Artichoke and the hard questions
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 07:40AM Artichoke in New Zealand has a terrific post about "Things you seldom hear discussed at an (e) learning conference."
First, he suggests a TED video by long time educational technology skeptic Clifford Stoll. For many years, Stoll has had the courage to ask what sort of message we send to children when we plunk them down in front of a piece of machinery rather than spending personal time with them.
“...kids love these high-tech devices and play happily with them for hours. But just because children do something willingly doesn’t mean that it engages their minds. Indeed most software for children turns lessons into games. The popular arithmetic Math Blaster simulates an arcade shoot-’em-down, complete with enemy flying saucers. Such instant gratification keeps kids clicking icons while discouraging any sense of studiousness or sustained mental effort. Plop a kid down before such a program and the message is, “You have to learn math tables, so play with this computer.” Teach the same lesson with flash cards, and a different message comes through: “You’re important to me, and this subject is so useful that I’ll spend an hour teaching you arithmetic.” (Stoll, Clifford, “Invest in Humanware.” New York Times, May 19, 1996.)
I have always enjoyed reading the hard-eyed look at educational technology by critics like Stoll, like like Jane (Failure to Connect) Healy, like Larry(Over Sold and Underused) Cuban, and especially like the Fools Gold and Tech Tonic reports by the Alliance for Childhood.
Even better than the Stoll link, Artichoke begins a response to the late Neil Postman's Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change in which he succinctly summarized the concerns Postman often addressed in his longer works:
- ... all technological change is a trade-off. ... culture always pays a price for technology.
- ...the advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population.
- ...Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas. These ideas are often hidden from our view because they are of a somewhat abstract nature. But this should not be taken to mean that they do not have practical consequences.
- ...consequences of technological change are always vast, often unpredictable and largely irreversible
- ...When a technology become mythic, it is always dangerous because it is then accepted as it is, and is therefore not easily susceptible to modification or control.
OK, this is a teaser. Read and comment over on Artichoke. He raises some outstanding questions about technology in education based on the Postman's ideas.
Oh, for the antithesis of Postman, check this out by Ray Kurzweil - "Expect Exponential Progress":
Yet as powerful as information technology is today, we will make another billionfold increase in capability (for the same cost) over the next 25 years. That's because information technology builds on itself – we are continually using the latest tools to create the next so they grow in capability at an exponential rate. This doesn't just mean snazzier cellphones. It means that change will rock every aspect of our world. The exponential growth in computing speed will unlock a solution to global warming and solve myriad other worldly conundrums.
Thanks to its exponential power, only technology possesses the scale to address the major challenges – such as energy and the environment, disease and poverty – confronting society.
Technology - bane or boon to our world? How educators use (or don't use) technology with students will be the determining factor.
Reader Comments (11)
Doug,
Your last line speaks the loudest of all, even louder than the Kurzweil quote, which, in itself, is enough to turn more than a few heads. It's not an acceptable position to think that this pace will slow down at all; it never has throughout history. Each year brings the advent of some new idea that builds upon an existing idea--it's the beauty and the curse of our society. What we leverage in the classroom and in our own practice matters to our students. They need to see both sides--the positive aspects of networking and the negative as well.
Thanks for the post and the links to further reading.
I had to react to Mr. Stoll's quote above. Disclaimer: I am not an educator, I am merely a parent in the throes of teaching addition and subtraction tables to a small person right now.
Here's my take: Flash cards say, "This subject is so useful that I will do my very best to make it as boring and dry as possible so that you dread it." The "human touch" does *not* enhance the math-drill experience. Reading together, doing science experiments together, playing games together -- all these have terrific value-add and count as time well spent learning together.
Back in the early '80s I learned to type on an Apple IIc "shoot-the-aliens" video game. I could already type 50+ wpm before I was trapped in a 7th grade typing lab copying the introduction to "What Color is Your Parachute?" over and over on an IBM Selectic.
I think it's OK to own up that some things are very important, but frankly kind of boring. Math or typing drill video games are essentially equivalent to a grown-up cranking up the radio and singing along while scouring the bathtub. The end result is still a memorized times-table or a gleaming bath -- why not have fun in the process?
"...Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas. These ideas are often hidden from our view because they are of a somewhat abstract nature. But this should not be taken to mean that they do not have practical consequences."
Interesting point, but one that fleshes out the difference between using technology as a "toy" and using it integrally to teaching, for a learning purpose, and then evaluating it mindfully.
Hi Sweetie,
I enjoyed the comment. Your little brother hated flash cards since the drill was always timed. And he hated to be timed!
My impression is that some kids do get shuffled off to computers so that teachers (and I suppose some parents) don't have to deal with them. I guess most of us have used the TV or videos as babysitters ourselves.
Moderation in all things?
Love,
Dad
Hi Carolyn,
I also liked Postman's observation with this "idea" that every technology has a prejudice built into it as well and talked about how memorization was devalued when writing appeared. This is another transition we are painfully seeing realized now in schools. Teachers and governments still see memorization and "core knowledge" as a primary focus, when information technologies make process and HOTS and communication the keys to being an educated person.
I appreciate your comment!
Doug
Doug, I made this mistake back in 2005 but Leigh Blackall put me straight. Artichoke is she, not he. Just so you know.
Thanks, Graham. I tried to figure it our from the site itself, obviously without success. Appreciate the head's up.
Doug
Doug,
As usual reading your blog was thought provoking and pointed me to some GREAT resources.
Thanks for your push to look at "the other side" of the issue. For some reason I have always been someone who sees both sides of each issue, which I guess is a gift, but is also frustrating because I am not a very good cheerleader or sales person for anything!
Your tweek at the end makes sense. I have been doing this long enough to outlast those who said that technology would be passing away and they would retire first so they were not going to learn it.
Janice
It seems clear from the comments of folks more savvy than I that the real issue here is the application of technology.
Sadly, I have a difficult time trusting parents who'll blindly allow their child to play countless hours of Grand Theft Auto or Socom 2 to have any clue about an appropriate application of computer technology in their child's education. Given that apparent shortage of dependable technology stewards, I'd rather err on the side of caution and think that less is more.
I'm especially tentative about thrusting computer use upon very young children, but even older kids still have plenty to learn about interacting and thriving in the real world. I'd rather my child be more at ease with speaking to another person face to face than shooting off rapid-fire text messages.
To the person who insisted that flash cards are boring: Do infants come out of the chute with an instinctive dislike for the crust on their PB&J sandwiches? No, that's a learned response. (And a big pet peeve for me!) Ditto for flash cards. I'm fairly convinced that the parent and/or educators degree of involvement and/or level of excitement is the make/break point on most educational tools - they can be as dull or as stimulating as you care to make them.
Now, granted, I'm the parent of a just-turned 2 year-old, so I could be way off-base... Maybe somebody needs to quiz me down in 5 or 6 years and see if I'm still so firm on these convictions...
Hi Janice,
Yes, I think we are kindred spirits in that we DO see all sides of most issues. I've always felt I learn more from my critics than I do from my friends.
Thanks for the comments and all the very best,
Doug
Hi Rob,
Your comments make a lot of sense to me. As my list of readings by "technology-skeptics" suggests, I too worry about too much technology too soon in children's lives.
Now you do have to watch what your say about the flash card critic. That was my daughter and mom of two wonderful grandsons who wrote the reply ;-)
Good luck with the 2-year old. Enjoy him/her while you can since when next you look they'll be in college!
All the best and thanks again for writing in,
Doug