November 2007 — News
Print this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
The Great Debate: Effectiveness of Technology in Education
According to Robert Kuhn (2000), an expert in brain research, few people understand the complexity of that change. Technology is creating new thinking that is "at once creative and innovative, volatile and turbulent" and "nothing less than a shift in worldview." The change in mental process has been brought about because "(1) information is freely available, and therefore interdisciplinary ideas and cross-cultural communication are widely accessible; (2) time is compressed, and therefore reflection is condensed and decision-making is compacted; (3) individuals are empowered, and therefore private choice and reach are strengthened and one person can have the presence of an institution" (sec: Concluding Remarks).If we consider thinking as both individual (internal) and social (external), as Rupert Wegerif (2000) suggests, then "[t]echnology, in various forms from language to the internet, carries the external form of thinking. Technology therefore has a role to play through supporting improved social thinking (e.g. providing systems to mediate decision making and collective reasoning) and also through providing tools to help individuals externalize their thinking and so to shape their own social worlds" (p. 15).
The new tools for communication that have become part of the 21st century no doubt contribute to thinking. Thus, in a debate on effectiveness or on implementation of a particular tool, we must also consider the potential for creativity, innovation, volatility, and turbulence that Kuhn (2000) indicates.
The Chance of Effectiveness
While the debate rages on, educators will continue to implement technology. I agree with Robert Kozma, emeritus director and principal scientist at SRI International, who stated in a recent debate (The Economist, 2007) that "technology can make a particularly significant contribution when coordinated with the training of teachers to integrate technology into their teaching, with applications that draw on the unique capabilities of technology, and with supportive curricular, assessment, and school contexts that advance complex problem solving, creative thinking, and life-long learning--skills that are needed to support an information society and knowledge economy" (sec: Con Opening Statement). However, it's not the medium, but instructional methods that cause learning. Educators need to think in a systematic way about how and when to incorporate any new pedagogical strategy, including media, into instruction.
If technology has any chance to be effective, its use must be a regular, integral part of an instructional program and not viewed as an add-on (Deubel, 2001). You need to know the educational need, problem, or gap for which use of new media might potentially enhance learning. Your chance for an effective implementation would increase, if you are also able to answer "yes" to one or more of these remaining questions, suggested by Joel Smith and Susan Ambrose (2004, p. 23):
