TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION DIGEST
Digest No. 8 -- July 7, 1997
A Moderated Mailing List
Steve Wildstrom (steve_wildstrom@businessweek.com), Moderator

Return to Technology & Education

I found your June 9, 1997, article on the role of technology in education very interesting. It is always interesting to read about success stories in using computers in education.

I would like to make a few comments relating to the context of the piece. You presage my comments in a few locations, primarily in the first sentence of the "Chipping In" section: "The trouble is, no one seems to know which of the myriad problems facing American education Internet access can solve"

Before I begin, let me give a few details about who I am, and why I'm bothering you about this. I have a Ph.D. from Princeton in Cognitive Psychology; my dissertation concerned ways of developing new representations for problems using technology that would lead to improved learning in very complex tasks. After finishing at Princeton, I went to teach in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. While there, I continued my research into technology and education, studying the ways that computers could provide feedback in ways similar to that used by human tutors, and doing some early explorations into multimedia based education. I am now a researcher at RAND, a think tank in Los Angeles. Among other studies at RAND, I have been involved in the assessments of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) effort, which includes the Co-NECT schools. I have also advised the US Department of Education on evaluation of educational technology, and set research strategies for various educational foundations. I also review research papers on education and technology for journals such as Cognition and Instruction, Journal of AI in Education, and others.

The technology in education (or EdTech for short) story has a long and complex history. It, not surprisingly, goes back well before computers. For example, when 35mm slide projectors were first introduced into schools, various pundits predicted that education as we know it would be revolutionized. It wasn't. Similar predictions were made for VCRs, overhead projectors, copying machines... and probably paper and pencil.

Few of these "revolutions" have come about. None have come about in the ways that we expected.

What do parents want from an educational system? For their kids to get jobs & into college, typically speaking. Will learning to program support this goal? Probably not. Kids who learned Latin did not, generally speaking, get into better colleges, get better jobs, or just be all-over "smarter" than those who did not.

Part of the EdTech problem has been a mindset that "if we build it, the educational benefits will come" (my apologies to Kevin Costner, et al, for the paraphrase). Indeed, education has rarely made adequate use of a technology unless teachers, parents, school officials, and policy makers have developed a vision of what the technology should -- and can -- do.

What is this vision for computer use? "Well, kids will surf the Internet to find their homework answers!" Yes, they could, but how many look in a local library? "Well, the kids will be enabled to learn powerful new things!" Yes, indeed, they are, as has been shown by numerous research studies (including mine). But who will assess their learning, and will it affect their SAT scores? Another EdTech researcher , Eliot Soloway (from the University of Michigan) tells a particularly touching story about an occasion when he brought his new computers (which he calls "boxes") into a classroom to teach something new and revolutionary, only to have his entire lesson disrupted when a student walked in (late) wearing a jacket with a swastika on it. As Eliot asks, "do the boxes matter? Not in that case!"

What are we to do with computers? Are they of no use? This is not what I mean to imply, as would be expected from someone who has spent his life building computers to teach kids new skills.

Computers, networks, and other technologies do indeed have promise. But they are not magic bullets. They require context to surround them and long-term goals and visions for their use. And, unfortunately, the US has lately engaged in public policy by sound-bite -- it if doesn't fit on a bumper sticker, you must acquit -- rather than exhibiting a long-range vision.

My concern is precisely this: If we ignore the complexities of a situation like education, we may turn from one fad to another without direction or purpose. And most importantly, we may turn away before we have any impact.

Please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail if you have questions or comments. By the way, you may be interested in a RAND report that describes several different high technology schools, measuring costs, etc., of each. I am not an author of the paper, but can get you a reference if you are interested.

Regards, DCM

Dr. Douglas C. Merrill
RAND
1700 Main Street
P.O. Box 2138
Santa Monica CA 90407-2138
(310) 393-0411, ext 7876
(310) 451-7039
Doug_Merrill@rand.org (E-mail preferred)

I was just reading your article "READIN', WRITIN', AND THE INTERNET", and thought I should reply about an elementary school 5th grade class our Senior Net group visited a short time ago.

I was impressed with the high level of computer knowledge and enthusiasm these 5th grade students had. First, I should give you some back ground. The Neenah, WI. elementary, middle, and high schools are on a network. The Taft School, which we visited had a computer class room with about 20 -25 Apple computers. Their teacher, Diane Doersch (diane_ doersch@taft.neenah.k12.wi.us) and coordinator Tina Haffeman (tina_haffeman@taft.neenah.k12.wi.us) had many projects using 'Hyperstudio' & 'Claris Works 4.0 on the Apple computers to get the students interested and involved. Some of the projects were; E-mail to students in other schools and to seniors. Design & sell personal return address labels. Business cards.

Use a camera (inexpensive) to import pictures into a program to make: Their or your picture on a magazine cover. Wanted posters. A picture on a 32c stamp.

One of the main projects was 'TIP' , Technological Intergenerational Project. In this project the 5th grade students work with seniors. They do E-mail with seniors on different subjects who have computers, to INSTRUCTING seniors that are new to computers, the basics of computers and different applications!

The school also works with the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

I was appalled at the cost of some of the programs you mentioned in your article! I think a big share of the money spent on school computer education should go to instructor education and adapt ready made programs for use. The state should set up standard programs with options for individual schools depending on their finances.

