Technology + Guidance = Real Learning

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I entered my Ph.D. program in Education with the theory that giving students technology was enough to engage them in learning. While working at a low-income, low-performing school with one computer per classroom (that usually was not setup), I brought in my laptop and iPod touch with educational apps and students were instantly drawn to the new technology. The students that had behavior problems even sat still to play math games on the Internet for hours.

I worked with a student with severe Autism and when he was able to use my laptop and iPod touch, he really started gaining ground in math. I thought it was the technology that was making a difference. But, on reflection, it was my guidance along with the technology. I asked my student questions to scaffold his thought processes, provided hints when he needed help with a problem, and conducted daily assessments to determine where he needed to focus his learning. I helped him learn to use his fingers to count so he could input the addition solution on Math Fact Cafe instead of guessing. We spent a lot of time drawing clocks on a whiteboard to figure out how to tell time and testing out different iPod apps to learn about patterns and solving puzzles. Since I love technology, I attributed my student's success to the tools that I was bringing him and omitted the fact that I was actually teaching him skills beyond what the technology provided.

Technology has that aura of a shiny object that will instantly solve all of the problems in education - I fell into its enticing trap. Luckily, my PhD program classes and the articles I read on a daily basis about education from SmartBrief opened my eyes to the fact that technology needs to be supplemented with teacher guidance in order to have a real affect on learning. Three recent articles/podcasts have echoed these thoughts:

FabLabs@School
I recently listened to a podcast by Paulo Blikstein, a Stanford Professor who required the School of Education to build a FabLab as part of his hiring package. A FabLab is a fabrication laboratory where students can build things using 3D printers, laser cutters, programming tools, and other engineering equipment. Blikstein described that when students first entered the FabLab, they learned how to create a keychain. The students kept returning to the lab to create keychains because that's all they knew how to do (instead of exploring the other tools). Blikstein explained that just having the tools available was not enough to inspire learning. Students needed someone to teach them how to use the tools and provide support and feedback.

Are Kids Really Motivated by Technology?
Bill Ferriter calls technology a "motivational red herring" as he describes his efforts to engage his students in learning through blogging. He provided an online blog for students and had to "beg" students to use it. He describes how students may like technology because it's different than a typical worksheet or in-class activity, but students are really engaged when they can think critically, socialize, interact, and solve challenges.

Show and Tell for Teachers, Inspired by Reality TV
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are providing the Washington, D.C. school district with funds for hiring a reality TV crew to film highly effective teachers and develop a database of videos of best practices. I had a similar idea a while back and I thought it would be a great research topic, so I am excited to see this project in action. However, the article highlights the fact that athletes don't just watch a video with good technique and then go out and execute the technique perfectly. The athletes, just like teachers, need guidance - they need to know what to look for while watching the video, how to use the technique shown in the video, and they need feedback. This was very enlightening. You can't just give teachers videos of best practices and expect that they will perfect these techniques without any support.

As more schools adopt one-to-one laptop and iPad programs, it is important for administrators to recognize the value of training teachers to guide learning using these new tools. The idea of teachers shifting from "sage on the stage to guide on the side" sounds catchy, but it's really the teachers leading the classroom, determining which technologies to use, knowing how to assess learning with the new tools, and providing feedback and guidance. Technology should not devalue great teaching. Instead, we need more great teachers to bring out the value of technology as a learning tool.