RE: Question 1: Technology in Education

Linda Nowell on Emerging Modes writes:

Technology in all its forms is an integral part of our world. Before I can speak to the first question, I have a question of equity. There are still schools not only in CA but across this nation in which students have very limited access to technology. Especially in schools that serve poor children their experiences with computers are in computer labs doing remedial tutorials. Their schools/classrooms may not even be wired for internet access. I also fear that there are still schools where students can go through entire schooling experience and never touch a computer.

It's one thing to talk about professional development and the use of technology to support student achievement, but its a moot point if these teachers and students do not have the technological resources to experiment with these recommendations.

My comments: Excellent comment: However, I think the situation especially in inner city, high minority schools, is much worse than the simple lack of technology and other support.  One strong negative is the large turnover of teachers each year  in many of these schools and the new teachers coming into the school are very inexperienced. With all these constant changes, the ability to build a cohesive academic program among teachers and disciplines is a major challenge in itself, much less adding and implementing new technology.

Equally negative is that "social promotion" in these schools is very high, so that the students by the 8th grade are already 4-5 years behind academically in many core subjects. One result is that the standard deviation of background skills is so large, that the instructor- regardless how skilled- can address only 1/3 of the student's skills and academic needs, with the other 2/3 of his students, bored to tears. These negative situations lead to class discipline problems decreasing the instructor's effectiveness. The net result is that by trying to add new technology to a situation that is so unstable increases the chaos. In other words, until these other problems are addressed effectively, new technology may be wasted time, effort and resouces until these other problems are addressed.