Sincerely,

Don Page (DPage@JUNO.COM)
422 W. Michigan St.
Appleton, WI. 54911

Mr. Wildstrom: As a follow up to your article and request of June 9,the following may be of interest, although it is clearly 'a work in progress'.

The Duke Institute for Learning in Retirement,DILR, has for several years had a number of our members as volunteer tutors,mostly reading,writing, etc..at the Club Boulevard Elementary School( a magnet shool for the humanities-k-5,Durham,NC)

This past year one of our volunteers tutored children, mostly 4th & 5th graders, some 3rd, on how to access and use the internet, the web, use search engines etc..on the one Mac hooked up to the internet in the entire school. They also have a computer lab and one overworked computer and technology teacher.

This summer the entire school will be rewired to provide multiple internet access in each classroom, and I believe an ISDN connection.

We, DILR, in cooperation with the principal, Carolyn Ridout, are 'Adopting "Club Boulevard', at least INTERNETwise, not necessarily computerwise per se. However, since one really doesn't have to be a computer jock to successfully use email and www. we see no problem. We will be working with the teachers to bring in and help the kids use the web-email-devellop pen pal relationships globally, including Enhanced CU-SeeMe,about which I wrote you recently.

You were of course correct in surmising that the platform is Mac, although the emial system we will use is Eudora Lite. Incidentally, we tested Enhanced CU and it works satisfactorily, including the whiteboad. Current slow tel wire transmissions presented some problems,but faster ISDN will eliminate them entirely.

By the way, I hope you raise your readers awareness to the effect that x2 modems , while technologically interesting, are useless even when a fine ISP like Mindspring can handle 56 kbps, when the telephone company (GTE)transmission over copper wires only 'guarantee' 24 kbps.

The most important factor in this equation being the teachers' comfort level with the internet, etc. Dilr is paying for a professional training consultant who we have used for beginning internet classes for ourselves. After the training sessions, the teachers will take home for the summer the computers they will be using in their classes, and DILR, will see to it that they are all connected properly, teachers on - line, etc...

We have beginner training manuals for the teachers, and will Bookmark the U of California at Berkeley learning library which has great tutorials., amongst other sources. We also will hope to get these teachers access to Duke's Office of Information Technology training seminars, etc....

We expect to get several Duke students (at least) as volunteer 'help desk' helpers. Also,one of the private high school's kids for the same. We got both for a project described below.

If you've read this far please let me elaborate on some statements above. We KNOW one doesn't need computer expertise to surf the net-email etc. A couple of years ago DILR initiated a program to see if the use of the internet can help alleviate loneliness of residents of a nearby Methodist Retirement Community. The average age of participants about 80+. None were computer literate but were willing to learn! Not only are they having a ball, the research on this had early on been taken over by Duke's Medical Center for Aging, and is now being extended substantially. Early quantifiable results "show considerable promise". Anecdotal information is that it works to improve quality of life of these and nursing home residents. However Duke , being an outstanding research institution must garnering data to meet "the rigorous standards of academic research". But I , not being so academically hampered, (I'm a retired businessman member of DILR),know that it works and would like to see it rolled out nationally. Incidentally, the lead investigator for Duke, is Dr. Heidi White, .Although she probably does not consider "publication" in Business Week the same as a scholarly journal, I'm even more certain that if somehow she got assistance in funding from some appropriate readers, she will forgive me for this.

Sara Craven, copied above, is Director of DILR. I am coordinator of internet activities at DILR and of volunteer tutors at Club Boulevard. I hope others may wish to copy some of this, and of course, being a 'work in progress', we'll keep you posted if interested.

Herb Halbrecht (919) 620-0546 Fax (919) 620-0454

[Please keep the list posted on how it proceeds--MOD]

In the article "Readin' Writin' and the Internet", Stephen Wildstrom mentions that the main use of school-run Web sites is to give students an opportunity to create Web sites. I think that is a great opportunity for students, which can give them the opportunity to hone important technical skills.

Most students using computers at school are running educational programs and, and maybe a word processor to write school related papers. They can print out their papers, and turn them into the teacher. But, creating a Web page is potentially much more technical, much more creative, and gives them an opportunity to show their work to a much larger number of people, including relatives and friends in other states.

Creating a Web page usually requires learning HTML, or "HyperText Markup Language." Though not a full programming language, HTML is a formal syntax that describes the structure, appearance, and interactive behavior of a Web page. Students going into technical computer-related fields should know HTML even if they aren't going to create Web pages, because almost all software projects these days are related to the Web in one way or another. And, many businesses, large and small, are starting to put up Web pages. Since most employees have no idea how those Web pages work, any employee who does understand will have a good advantage.

Creating a Web page can be potentially more creative that other things students do. Web pages can be highly graphical, and contain sound, music and animation. Working with and creating media files can be a great experience, and can tap artistic skills students don't even know they have.

And, Creating a Web Page can help students get recognition for their work. Relatives who view the site from wherever they are will naturally be impressed, and offer encouragement. Students may put more effort into that big English paper if it can be made available to a wider audience. In fact, students may be encouraged to create special and unique content for the Internet, and "market" it by encouraging other related sites to link to it and by registering it with popular search engines.

Mr. Wildstrom, Please reconsider whether students may gain critical business and skills in the process of creating a Web page on their school site.

David Bangs
Software Development Manager
Kirkland, WA.

[I didn't mean so harsh on the topic of students creating Web pages, though I still think it's less important than integration of computers and the Internet into core curriculum.--MOD]

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