educational leadership and planning for technology chapter 3 – technology, learning, and equity...

Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology

Chapter 3 – Technology, Learning, and Equity Issues

Dr. Anthony G. Picciano

Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

PowerPoint Outline

• Technocentric Education • Integrated Learning Systems• When Should Computer Learning Begin?• Special Education• Gender Issues• Minority Issues• Socioeconomic Issues


Technocentric Education

“I am optimistic—some might say utopian—about the effect of computers on society.” (Seymour Papert, 1980, p. 26)

In his book Mindstorms, Papert describes the benefits of Logo programming language on children’s learning and cognitive development.

For many educators, Papert’s views generated unbridled enthusiasm for the use of computing technology in the classroom.



Lewis Perelman, the author of a very successful book entitled School's Out: Hyperlearning, The New Technology, and The End of Education (1992), called for policymakers to seize an opportunity that was presenting itself in American education.

He described classroom teachers as approaching “rapid obsolescence” and stated that their jobs could be done better by technology.

He called for a major overhaul of the nation’s schools that would transform teaching and learning from the traditionally human interactive activity into a machine-intensive activity.



In contrast to Papert and Perelman, Levy and Murname suggest that teaching and learning involve complex communication processes and expert thinking that computers are not yet able to duplicate. For example:

•a student can download a lesson on calculus from a Web site

•while the student has access to the information, there is no guarantee that he or she will learn it

•the student needs the help of a teacher to translate the information about calculus into usable knowledge

Frank Levy, Rose Professor of Urban Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology;

Richard J. Murname, Thompson Professor of Education at Harvard University


Integrated Learning Systems

The integrated learning system (ILS) represents the most intensive use of technology in teaching and learning available.

• ILS integrates hardware, software, and curriculum.

• ILS provides sophisticated computer management that is able to customize material for each student.

• A teacher is still needed to manage instruction.


When Should Computer Learning Begin?

The computer should be viewed as a tool that can be integrated with content areas of a school’s curriculum. While computers are well accepted at all levels of schooling, educators should consider carefully when and how technology should be used in early childhood instruction.

Some considerations include the children’s finger dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and reading comprehension.


Special Education

For many special education students, reading a book, writing, or even turning a page are formidable obstacles. But through assistive technology, these children gain a link to learning. There are technology aids for:

• hearing

• vision

• mobility

• learning disability


Special Education


Gender Issues

Females and males use different approaches to technology during their formative years. Literature on this topic includes

1. the performance of females and males in technology-infused courses

2. the attitudes of females and males to technology


Gender Issues

Gentech is a "gender-inclusive pedagogy and technology" research project whose mandate is to create conditions within which girls and women have maximum access to (and confidence in) a wide range of new information technologies.

http://www.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/bryson/gentech


Minority Issues

Technology access and use by minority students is a complex issue because of U.S. socioeconomic problems, school financing policies, and urban school environments. The research focuses on three factors:

1. access (such as the amount of equipment in the schools or in the home)

2. student performance

3. the level of software used (drill and practice v. software requiring higher-order thinking skills)


Socioeconomic Issues

The percentage of U.S. households owning a computer is doubling every 5 years.

Parents' education, occupation, race, and income all influence ownership. Kaiser Foundation (2004)

The gap (or “digital divide”) among races is narrowing. The percent of households now having Internet access, by race:

84% of Asian-Americans76% of Whites68% of Latinos64% of Blacks.


Socioeconomic Issues

http://www.digitaldivide.net/

The Digital Divide Network

http://www.digitaldivide.net/


Questions and Comments

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