ICT changes things

It seems that the variety of ICTs appearing in schools is growing at a rate many find difficult to keep up with. Where once teachers only had to worry about what to do with a few desktop computers, we now face the challenge of deciding which of the latest technologies on offer we can/should harness in the classroom for enhancing or, indeed, improving educational outcomes for our students. Having decided that we must have the latest, dare I say, gadget in our classroom, what is the process we go through to convince the school community that this is a good idea?

Supposedly we have experimented with the new technology and have seen the educational potential of adding it to our toolkit, but the next step is not always easy, especially when funds are always short. One problem we face is the requirement from various stakeholders to demonstrate how the new technology will improve learning. This in itself is problematic given the speed with which new technologies are appearing and the difficulties with conducting long term research when the ‘goal posts’ keep changing.

Bigum (2012) describes a loop that schools can find themselves in:

1. New ICT appears in the market
2. Arguments are put forward as to how this new technology will improve current teaching and learning practices. These arguments are usually made in terms of how the technology will address a particular problem.
3. The case for the technology is successful and it is introduced into the school.

Before too long, a new technology enters the market and the loop begins again. To justify the expenditure, calls are made to explain or prove how learning is being improved. Bigum states that this search for improvement is a distraction and can cause people to miss the obvious - ICT changes things. Interesting things happen with ICT that are unexpected and bear little resemblance to what what anticipated.

The problem with this loop is that the technology is usually made to fit in with current practices - it would be difficult to successfully make a case for introducing the technology by saying, “let’s just see what happens, how it changes things.” I have attended many parent meetings in primary schools where the parents insist on knowing how the technology will improve learning - it is their main concern. It is therefore necessary to focus, not on improvements that, at this stage, cannot be quantified, but on how ICT has changed the way we do things. When we accept this, we may move towards exploring how school can change to accommodate a more contemporary approach to learning.

Reference:

Bigum, C. (2012). Schools and Computers: Tales of a Digital Romance. Transformative Approaches to New Technologies and Student Diversity in Futures Oriented Classrooms. L. Rowan and C. Bigum, Springer Netherlands: 15-28.