Barriers to Integrating Technology

After reading Chapter 4 in Michael Fullan’s (2013) book Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge and the article by Drake & Reid (2010) Integrated Curriculum I can without a doubt say I am a firm believer in the power of technology in education. However, what I still need convincing on is how do we go about integrating technology in Ontario schools.

            In his chapter titled Digital Disappointments and Dreams, Fullan (2013, p. 52) included an accelerated learning framework detailing how one particular school within Ontario, Park Manor Public School, is incorporating the use of technology and 21^st century learning in their classrooms. There is no doubt that this school places pedagogy and student-centered-learning at the forefront of education. (But isn’t that what most schools strive to do? Is the purpose of schooling not to cater to the needs of its consumers, the students?) As I read about this particular school and examined the accelerated learning framework, I couldn’t help but ask myself what does this school have that others do not? How has this one school surpassed so many others on the front lines of student engagement and use of new technologies? According to Fullan (2013) this school was no exception, just one with ordinary teachers, students, and resources. Thus, what is the key to its success? In my opinion it is overcoming the three biggest barriers affecting the integration of technology in today’s schools. These include: current assessment models, teacher training, and fear of change.     

Assessment Models

In my last post, I touched upon the battle between conformity (standardization) versus innovation. In addition to that, there is the issue of collaboration versus individualization. Technology encourages the development of a participatory culture in which users collaborate and interact with others in real time. This can occur between students in the same classroom or between students in classrooms all over the world. Students use social networking sites to connect with peers and work collectively to solve problems. Consequently, this poses a challenge to teachers as it becomes difficult to determine and summatively assess individual student work from group collaboration. Ontario’s assessment model is designed to provide grades to students based on their individual knowledge of curricular material. However, technology breaks down the notion of isolated achievement and accomplishment and focuses on group collaboration. Therefore, how does a teacher involve students in collaborative practices (a 21^st century skill) while at the same time adequately assign students individual grades?

An interesting study performed by Moayeri (2010) demonstrated the problems two English teachers faced when it came time for marking individual students summatively. As a result, Moayeri (2010) warns teachers that it becomes problematic and time consuming to segregate each student’s individual contribution to a class designed website or collaborative media project. Moayeri’s (2010) research findings suggest that assessment strategies teachers have been taught to use in the past no longer fit within technology’s collaborative model.

Teacher Training

The tools for a 21st century teacher

Another challenge with integrating new technologies in schools is the disconnect between teacher training and 21^st century tools (i.e. computers, ipads, iphones, SMART boards, document cameras). Technology by itself cannot improve instruction. Teachers must have the knowledge to effectively use technology for enhancing instructional practices. However, pre-service teacher education programs place little emphasis on training future teachers to use technology in meaningful ways to support curriculum instruction. From my personal experiences, pre-service education students are taught simply how to create power-point presentations, use Microsoft Publishing software and construct a classroom website. Pre-service teacher education fails to provide explicit instruction for new teachers on how to engage future students and incorporate technology within the school curriculum. Accordingly, many teachers feel uncomfortable using technology and avoid integrating it into their instructional practices. Technology represents an area of constant change and uncertainty for many teachers. Consequently, pre-service teacher education should focus on encouraging risk-taking behaviour among new teachers (as is a common theme in my M.Ed class).  

Fear of Change

For most of us, there is nothing worse than uncertainty and technology brings about an abundance of uncertainty. As a result, many school staff fear the inclusion of technology within the school curriculum will create a dynamic and negative shift in the traditional teacher-to-student relationship. Therefore, feelings of apprehension and fear represent a barrier for integrating technology within Ontario schools. Schools were initially designed around the notion that the teacher was the expert whose job was to pass on their knowledge to students. As technology continues to become a more prominent tool for gathering information, some teachers fear they will no longer be viewed as the expert. In addition, other teachers worry students will challenge their authority by asking questions outside their area of expertise that they cannot answer. There is a sense of panic over the loss of power that may occur in the classroom, as teachers fear what will happen when the power structure within the classroom transfers from teacher to student.

       Now let’s go back to the beginning of our conversation on the school Fullan (2013) describes as embracing a 21^st century education. I highly doubt this school did not struggle with the above challenges when it came to the decision of whether or not to embrace 21^st century learning. However, what this school did do was take action. Schools can talk all they want about the challenges and hardships facing the inclusion of technology, but discussion is useless without action. Personally I believe the key to success, was not only in Park Manor’s well-crafted accelerated learning framework, but the support teachers and students likely received from one another during the integration process . By jumping into the 21^st century pool as a team, both the staff and students gave this school the chance to be successful because they were able to rely on each other to work through mistakes in order to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

I believe the key to surpassing the barriers related to the integration of technology truly lie in the words of Ms. Frizzle: (The teacher on the popular 1990s television show The Magic School Bus) “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”

References

Fullan, M. (2013). Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge. Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc.  

