Ed Tech maven, Ian Jukes, just sent me a link to a study that was published last year by Education|Evolving, a joint venture between the Center for Policy Studies and Hamline University in Minnesota. The report, Listening to Student Voices — on Technology (pdf), describes 15 findings, culled from various literature. The findings are mostly not surprising, but worth noting again:
- Computer and internet use is growing
- Students are sophisticated users
- Technology is important to students in education
- Technology is not an ‘extra’
- In-school access to technology is limited
- Home use dominates
- In-school use is not integrated
- Computers and the Internet are communications tools, first
- Metaphors describe how students use the Internet for school: The Internet as: (This is interesting)
- virtual guidance counselor
- virtual textbook and reference library
- virtual tutor, study short-cut, study group
- virtual locker, backpack, and notebook
- Technology has caused students to approach life differently; but adults act as though nothing has changed
- Students desire increased in-school access
- Students want to use technology to learn, and in a variety of ways
- Students want challenging, technologically-oriented instructional activities
- Students want adults to move beyond using the ‘Internet for Internet’s sake’
- Students want to learn the basics, too
Alan November has been talking for years about how our tendency is to use new technologies to continue to do old things.
technorati tags:warlick, ianjukes, flatclass
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Yes, we’ve always said – and, I guess prided ourselves on the fact that were not led by the technology, but had sound pedagogy in place before we made technology purchase decisions. This meant that the computers we have bought over the years have gone into classrooms and mobile trolleys rather than computer suites.
What we do have to remember, however, is that we have to be careful not to let this become a reason for 20th century teaching with modern ICT equipment. It’s what makes the professional development component of my job as an ICT facilitator most challenging…..
I’m wondering how many more studies we need to convene (and then report on) about how schools are out-of-step with society and kids have greater home access to computers than at school?
When will we start doing something?
Read, “Mindstorms: Children Computers and Powerful Ideas,” lately? It’s a quarter century old and tells us what’s possible and how schools will stop it.