Innovation is the reason behind the success of some great companies like Apple, Cisco and HP. Running against the clock with making things better and competing with the latest technology for the new and improved. I love all the responses on this topic very interesting and I agree with must of them. I support on what Susan posted that “technology can be used to encourage students to develop and strength creative thinking”. But, I think one of the biggest challenges for us is how do we engage with the students so they can have better concentration in the classroom. I remember watching a special on television, I don't know if it was ABC news or 60 minutes where the reporter went to North Korea and was showing the country. The reporter was impressed with the discipline and concentration that music students had in the classroom. These 8-year-old kids can play the violin with such intensity like a professional. He also showed how poor the country was compared to the United States, but their dedication, respect and discipline was no comparison. If you look a Japanese culture, they believe in Kaizen, which means change for the better or always improving. In Japan students don't jump to step 2 until they mastered step 1. This is the big success of Toyota, this is their belief and ideology making them the number 1 car maker in the world.

I feel that yes we have the technology and we have the desire to apply it to the students but we are also allowing students to be creative and to be innovative which I think is great. The only concern is that students are taking advantage of it and demand for us as society to change for their needs, so if the lecture or assignment is not similar in the lines of a video game and technology, then they think is boring and not care for the learning. It is happening in schools, communities, professional sports and even Hollywood. For example in professional sports the Yankees were more impressed with Chien Ming Wang from Taiwan because he knew on how to deal with adversity and concentrated a lot better then Jeff Weaver which was eventually traded from the Yankees for his attitude. Even in Hollywood movies that come from Europe or are directed by foreign directors are more dramatic and real than those directed by Americans. Americans are making more movies like video games, more entertaining while foreign directors more dramatic where a concentration and understanding is required.

I believe it is a grey area, support the innovation, technology and fun learning, but lets not forget the discipline, respect and dedication that it is required. Sometimes you have to put with the rain in other to see a rainbow.

Edited by author 12-10-2007 10:35 PM
The demands of the work world are already complex and adaptation seems to be important at every turn for all of us. I know as a member of T.E.A.M. I appreciate the routine reminders for us not to be overwhelmed. I agree with Barb that things take time. Schools are social institutions under great stress and they need time to evolve.

Not to belabor a point on the industrial age schools, but sometimes I think what parents of our younger students seem to value is traditional instruction packaged in some form of technology. Just consider the success of these computer assisted tutoring instruction businesses that have created a low level understanding for parents of how technology is used. We can sometimes get caught up in that too with so many programs in the elementary school that have kids sitting side by side, but only interacting with the screen.

In response to some other posts, it seems that regardless of the challenge - too few computers, lack of access to computer labs, smart board access or not, another issue that always lurks in the background is time. It seems that we need to rethink how time is spent on learning and teaching.
Are we trying to imagine teaching 21st century skills and learning in a 20th century environment?
It seems like we confine ourselves to the classroom too much and need to image the learning in a broader context. I think Mike Stein’s post about giving kids more real world problems to solve with technology would shift the technology use to the kids, move it outside the classroom and school, and create more of a coaching role for teachers.

I agree with many in this QT who discussed areas where we need to consider a balance between technology skills versus critical thinking skills, social versus solitary technology use, and our role as teachers coaching individuals or small groups versus whole class direct instruction. So much to think about.

Good Point Jane about having to plan a lesson just in case the technology does not work-I can't tell you how many times I have had to change my lessons at the last minute because of that.

You are right Melissa in that Technology is a good aid, but I feel, and have experienced that it cannot be counted on completely in the classroom. And I can also agree with you Jane, technology resouces are limited in schools, and if something is not working properly you still need to have a back-up lesson. It is a lot of extra work, and there seems to be less and less time to get things done.

Technology in the classroom does get the students excited about learning. The problem, like Melissa stated, is that not only would you have to spend more time planning lessons, but we would need to spend time planning alternative lessons just in case the technology does not work. So many times the technology lesson is useless and cannot be taught because it does not work on the school computers due to school filtering, someone changing or "borrowing" your equipment, or someone having a higher priority and gets to the equipment before you do. When things like this happen it makes it that much more difficult to plan more innovative lessons.

