Technologyin the Classroom

It's Not a Matter of 1f,'but 'When' and 'How'

BY ALiCE ARMSTRONGFrom the IllinoisSchool Board Journal

Technology use in the class-room is rapidly changing howwe teach, how children learn,and how school districts spendtheir resources. But how effec-tive is it? What are the costs?The benefits? The consequenc-es if we don't prioritize or investin education technology?

This article may help to startthe conversation in districtswhere little is being done, orwhere technology investmenthas been postponed or feared.

According to a 2012 studycommissioned by Verizon, morethan one of three middle school

students report using smart-phones (39%) and tablets (31%)to do homework. Those num-bers, however, are not matchedin the classroom.

A lack of funding, bandwidth,technical support, mobile de-vices, software, teacher ac-ceptance, and district policiesare among the reasons thatmore students are not usingthis technology more often atschool. All of these reasons arecompeting with the time andexpense needed to supporttraditional delivery systems,brick and mortar investments,and low-tech pedagogy. But thefact is that students are chang-ing the game and most alreadyown and know how to use these

Alice Armstrong taught high school English for 18 years and cur-rently works as a freelance writer and copy editor Condensed, withpermission, from the Illinois School Board Journal, 81 (July/August2013), 14-21. Published by the Illinois Association of School Boards,Springfield, IL.

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new tools.Despite the impressive num-

bers of middle school studentsusing laptops, smartphones, andtablets for homework, the studyfound that very few are usingthese mobile devices in theclassroom, particularly tabletsand smartphones. A large gapexists between mobile technol-ogy use at home and in school:where 39% of middle schoolstudents use smartphones forhomework, only 6% report thatthey can use the smartphone inclassroom for school work. Al-though 31 % say they use a tabletfor homework, only 18% reportusing it in the classroom.

Understandably, researchon technology use supportedby one of the nation's leadingbroadband and telecommunica-tions companies should be tem-pered by their obvious interestin the outcome. Nonetheless, itconfirms what some educatorsbelieve but others are reluc-tant to acknowledge. The studyalso gives positive reasons forconsidering a change in thatattitude: "Significantly morestudents who use mobile de-vices in the classroom expressa stronger interest in STEMsubjects than students who donot use these devices in theclassroom....Two out of threestudents (67%) who use laptops

in class say that it helps themlearn math and science better,and more than half of studentswho use tablets in class (55%)say it helps them learn math andscience better."

Technology, most wouldagree, is changing the way manystudents learn. The argumentwould come from those—par-ents, teachers and administra-tors alike—who may wonderwhether it's a change for thegood.

According to a 2013 surveyof Advanced Placement andNational Writing Project teach-ers conducted by the Pew Re-search Center, there are notablegenerational differences in howteachers experience the impactof digital technologies in theirprofessional lives. "Differencesin technology use emerge be-tween older and younger teach-ers."

At times, the Pew study con-tinued, teachers' own use ofdigital tools can run counter totheir concerns about and per-ceptions of student use. "In anearlier report on these data, wefound that teachers expressedsome concerns about what theysaw as students' overrelianceon search engines to find infor-mation and complete researchprojects. Their students increas-ingly 'equate resecirch with Goo-

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gling,' and use search engines inlieu of more traditional sourceswithout sufficient ability tojudge the quality of informationthey find online."

Utilizing tablets , smart-phones, and whiteboards toencourage students to explorethe Internet as a legitimate re-source and to collaborate withother students or teachers canengage their students in waysthat lectures and textbooksdo not. A place still exists fortraditional teaching tools andmethods, but that place is muchsmaller than it was 10 or evenfive years ago.

These tools do not magi-cally solve all of the problemsthat classroom teachers face.They come witb challenges thateducators must meet head on,not the least of which is learn-ing to wield them effectivelywith students. For those in theprofession who are not instinc-tive users of technology, thischallenge can be significant.That's why it is imperative thatdistricts provide faculty witheffective training and technicalsupport.

Laptops and iPadsFor today's "digital natives,"

paper, pencils, and even text-books are insufferably oldschool. Giving students a key-

board or toucbpad is muchmore likely to elicit a positiveattitude. According to researchconducted by the U.S. Depart-ment of Education, teachersnearly "universally" agree thatlaptops and tablets have beenshown to improve class par-ticipation. Researchers credittechnology as a primary methodto empower students to takecontrol of their own learning.Rather than merely listening toteachers disseminate informa-tion and dutifully taking notes,students actively search forinformation and make deci-sions about the product theyare creating.

In essence, technology istransforming students intoexplorers and teachers intoguides.

