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Many lessons can be taught just as effectively without expensive technology, says English teacher Alan Warhaftig. |
Alan Warhaftig is not a Luddite. He does not hate computers.
"In fact, I was an early proponent of the possibilities of technology," says the computer-savvy English teacher at Fairfax High School for the Visual Arts in Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, as a well-known critic of the overuse of technology in schools, the United Teachers Los Angeles member has been quoted in Education Week and the Los Angeles Times, served as a panelist on the PBS syndicated show, "Uncommon Knowledge," and written articles for New Horizons. He served as coordinator of Learning in the Real World, a nonprofit clearinghouse concerned with the pros and cons of technology in education and childhood.
Computers and the Internet obviously have a role in K-12 education although the hardware, software and curricula available today are "driven by what is technically feasible rather than what would benefit teachers and students in actual classrooms," he says in one article, "Education Technology in the Real World," which was published online [www.edtechnot.com/notarticle1101.html].
"An unfortunate and perhaps unavoidable pitfall in bringing computers and Internet access to classrooms is that schools become mired in implementation mode - occupied by buying boxes and wires and installing networks and software," he writes. "The demands of implementation leave little time to consider how computers and the Internet will be used and none to question whether they actually help children learn."
Warhaftig considers instructional time to be the teacher's most important resource, and says, "There never seems enough for all the concepts to be covered." When computers are used in class, the time required for technology instruction and support means less time for content. "The point of most proposed uses of computers and the Internet seems to be to use technology - often superficially, trivializing both technology and curricular content."
The total lack of professional development for teachers is also a problem, "but there can't be professional development in any meaningful way until an appropriate use of technology has been identified," he told the Educator.
Unfortunately, he observed, it is usually companies, not fellow teachers, providing professional development in schools. "The corporate training model doesn't help teachers a lot." It never gets to the part where the technology is integrated into the curriculum.
The pressure to provide expensive computers and Internet access sometimes results in decisions that aren't necessarily good for students. "School budgets are a zero sum game, and computers are expensive to own. Creating a position for an out-of-classroom technology coordinator might require elimination of an art or music teacher, or increase the average number of students in math or English classes."
Often schools justify technology expenditures as necessary for students to succeed in the workplace. "This vocational approach to education conflicts with the traditional vision of nurturing well-rounded individuals with knowledge of nature, geography, history, mathematics and culture. The issue is moot, but the decision to radically change the mission of public education should not be ceded to vendors."
Larry Cuban, a Stanford University professor who has studied technology in the classroom, believes that the push for 'technology literacy' in schools has become a myth that hides one important fact: To get a high-paying job in today's economy, one needs a college degree.
The author of Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom, Cuban says that, after extensively studying the subject, he does not believe computers have lived up to their expectations. For this reason, in his view, schools are not getting their money's worth.
"When teachers have technical support, professional development and the time to integrate technology into their classrooms, it's a marvelous addition to teaching and learning," he says. "But it doesn't happen very often, because these things are lacking."
For a copy of a world history/economics lesson by Warhaftig that integrates technology into instruction, visit the Urban Education Partnership website [www.laep.org/humanitas/digitalhs/study_and_analysis_migra.html].
