Barriers to the effective use of technology in education.

Most of this blog has been looking at using technology in education. Throughout the posts, the implicit assumption has been that technology is available to anyone who wants to use it. That is certainly my experience and the experience of most of my peers. However, it should be clear to anyone who takes the time to consider the situation that this will not be the case for everyone.

Internet users (per 100 people)

This map from the World Bank shows that internet access is not a global phenomenon. As you might expect, developing countries have much lower access to the internet per head of population than more developed countries. This is just one metric and it looks at the situation globally, but it highlights how access to technology is not democratised. This is an important point to consider when using technology as a teaching aid - not all learners will necessarily have the same access to technology, nor the same aptitude for using it.

 A term that has gained currency in recent years is 'digital divide.' This term has been used to describe the gap between the haves and have-nots in the digital era (van Dijk, 2006). This divide can be seen most clearly in a trio of demographics: gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status (Ritzhaupt et al, 2013). It has been shown in previous studies that impoverished families and those from ethnic minorities are less likely to have access to the internet and are less likely to be able to make use of technology than their white, wealthier counterparts (Attewell, 2001).

Even though nearly 100% of US schools have broadband internet access, the availability of internet access in the poorer schools is mediated by access to computers that are able to connect to the internet. Parsad and Jones (2005) showed that the ratio of students to computers able to connect to the internet was higher in poorer schools (as measured by the proportion of students able to claim free school meals) than in wealthier schools. They also showed that only 52% of the poorest schools had computers available to students before the beginning of the school day, as compared to 82% for the wealthiest schools (Parsad and Jones, 2005).

The digital divide has more recently been shown to be a little more nuanced than the above analysis suggests (Van Dijk, 2006). As well as having access to computers and the internet, it is the use that is made of the computers and the skills that the users have that is increasingly becoming more of a factor in opening up the digital divide.

What does this mean for teachers and students? Teachers need to be aware that their students may not have access to technology at home that they may take for granted. Also, giving students access to computers does not mean that they will be able to take full advantage of them. A crude analogy is that giving an illiterate man a pencil does not make him able to write.

Computers are impressive tools that have the potential to provide excellent opportunities for students, but it is imperative that teachers take into account the backgrounds and varying skill levels of their students when using them in the classroom.

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References


Attewell, P., (2001) The first and second digital divides Sociology of Education 74, 252-259

Parsad B., & Jones, J. (2005) Internet access in US public schools and classrooms 1994-2003 National Centre for Education Statistics

Ritzhaupt A. D., Liu F., Dawson K., Barron A. E., (2013) Differences in Student Information and Communication Technology Literacy Based on Socio-economic Status, Ethnicity and Gender: Evidence of a Digital Divide in Florida Schools JRTE 45(4) 291-307

Van Dijk J., (2006) Digital divide research:achievement and shortcomings Poetic 34(4,5) 221-235

Musings

Before embarking on this course, I considered myself pretty au fait with technology. I've since, as has often been the case throughout my life, had my hubris in this area revealed to me and a brave new world of technological jiggery-pokery has been lain before me.

Some of what we have been looking at has been impressive from a 'look what they can do now' perspective. Most of what we've been taught has either proven to be useful already or has been filed away in 'come back soon, this looks promising.'

Not being a complete neophyte, I was already using several pieces of technology and the associated software before the course began. This included, mainly, word-processing software, the internet, a touch of spreadsheet work and the occasional piece of photo shopping to remove red-eye. It was with this ICT background that I began working as a specialist support lecturer at Swansea Met in October of this year.

In order to assist the students that I work with, computer technology has proven to be useful.  I've used mindmapping software to aid with essay planning; computer calenders to help with organisation; presentation software other than PowerPoint to show students that other (and better!) ways of presenting information are available; and google drive to make real-time changes to documents whilst speaking on the phone, so I don't have to be physically present in order to be able to teach.

As a learner, I've found the range of software and hardware that we have been introduced to is something that I am looking forward to getting the most from in the coming months and years as a student and as a teacher. It is instructive to be in this position, as well as being very demanding on my time. The fact that we are using technology in the classroom for the first time allows me to get a feel for how my students may react if I choose to introduce them to new technology.

I think that it is crucial to be familiar with the technologies and software that are available to teach. This does not mean that they all need to be made use of in the classroom all of the time, but it is important to know which tools are available, as well as having the knowledge and critical ability to determine which are appropriate.

