution
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - June 2008