Drake, S. & Reid, J. (2010). Integrated Curriculum. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, 28, 1-4. 

Moayeri, M. (2010). Classroom uses of social network sites: Traditional practices or new literacies? Digital Culture and Education, 2(1): 25-43. 

Integrating "New" and "Old" Practices

“If we teach today’s students as we did yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow”

(John Dewey as cited in Digital Media 2011)

The first time I heard this quote was in one of my Master’s of Education classes Technology in the Curriculum. What struck me the most was the truth behind it. If we take a look around our society today, the significance of 21^st century technology is evident in almost every aspect of our daily lives. From the time people wake up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night, technology has an impact on both productivity and social activity. People are able to communicate to each other instantly through text messages, emails, Skype and social networking sites. Businesses are able to market and sell products to people all over the world through online websites and advertisements. It amazes me each day how much society has truly changed in such a short period of time. However, what I think has not changed, are our schools.

 Ironically, schools were initially developed as institutions aimed at preparing students for the future. However, somewhere between the creation of the traditional school and the beginning of the 21^st century, schools have forgotten this goal. How are schools preparing students for a world of endless possibilities when they are taught problems must be solved a certain way, or when they are taught to think of things as being right or wrong? The standardized tests we are imposing on our students are teaching them to think in a way that is conducive to yesterday learning.

According to Tanner (2013), in the early years of the testing industry test makers sought to align standardized tests to the curriculum being taught in schools. As society allowed standardized testing to become the chief representation of student learning, a turn around occurred in which schools began aligning the curriculum to the test. Today, in a world where creativity and innovation are butting heads with conformity and standardization, schools and teachers are struggling to determine how to prepare students for the world of tomorrow. On one hand, grades and class rank, both products of standardized tests, are highly valued as determinants for entry into Universities and Colleges around the world. On the other hand, the characteristics businesses and employers look for in their respective employees are innovation, creativity, collaboration, and problem solving. At the end of the day, who wins?   Conformity or innovation?

“In looking to the future, rather than insisting on a choice of either/or, we should consider shifting to both/and” (Drake, 2010, p. 4). According to Drake (2010), we need to recognize what was good from the “old method” (standardization) and carry that forward. Perhaps there is no winner or loser, no need for a battle between conformity and innovation. I think the answer lies in an integration of the two practices. The old method or standardized testing was first implemented in schools to specifically assess students' literacy and numeracy skills. These subjects were viewed as the “basics for a successful life” (Drake, 2010, p. 4). In the 21^st century, literacy can, and should still be considered a basic skill for life. However, the criteria of what it means to be literate must be re-visited. Being literate in today's digital world not only involves traditional literacy skills, but being able to interpret new media as a critical consumer of knowledge. Literacy in the 21st century means asking questions regarding authorship and credibility when it comes to information presented online. Any one can create a website on a topic of their choosing in a matter of minutes. Credentials are no longer a necessity for being an expert. Thus, it is very important today’s students learn to approach knowledge from a critical perspective.

In the article What does it mean to be Well-Educated? Alfie Kohn (2003) discusses how most teachers can instantly name students who are intelligent thinkers, but who do not perform well on standardized tests. As well, there will always be students for whom standardized tests seem to overestimate their intellectual abilities. This is why one mode of testing is not sufficient. (see http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/welleducated.htm). In the Growing Success document developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education, three different types of assessment are emphasized (visit http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/success.html). In particular, assessment for learning is a way in which teachers can monitor their students learning and provide them with feedback throughout the learning process. In addition, it is recommended that different assessment types such as journal entries, question-answer cards, interviews, portfolios, graphic organizers, and drawings are used to ensure all students are tested in a way in which they perform best. Using such methods of assessment along with standardized tests provide a much clearer picture of a student’s strengths, abilities, and areas of weakness compared to standardized testing alone.   

When it comes to preparing today’s students for the world of tomorrow no teacher is able to predict what the future is going to look like. However, what schools can do is incorporate what worked well in the past with the skills needed for learning in the 21^st century. In doing so, we will teach our students not to forget the past, but embrace triumphs and initiate change where it is needed. That, I believe is the key to learning in the 21^st century.

If you are wondering what 21^st century learning looks like, check out this amazing video of what some schools are doing.  http://www.pbs.org/programs/digital-media/

References:

Drake, S. M. (2010). Enhancing Canadian teacher education using a story framework. The

Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(2), 1-13.  

Kohn, A. (2003). What does it mean to be well-educated. Retrieved from

 http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/welleducated.htm.  

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing success: Assessment, evaluation and reporting

in Ontario’s schools. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/success.html.

PBS. (2011). Digital media: New learners of the 21^st century. Retrieved from

 http://www.pbs.org/programs/digital-media/.  

 Tanner. (2013). The end of schooling as we know it. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(1), 4-15.