How technology has changed the way we learn...

In order to explore how technology has changed the way we learn, we first need to look at how we used to learn. We could take any point in human history as our point for comparison, but there is a paucity of evidence for how we used to learn, say, 10,000 years ago. For the sake of this discussion, an arbitrary time frame of 40 years has been chosen. It just so happens that this block of time overlaps nicely with the period that the author of this blog has been in existence.

By 1974, technological advances already available in the classroom included the chalkboard, the pencil and the OHP; advances that were consigned to history lessons included the magic lantern and the slate. A device that still held sway in some classes was the ferrule (Dunn, 2011)

A ferrule - part pointer, part punisher.

The last 40 years have seen great technological advances in society generally. These advances have been particularly impressive in the field of computing. Almost all of the new technologies that are available to teachers and learners now are in some way reliant on electronics and computing. Taking computers as an example, we can explore how technology has changed learning styles.

Bridget Somekh (1997) has described three ways of viewing computing technology in the classroom. The computer can be seen as a tutor, with the expectation that learners will be taught by it; the computer can be a tool used to carry out tasks that would previously have been done in another fashion; or the computer is a device upon which tasks that would otherwise be impossible can be carried out.

To flesh out Somekh's categories, we shall look at examples of each of the modes of understanding computers in the classroom.

For the computer as a tutor, we can picture online quizzes, or learners being taken through a series of online lectures. In this mode, the computer effectively replaces the teacher while it is being used.  This way of using a computer is not particularly different from more traditional teaching methods, only the style of delivery is changed. However, it does remove the need for large amounts of paper and bulky textbooks.

For the computer as a tool to carry out tasks that would previously have been done in a different way, think of word-processing programmes or art software. This use of the computer makes sometimes quite complicated tasks more straightforward, and can free up student time for other learning. 

The final way of viewing computers sees them as a cognitive tool. Learners are able to write software, carry out complex maths, draw graphical representations of large structures that they can manipulate and explore in a virtual environment; they are able to communicate with teachers and peers across the globe. This way of using computers is the one that changes the learning process the most.

Richard Ager, in his turn-of-the-century textbook, provides several examples of how ICT can augment the role of a teacher. In the field of literacy, he shows that talking books can provide immediate feedback to children learning to read; in numeracy he explains that database and graphing software allows learners to explore situations that would otherwise be beyond their reach; for geography, mapping software has opened up opportunities for teachers and learners alike.

It is clear that the classroom, and indeed any learning environment has been changed by the advent of broadly available, powerful technology that just a few decades ago would have been unthinkable, apart from for the most ardent futurologists. It is important to recognise, however, that without passionate teachers to work alongside these technologies, many of the benefits they bring will not be realised.


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References

Ager, R. (2000) The Art of Information and Communications Technology for Teachers

Dunn, J. (2011). The evolution of classroom technology. Available: http://www.edudemic.com/classroom-technology/. Last accessed 4th Dec 2014.

Somekh, B. (1997) Classroom investigations: exploring and evaluating how IT can support learning in Somekh, B. and Davis, N (eds) Using Information Technology Effectively in Teaching and Learning 114-126. London:Routledge

PowerPointless?

Of late, we've been learning more about the Microsoft package Powerpoint (PP). PP is a presentation tool allowing the user to create a series of slides which can contain a host of different types of information. This information is used to augment presentations. I have only given presentations a handful of times, and I have used PP a total of once on those occasions.

In my role as a teacher, there is not much call for me to use PP, as I work one-on-one with my students. However, a good working knowledge of the software will be very useful as most of my students are expected to give PP presentations as part of their course.

When I think about what may be asked of me in the future, or what I may wish to do then I think that having a knowledge of other presentation tools will be incredibly useful. I say this because as well as being useful for my professional development as a teacher at the Met University, I also work as a job coach, advocate and mentor for people on the autistic spectrum. Part of this role involves going into work places and helping my clients' colleagues understand the effect autism can have on people. I anticipate that being able to produce effective and memorable presentations will be of great benefit to me in this role.

Over the course of the ICT module, I've been introduced to several other presentation tools. Indeed, a brief look online throws up a wide selection. One that I've been impressed with is Prezi. I like the easy way that it allows for non-linear presentations to be put together. This is useful for exploring a topic with a group of people, when the discussion is more important than information the person giving the presentation is providing.