Before this transformationcan occur, students must betaught tbe skills they will needto navigate the online worldincluding identifying crediblesources, discerning the trivialfrom the consequential, andpersevering until they find theinformation they want and need.These are no simple skills toteach. Teaching students toavoid the inherent sense ofinstant gratification that onlinesearch engines provide is likeasking them to take counter-instinctive measures. The seem-

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ingly infinite number of sourcesavailable online means learninghow to wade through pages ofsearch returns to determinethe quality of sites and sources.While technology may initiallymotivate students to embraceassignments, teachers still haveto encourage students to thinkdeeply and analytically to doquality research.

Keeping students on task isanother major responsibility in

Wired classroomslend themselvesnaturally to peer

collaboration.

a wired or "fiipped" classroom.In classrooms with 30 or morestudents, just keeping everyoneon task can be a struggle, letalone giving each student theindividual attention he or sheneeds.

Fortunately, wired class-rooms lend themselves nat-urally to peer collaboration.Tech-sawy students generallyenjoy sharing their knowledgewith those who are baffied andintimidated; they gain a sense ofimportance and satisfaction byhelping others and earn the ap-preciation of teachers who are

busy or who may not know thecommands themselves.

In many iPad classrooms,teachers are using applicationsthat help them control what thestudents see on their screens.One such product, Nearpod,allows teachers to create mul-timedia presentations with in-teractive features and controlthe activity with the company'smobile app. Students receivecontent on their mobile devicesand can submit responses, whilethe teacher monitors classroomactivity, controls the pace of thelesson, and measures studentresults on an individual and ag-gregate basis.

Another example of class-room management softwarecomes from LanSchool. Avail-able for most tablets and smart-phones, this system is intendedto help teachers curb abuseand distractions. Having theability to black out distractingor offensive screens, limit whatstudents can and cannot do;send messages to students; al-low silent, individualized helpsessions; and take quick polls,products like these are designedto give back the control thatsome fear mobile devices sur-render

Of course, technology likethis comes with a price tag.One of the questions is, who

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provides the devices? Studentsor schools? One drawback isthat not all students possesstheir own devices. Teachersmay worry that the studentwho doesn't have a smartphoneor tablet will feel ridicule fromtheir connected peers. Teacherscan circumvent this problem byputting students in collabora-tive learning groups.

While some districts havethe resources to dole out freetablets to students, others areimplementing "rent-to-own"programs, so that the bookrental fees students once had topay for textbooks can becomerent-to-own fees for tablets.Nonetheless, the digital dividedoes create a noticeable linebetween students and betweendistricts.

The Pew study found thatteachers worry about the di-vide, though they are split aboutthe impact of digital tools ontheir students. "These teach-ers see disparities in accessto digital tools having at leastsome impact on their students.More than half (54%) say allor almost all of their studentshave sufficient access to digitaltools at school, but only a fifthof these teachers (18%) say allor almost all of their studentshave access to the digital toolsthey need at home."

The study also showed thatteachers of the lowest incomestudents were the least likelyto say their students have suf-ficient access to the digital toolsthey need, both in school and athome. "In terms of communitytype, teachers in urban areaswere the least likely to say theirstudents have sufficient accessto digital tools in school, whilerural teachers are the leastlikely to say their students havesufficient access at home."

Smartphones and BYODOf all the technological de-

vices available for use in theclassroom, the most contro-versial is the smartphone. Thenewest cell phones, which com-bine mobile operating systems,advanced computing capability,portable media players, high-resolution touchscreens, cam-eras, high-speed web brows-ers, and thousands of free orinexpensive applications, nowcomprise nearly 70% of the U.S.mobile phone market. When cellphones came into widespreaduse among students, most dis-tricts countered by banning orseverely limiting their use forobvious reasons.

Common discipline issuesinvolved cheating (copying andtransmitting tests), texting and"sexting," taking photos of inap-

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propriate behavior and in inap-propriate places, and even cy-berbullying. However, advancesin smartphone technology, fea-tures, and processing capacityare creating another potentialtool that can increase studentaccess to learning technologywhen district-owned resourcesmay be limited.

For example, one softwareproduct called GoMLE turnsthe student smartphone intoa computer. The hosted, web-based application is designed toenable teachers to synchronizelesson creation, management,and delivery with students' de-vices. The parent firm GoKnowalso markets an application todistrict administrators enablingteacher observations and evalu-ations to be made on mobiledevices.

