First of all, what are the three red markings to the right of “No Child Left Behind?” They probably represent something important and positive, but it looks to me like something scratched out — like a student wrote something down, and the teacher scratched it out. Probably just the cynical side of me breaking loose for a moment. You may not even get to read this 😉
Our (U.S.A.) Secretary of Education has posted four questions for citizens to answer from their perspectives as administrators, parents, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, or business leaders. I’ve heard about the questionnaire on several occasions, but only when Steve Hargadon announced yesterday that he was posting them on the Classroom 2.0 Network for our consideration and conversation that I finally took a look. He’s posted four forum threads, one for each of the questions. The DoEd also has the questions posted on their web site, and a web form for use to submit our answers (limited to 1000 characters) for their consideration.
As is my nature, and in my continuing efforts to keep this blog pumping, I’m posting my <1000 character answers here.
- In what ways has technology improved the effectiveness of your classroom, school or district?
- Based on your role (administrator, parent, teacher, student, entrepreneur, business leader), how have you used educational data to make better decisions or be more successful?
- In what ways can technology help us prepare our children for global competition and reach our goals of eliminating achievement gaps and having all students read and do math on grade level by 2014?
- What should be the federal government’s role in supporting the use of technology in our educational system?
In the schools I see as a parent, I would say that technology has not improved their effectiveness. My children have gone to good schools with good teachers, and they have learned their subjects well. They have been educated based in 19th and 20th century standards. They can read well, calculate well, memorize well, and write passably well.
What is missing from their education is a sense of context. They know history, health, and science but they do not understand them. They know how to pass tests, but they are not so good at solving real problems. Appropriate uses of technology could help by making them exposers, explorers, experimenters, and discoverers.
The analytical problem solving skills they have learned happened on their own time, through interactions with each other and through bedroom technologies, mostly video games.
I fear that in most schools this question is unanswerable — because we have not come nearly far enough to draw any meaningful conclusions.
Today, data is used primarily to compare schools, not to compare what our students have learned to what we’d hoped they had learned. When I taught, I gave tests and adapted my teaching to what I learned from those tests. I do not see much evidence of technology being used to these ends in the schools I come in contact with as a parent.
Again, a long way to go yet before we can answer this question in any meaningful way.
I think that global “cooperativeness” should be our goal. But that aside, I think that technology empowers teachers and learners. It provides a real window on the world that we are teaching our children about, and appropriately used, it gives them first hand access to that world where they learn by becoming explorers and experimenters, problem solvers and communicators.
Learning is personal, and the windows that connect learners with what they wish or are required to learn, must also be personal.
It seems that challenged learners, who are empowered with personal access to the world, will want to learn. Challenged learners who are disempowered by seat time, taught to, programmed, and scripted delivery, will not want to succeed.
The federal government should invest heavily in research, to figure out what it is that children learn better with a computer, connected to the Internet, researching, collaborating, analyzing and manipulating, experimenting and exploring, and producing knowledge — and what is it that they learn better sitting in a classroom led by a teacher. We should restructure the school day appropriately to those findings.
The federal government must also assure that every student achieve literacy skills relevant to today’s information landscape, that reading, writing, and arithmetic are ONLY foundations to that literacy, not the sole definition of it.
The federal government must also assure that every learner have personal and convenient access to today’s information landscape, meaning that every learner have a computer and broadband access to the Internet.
This is a national problem!
2¢ Worth!
I shared this call for comments onTeachersFirst a couple of weeks ago with the suggestion that teachers use it as a writing prompt. The length limits could certainly teach economy of language, and the task indisputably authentic.
Imagine what students of those teacher who frequent this blog could inject into the discussion.
David,
I never thought about their odd logo before, but I wonder if they were going for a take-off on the flag. The “No Child” being the stars and then the red scratches are the stripes. I think that this administration goes to great lengths to promote the idea that if you are against any of their policies then you are unpatriotic.
I took part in this survey. The only problem I found was that I ran out of room to write. Having a character limit to the response, I couldn’t quite say everything that I had to say.
I believe that students would be able to add a wealth of information to this survey if they were given the opportunity to take part.
The best thing the Department of Education can do is close up shop. Please. Federal dollars that can be better managed by the states without the need for large bureaucratic red tape and programs at the federal level. Those dollars were dispersed just fine before the creation of the department in the Carter Administration. Imagine the money that could flow into the states without all the red tape!!!
3. In what ways can technology help us prepare our children for global competition and reach our goals of eliminating achievement gaps and having all students read and do math on grade level by 2014?
Before this question can be answered, I think the goal needs to be clarified. What does preparation for “Global Competition” look like? Is that algorithms for programming skills? Is it the skill of knowing to fluently speak languages besides English? Is it understanding the economics of supply/demand with Europe, India, and Asia? Or, is it political, and understanding the concepts of outsourcing, population shifts, capitalism, oil competition, and start-up firms? Before we can say that technology eliminate achievement gaps, the government and “big business” should clarify what essential skills and knowledge kids should have when they graduate high school in America. Our schools are still mostly turning out students ready for an agrarian or factory based system; not a “Flat World” 21st century.
4. What should be the federal government’s role in supporting the use of technology in our educational system?
* A list of skills and knowledge that all students should have when they graduate school, regardless of their school, district, town, state, or region.
* Realism to understand that not all our students want to or will be able to accomplish all that is asked.
