From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Computers in Classrooms Gathers New Foes (NY Times on the
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 09:38:05 -0600
December 15, 1999
By PAMELA MENDELS
Push for Computers in Classrooms Gathers New Foes
The conventional wisdom in education policy circles in recent years has held
that children need to be introduced to computers early and that technology
should be a strong presence in their school lives.
Now, a new group of educators, doctors, psychologists and others is
challenging that notion. In a draft statement on technology literacy, a
committee of the group, called the Alliance for Childhood
(http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/), says that the American approach to
technology in homes and schools has been flawed, emphasizing ephemeral
vocational skills and the razzle-dazzle of educational software, rather than
helping children think critically about technology and its appropriate use.
Among other things, the committee is urging that computers have a restricted
role, if any role at all, in elementary school classrooms and in later years
be introduced in a way that assures children understand how computers work,
can examine the appropriate place of technology in their lives and be
instilled with the idea of ethical behavior online.
The hope, said Joan Almon, coordinator of the group, is to influence policy
makers, parents and teachers at a time when "there is still a window," when
computers have not yet become as entrenched in life as, say, television.
The alliance, which was formed last February, plans to incorporate as a
formal nonprofit organization. Its founding members include Almon, a
long-time teacher and consultant; Jane M. Healey, an educational
psychologist and author of "Failure to Compute," a critique of computer use
in education; Stephen L. Talbott, the editor of a well-regarded electronic
newsletter examining the social implications of technology; and Bettye
Caldwell, a professor of pediatrics and former president of National
Association for the Education of Young People.
The purpose of the group is to fight what its members see as a "toxic
cultural environment" where they say children are buffeted by stress that is
leading to a decline in their well-being and an increase in health problems
like hyperactive disorders and depression. They say that stress includes
academic pressures, lack of interaction with caring adults, and mass
exposure to violence, sex and crass commercialism in electronic media.
Next year, the group hopes to publish a report examining computers and
children, and the draft statement, published on a Web site and in the most
recent issue of Talbott's newsletter, will be part of that.
The authors of the draft -- Talbott was one of several who wrote and edited
it -- are asking for responses at their Web site that will help them craft a
final version. Colleen Cordes, a technology and science policy writer who
helped with the draft, said she was hoping for broad comment both from
alliance members and the public. Among the questions up for discussion, she
said, is what does "intensive" computer use mean; would large-scale
computerization of elementary school classrooms displace cheaper and more
rewarding educational experiences and what, precisely, is the best age at
which to introduce computers.
Declaring that the point of technology literacy should be to prepare
children to be "morally responsible citizens" who can actively shape the
nation's technological future, "rather than merely reacting to it as passive
consumers," the draft outlines four principles for parents and teachers.
The first is that intensive computer use should have no place in elementary
schools, where, the statement says, the focus should be on nurturing a child
using connection with other people and with real objects, like crayons. The
second principle is that children learn ethical computer conduct before
going online. The third is that in high school they learn basics of how
computers operate and perhaps even be required to take apart and rebuild a
simple computer, so they understand the capabilities and limits of the
machinery. The fourth is that they learn about the history of technology and
how it has shaped society, in part so that they, in turn, can make informed
decisions about technology in their lifetimes.
Moreover, the statement asserts that much of the argument for placing
computers in the schools has been essentially a vocational one: that
children need to learn computer skills needed in the modern workplace. But,
the statement says, in the fast-changing world of technology, it makes
little sense to teach children skills that will be outmoded by the time they
reach working age.
It says computer skills that could serve students well, like knowing how to
use a word-processing program, could easily be taught in a one-semester
course in the upper grades. "How long does it take to teach a child to use
Eudora or Netscape?" asked Lowell W. Monke, an assistant professor of
education at Grinnell College in Iowa, former high school computer teacher
and another of the draft authors, who believes the course could be best
taught in middle school years.
Much of the draft is at odds with thinking that pervades education policy.
The Clinton administration, for example, is in favor of having every
classroom wired to the Internet by next year and has pushed for a number of
measures, like the E-rate subsidy, to bring technology to schools. And
proponents of such efforts, like Keith R. Krueger, executive director of the
Consortium for School Networking (http://www.cosn.org/), a nonprofit
Washington group that promotes the use of technology in schools, say the
statement is misguided.
Krueger argues that far from feeling overwhelmed by high technology,
children embrace it, and that the task of educators is to figure out how to
use that enthusiasm in the classroom. "It's a powerful tool," Krueger said
of the computer. "And at a very young ages, kids are extraordinarily
energized and captivated by games. To say you don't want to use educational
technology at an elementary school level seems silly. The real question
isn't whether we should have computers or not in classrooms. It is how do we
capture the excitement and enthusiasm and apply it for educational
purposes."
Heidi B. Rogers, president of the International Society for Technology in
Education (http://www.iste.org/), a nonprofit group that last year issued a
set of proposed standards for technology in the classroom, including
recommendations that elementary school students learn certain computer
skills, says that computers are not meant to displace teachers or crayons.
But she argues that computers can enhance learning in early grades through
things like collaborative projects, in which children learn together around
a computer or communicate with people in other locations. She also argues
that early exposure to computers can help make sure children keep pace with
fast-changing technology. "As we get into the digital age, our students are
growing up in a technology-rich environment," she said. "To be successful in
society, they need to understand and use technology tools."
But the draft's authors hope their ideas will resonate with parents and
teachers, especially those who have a nagging sense that modern childhood
has become too hurried and that increasingly children are experiencing the
world through the high-paced graphics of electronic screens, rather than
through the real, if simple, grit of the sandbox.
Talbott said the current enthusiasm for computers in the classroom should be
seen in historical context. "There's been this powerful general sense that
the next new technology -- radio, television, now the Web -- was absolutely
essential for education," he said. "But then each one gets abandoned and the
next one embraced without anyone asking: 'Are we any more clear on it this
time?'"