October 2004 — Editorial
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Integrating Technology Throughout Education
Computers do well with tasks that are clearly and consistently defined by rules, and these tasks are also the easiest to send overseas. They go on to discuss three types of workplace tasks that cannot be carried out by simply following rules: (1) identifying and solving new problems called expert thinking; (2) complex human interactions, including teaching, marketing, etc. called complex communication; and (3) physical activities in the service sector such as custodial work, restaurant work, etc. The authors point out that computers have taken care of a lot of the jobs in the rule-making area, and the jobs that have increased in the last decade or so have been at either end of the wage spectrum - service sector and expert thinking. The key to student success for this new job distribution is to increase students’ abilities in expert thinking and complex communication. They do not support adding new courses in these areas; rather, they advocate that the core subjects emphasize solving problems and that communication skills be augmented. As to technology’s role in all of this, they believe that the “access digital divide” has largely been eliminated - a point with which I do not agree. They say that the higher digital divide facing us now is between those who can use computers to do “valuable work” and those who cannot. The authors believe that our curriculum must be altered so all students can use computers to do valuable work.All this argues for integrating technology throughout all of schooling and administration, not just in curriculum and instruction. Furthermore, the curriculum we need in today’s schools should not be an outdated, 19th century, lockstep curriculum that assesses knowledge and skills solely through multiple-choice tests. Hank Becker has research showing that when teachers have significant access to technology and are provided high-quality professional development on using technology with students, they are more likely to be teachers who use constructivist (not a term you hear about a lot lately) approaches to teaching and learning. This style is highly consistent with student-centered methods of learning, one of ISTE’s 10 essential conditions for using technology effectively in schools. We need to realize that technology affects all of education, much like a rock thrown into the calm surface of a pond ultimately affects the entire surface of the pond.
One thing we must do is revisit our state and national core content standards for students and teachers. Can we have science standards with no mention of technology when scientists rely so heavily on technology to do science? Can we have English/Language Arts standards with no mention of technology when most anyone who writes a sentence in his or her job uses word processing, and anyone in the business world doing research g'es to the Internet for information? We need to bring our curriculum up to 21st century reality. We need to assess our students’ knowledge and skills in a way that is consistent with how that knowledge and those skills are used in the real world. This is the context in which we should be integrating technology throughout all of curriculum and instruction.
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