* True funding available to support the teaching of the skills that isn’t punitive if the goal isn’t reached.
* True assessment that provides data to help educators make better data-driven instructional decisions rather than is used to compare or rank kids, schools, towns, and states.
* Research and development to understand what “works” in terms of true teaching tools towards understanding. There still is no definitive data that shows that using computers is any more effective than not. It would be nice if the federal government would put in a quarter of the R &D towards educational research that is spent towards developing better machines of war.
I love your response to this. If I write one (which I may, but finals and papers and grading – oh my!) it would sound very much like your own response.
My fear is that they are asking for feedback, but they may not really be listening. I feel that way with a lot of educational policies. I know that doesn’t mean that we give up – it means we should make ourselves be heard.
That being said, there are days when I wonder how one small person can really be a voice for change. Although, look at Mother Theresa.
Sorry about this stream of consciousness posting. I just am having trouble wrapping my head around all of this NCLB stuff. I know teachers who are “highly qualified”, and yet I would stop at nothing to make sure that my son never got in their classes. But that is another topic, I suppose…
I love all of your answers, but in particular, I liked in #4 when you called for research to determine what kids learn better with a computer, researching, collaborating, analyzing and manipulating, experimenting and exploring, and producing knowledge.
I would argue that we need to look at making those skills the focus of curriculum rather than the supporting skills for content knowledge learning. It is becoming less and less relevant to study subjects for content. That knowledge is always going to be available now.
Best answer though…”global cooperativeness”. Nice one.
Like Dennis, I liked this statement: “…what it is that children learn better with a computer, connected to the Internet, researching, collaborating, analyzing and manipulating, experimenting and exploring, and producing knowledge — and what is it that they learn better sitting in a classroom led by a teacher. We should restructure the school day appropriately to those findings.”
This is so correct. I would add that we need to redefine the role of “teacher” in the future too, since learning will take place in different contexts, often self-directed, BUT ALSO OUTER-DIRECTED, outside of the boundaries of time and place. None of the questions seem to address how teachers (and teaching) will change and adapt! [might be a good blog topic!]
And I agree with what Heather said about the red lines.. My first impression was of a stylized flag… reminiscent of the old advertising trick of giving a subliminal message. Knowing this Administration, I am surprised they tried to disquise that message!
I think that the DOE icon represents that NCLB has turned American children into bacon.
Mmmm… bacon…
sizzlin’ Gary, sizzlin’ !!
🙂
Ask and you shall receive – here is a link to the explanation – I guess it’s suppossed to be the American Flag sans the stars.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/logo_by_a_child_left_behind.php
Brian
I too saw this survey and responded recently. My main objection is the survey questions strike me as naive (and perhaps biased).
About Question #1 & #3: Do you think anyone would make ask the public to fill out a survey to find out if they think pencils or blackboards are useful for schools? Technology is a tool. Effectiveness is determined by what you do with the tool not the tool itself. This issue deserves more thoughtful survey questions (e.g., “Has the use of web-based subscription databases such as WorldBook enhanced understanding of content in science?â€). That question is answerable.
About Question #2: The question is posed in such a way that data driven decision-making must be helpful. Well sometimes we have found that using data results in just the opposite. For example, DIBELS is a screening to determine if students need targeted instruction in specific reading sub skills. However, if it is used as an assessment of an entire Kindergarten literacy program without critically evaluating teacher observations as well, an outsider could draw inaccurate conclusions. Why is data driven decision-making assumed to be a panacea?
About Question #4: Well I actually believe this is a reasonable survey question. I hope they listen to the responses. I agree that funding research is an important role for the federal government. I wish that some of the funding of technology innovation had not evaporated in recent years. The lack of funding is really putting a pinch on my school’s technology program (e.g., 56 out of 100 of the computer we have are over eight years old). This level of obsolescence would never be tolerated in business! On the other hand, I’m not sure that funding should be coming from federal government, the recent “supposed research” condemning instructional software make me doubt they could handle that responsibility effectively.
I believe, as Susan does, that nobody is listening so … Did anyone else go to the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in NYC? Secretary Spellings (was she destined to be part of education with that name?) was there, at a Q & A. She didn’t get as warm a reception as she was expecting. And she did a wonderful job of being political..not answering any question she was asked. So, Susan, she didn’t listen then, I doubt she’ll listen now.
Having said that, I do agree with much that has been said in this discussion. The questions are inadequate to find any real information, we are not ready to really answer all of them, and I do love the idea of removing competition from education. Being part of a global community demands cooperation, not competition.
And here I thought the red lines represented the slashes that schools are making in their academic programs because of NCLB…
Re: listening v. feedback, did anyone really expect them to listen?
“This” DOE is focused on name-calling and increasing the public’s dissatisfaction with public education. Steering billions into the pockets of their friends in the testing and publishing industry is just their hobby.
Attempting to influence or educate them is like yelling into a well.
Technology may have improved the effectiveness of the school with the use of new gadgets that aid the students and teachers in the process of learning and teaching, but there are still missing factors like experience through discoveries and experiments.
Geri,
Are you suggesting that technology makes discoveries and experiments impossible or unlikely?
-=Gary
I think technology has improved the effectiveness of schools in terms of communication and source of information. Internet provides much about those things.
It’s only sad that some students make us of it for their evil plans.