I agree with everyone that technology can aid in the teaching of our students. What I find a little annoying is now I spend probably around 10+ hours in front of a computer a week. To implement this new technology in the class (like a smart board) I would probably have to double that time. I love some of the lessons I have seen, but I really don't want to be forced to sit in front of the computer like that. Does anyone else feel that way??

Once again sorry it took me this long to get to this. After reading everyone’s responses I feel the same way. We want our children to be exposed to as much technology as possible, but for some of us it’s hard because of the disadvantage on not having the technological resources available or not having enough. We are only moving forward toward pushing technology into our education so why not use it as much as possible whenever possible.

There is always a lag time, and often quite a long one, between the conceptual "new way of thinking and doing" and the implementation of it. The innovations we see in technology and their application in schools is right now, for the most part, an overlay on an educational system that is so slow to change. The way we teach and the directions we might wish to go in are, it seems, so antithetical to the way the 'system' currently operates that it is very easy to become discouraged and believe that systemic change is impossible. Changes do happen, but we have to recognize that they come slowly, and try not to lose sight of what our ultimate goals are.

Andrea, you make some valid points. We are currently immersed in a test happy educational setting that supposedly encompasses listening and communication. Listening is certainly addressed on certain state tests, but communication is only addressed in the form of writing. We all know communication is an essential skill for our students and should go beyond paper and pencil. I agree that creativity is sometimes sacrificed in order to "prepare for assessments". So now that I have talked myself into a corner... how do you revive creativity and create a classroom that fosters the many forms of communication while making sure all your students attain 3s and 4s on state assessments? I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

“The working world is no longer looking for ‘industrial workers.’ Employers of tomorrow likely will place a much higher value on listening and communications skills, on collaborative learning capabilities, and on critical thinking and systems thinking skills – because most work is increasingly interdependent, dynamic, and global (p. 51).”

So if employers of tomorrow are looking to place much higher value on listening and communication skills, then why do I feel that our education system is not helping us to prepare for this direction? It seems that creativity is vanishing in our schools, and the students are not provided with the opportunities to be individuals. Yes, children today are provided with new technologies, and yes, they are 'digital natives,' whereas we are digital immigrants. How do we change the system to bring back creativity to our children, and to enhance communication with each other.

Listening, communicating, and critical thinking skills are all mentioned often in the postings and seem to me to be the real crux of this discussion. Preparing students for the future requires these skills, with or without technology. Technology can help, but students must nonetheless learn these important skills. I agree that technology is a great lure and often helps peak a student's interest, but we must make sure the technology is serving our purpose and that students become good listeners, communicators, and critical thinkers. I have seen technology have the opposite effect. In my former career, I remember noticing the decrease in quality of business communication that email brought on. I was surprised at the frequency of misread (not to mention misspelled!) information. Many people read and write emails more hastily that they do "real" letters and this can cause a decrease in communication and listening skills. I have also seen people happily accept whatever information they find on the Internet, as if it is true because it is on the web. Where is the critical thinking in that? The vast amount of information (and technological tools) out there requires more critical thinking and analytical skills than ever.

I liked something Adam posted a few pages back: "Instead of teaching the technical competency, we should teach them to embrace what is new, figure out its most effective use...and maybe how to improve upon it. Aren't those 21st century competencies?" Yes, I believe they are.


Before I leave, I would like to mention another interesting quote that was just a sentence away from the one Bette Schneiderman posted at the beginning of this discussion and that is the quote by Gordon Brown about teachers having to be prophets, preparing students for a future they are - quite frankly - guessing at. Because we do not know exactly what "our" students will need to know in 20-30 years, we need to teach them how to find out what they do not know, how to build on what they do know, and, most certainly, how to work effectively with others.