Proponents of smartphoneuse in the classroom argue thatteachers need to see beyondthe social networking functionof cell phones to their poten-tial as learning tools. DavidRapp, author of "Lift the CellPhone Ban," says "educatorsknow that with students, cellphone use is inevitable, so whynot use the devices for good?"That argument applies to allstudent-owned devices—notjust smartphones.

The Illinois Association of

School Boards (lASB) addressedthis shift in thinking in its March2013 issue of Policy ReferenceEducational Subscription Service(PRESS): "The reality that tech-nology is almost an appendageto most students and educatorsunderscores the major reasonfueling demand for a bring-your-own-technology or BYOT policy,or as it is sometimes referredto, bring-your-own-device, orBYOD policy"

The Association's legal coun-sel suggests, however, that be-fore adopting a BYOD policy andimplementing a BYOD program,school officials should considerhow the policy and programfit into the district's missionstatement for instruction. "Thistype of policy purpose will bedifferent for each board andits community, mainly becauseeach community has differentphilosophies and needs," saidMelinda Selbee, IASB GeneralCounsel.

Interactive WhiteboardsIn addition to allowing more

student personal devices, manyclassrooms are also movingtoward built-in technology thatis teacher-driven. The mostcommon is the SMART Board®,a system that includes an inter-active whiteboard, computer,projector, and whiteboarding

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software. According to SMARTTechnologies of Calgary, Cana-da, it has more than 2 millioninstallations in K-12 classroomsnationwide, reaching as many as40 million students. Embracedby many teachers who desiremore collaboration opportuni-ties in the classroom, the tech-nology is expensive (as muchas $5,000 per classroom) butgrowing in acceptance. One re-cent study suggested there canbe multiple benefits to using in-teractive whiteboards as a partof classroom instruction.

Robert J. Marzano, a re-searcher based in Englewood,CO, studied teaching and stu-dent outcomes in some 200classes where teachers con-ducted lessons with and withoutinteractive whiteboards. Hefound significant benefits whenteachers used the boards, par-ticularly among those who hadbeen using the devices for morethan two years, were confidentin their skill with the boards'features, and used them for atleast 75% of class time. Thegreatest benefits appeared to bein boosting student motivationand participation.

However, Marzano noted thatnot all teachers are confident intheir ability to engage studentsinteractively. Technical trainingis essential, which is why the

manufacturer offers numeroustutorials and webinars, lessonresources, and online communi-ties comprised of other teach-ers. There are also critics ofthe innovation. Education Weekin February 2010, which report-ed on the Marzano research,also acknowledged opposition."There has been criticism thatin too many classrooms, theyare nothing more than fancy, ex-pensive chalkboards, especiallywhen their interactive featuresare ignored by teachers whodon't know how or refuse to usethem," noted Kathleen KennedyManzo.

Bandwidth Capacity,Access

The most advanced class-room technology, regardlessof the platform or ownership,is worthless without adequate"bandwidth" to support it.Bandwidth is the total rangeof frequency required to passa specific signal that has beenmodulated to carry data with-out distortion or loss of data.According to the State Educa-tional Technology DirectorsAssociation (SETDA), U.S. edu-cational institutions will neednetworks that deliver broad-band performance of lOOMbpsfor every 1,000 students andstaff members in time for the

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2014-15 school year. "Address-ing teacher and student con-cerns regarding educationalbroadband reliability and speedis as critical as ensuring plumb-ing and electricity in schools,"said Douglas Levin, executivedirector for SETDA.

But access to adequate band-width can be an insurmountableproblem for some districts, par-ticularly in rural areas.

In areas where adequatebandwidth exists, some districtsmay still not be able to afford tobuy it. In fact, 80% of schooldistricts predict they will haveflat or declining IT budgets forthe next school year, accordingto Katrina Schwartz, in an April11, 2013 posting on the Mind/Shift KQED blog.

Finai ThoughtsThere is no shortage of opin-

ions on technology in the class-room. Even the White House hasexpressed its vision on the sub-ject. In 2010, President Obama'sNational Education TechnologyPlan called for "revolutionarytransformation rather than evo-lutionary tinkering."

The model of learning de-scribed in this plan suggestedthat schools must develop andoffer "engaging and empower-ing learning experiences for alllearners." Such a model would

ask "that we focus what and howwe teach to match what peopleneed to know, how they learn,where and when they will learn,and who needs to learn. In con-trast to traditional classroominstruction, this requires thatwe put students at the centerand empower them to takecontrol of their own learning byproviding flexibility."

That is a homework assign-ment that many educators andschool boards are now wres-tling with. It will take significanttime, resources and support todevelop a plan that is suited toeach student, each school, andeach school district. •

"The great thing aboutgeometry class is the teacher

grades on a curve."

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