I agree with Farryl, Adam and Stephen, we need to find the right balance of the use of technology. My k-1 students love to get on the computer but they need my help to use it. However, they are seeing the benefits to using it. They are seeing that it can help them find things that they are interested in. This definitely motivates them to learn how to use it. This helps them to become lifelong learners.

I also agree with what Dennis had to say about the online games that our students play. I know this first hand. My 16 year old plays them and works with others to plan strategies. As a parent I am torn because while he is working in groups to find solutions he is also so engrossed that school doesn’t even come close. I do wish that his teachers could create a learning environment that could engage my son in using his strategies to learn in class. In Library School, I learned about webquests and thought they would bring real life learning opportunities to our students. During my observations and internships I saw them engage many students. My son has never had this opportunity. When I ask him how school was, he tells me how he fell asleep in class and it brings back many memories from when I went to school. I believe that webquests and many of these collaborative projects would have given me a useful reason to explore and learn. I believe that one teacher at a time can make a change for our children. I am looking forward to working on some projects that can excite our students.

There are some great conversations going on here. In response to Susan Q point about teachers being afraid to use Technology: I feel as if teachers are actually beginning to explore the use of technology more frequently into the classroom. In large part this is true not only because it makes our lives easier but the departments are pushing teachers to use technology because our students are coming into contact with technology at a younger age. Technology allows students to gain access to their work from home as well as provides teachers with another way to relate to our students. The traditional way of teaching without the use of technology is slowly fading and just as technology is consistently changing, teachers will continue to adapt to our changing society.

Great ending Martha! I think state assessments are a major problem when we try to think about changing the way we educate our children. How can we try to develop a new way of educating our students when the results of the next state test will be printed in the local newspaper? As a library media specialist my job description has just about been completely rewritten thanks to technology. However I work in a library where most of the automated tools are not working. Even though the technology is not working, I try to have my students working on listening, communicating and critical thinking skills. These are skills that our students will need in the future. Also, on the state assessment the students at my school did very poorly in the area of listening. So by teaching these lessons I am able to have students ready for the future as well as today.

Martha is right, how is the state going to assess what we do with technology. Only kidding. To me technology is a tool just like the pen and pencil is. It is a powerful tool that students and teachers must learn how to use for everyday learning. We all now read Newspapers, journals, etc online. When we want to find out a fact we go to the Internet, not the book on the shelf. Students must learn where to find out information when needed. When I was in school we learned the library system so that when we needed information we knew where to find it in the library. I never really did get it right. I still have to ask a librarian where to find things. Students have to be prepared for a work force that uses technology in almost all fields. The auto mechanic now has a computer in the garage for diagnosing what is wrong with a car and then uses it to order the parts. Students must be prepared to be LLLs because technology is changing so fast. We will all have to be LLLs to keep us with what is happening in technology. Who would have thought we would have students blogging, podcasting and now vodcasting just a few years ago. Or how to do it? We all have to learn. By teachers continually learning the new technology teaches students by example that we all must be LLLs.

Regarding time spent collaborating and time spent in the computer lab being mutually exclusive, I have seen several teachers use collaborative groups in our computer labs. The kids really responded well to this, (though it did seem somewhat chaotic and very verbal…perhaps this is part of what they liked).

I do agree that technology will be forever changing and not forever young to students…it will lose some of its excitement. And that’s OK. I don’t think that technology is really what spurs kids to learn. I think it’s the teachers. I know some are afraid that technology will somehow “replace” teachers as we now know them. I think “never”. Call him teacher or mentor, he is the spark. Whether working with a smartboard or writing on paper with pen, she is the one who excites. Exceptional teachers can ignite the desire to learn.

There is one question I have, and I wonder what others think of this. How do we assemble good collaborative groups, where everyone does participate. How do we build the skills and levels of trust needed? I see this as a basic requirement for preparing students for tomorrow’s careers. Oddly enough, in our new age of technology, the machine model is being replaced by the living “systems” model, dependent upon human relationships. So while technology is the tool, don’t we have to work on the relationships, and the skills with which to communicate?

And where will we find the time for this, how will the state assess this?