29. December 2008 by The Advisor.

We are almost into a new year, a new semester, and a new administration. The new President-Elect has made much fanfare of his plans to increase funding to schools particularly in the area of ed tech. So, with a potential new ed tech bounty about to be bestowed on America’s schools, it’s fit to ask the question: Are the schools ready? Do they have a plan for what they will do around technology?

Most importantly, are teachers prepared and ready to use more technology? Academic research on this question would suggest otherwise.

A 2003 study by Elliot Soloway, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan who studies the effect of technology in education found that 65% of teachers said they used computers less than 15 minutes a week in their classes. More recently, a study of math and reading software in 132 poor, urban schools, conducted over four years, released by Mathematica Policy Research and SRI International last year, found that test scores didn’t improve significantly in classrooms that used the products.

Much of this can be attributed to a combination of the selection of poor ed tech products and little to no teacher professional development around effective use of the products. In many classrooms, students are using fancy new laptops to fill-in online worksheets, take online multiple choice tests, or view less than compelling online media. All of which can be done just as easily, and often more effectively,without using technology. Likewise, even if the technology is innovative in approach and compelling in design, if teachers aren’t trained on how to use it, it won’t get used.

Part of the problem here is how ed tech is purchased. Typically the sale is from publishing company or tech vendor to the the district with little involvement from teachers. In many cases, teachers are unaware that their district purchased technology for them to use. It is not uncommon for vendors to report that technology products sit unused by schools years after the purchase with access codes to the software sitting at a central office somewhere never having been distributed to the teachers who were supposed to use it.

Also, many tech products are grafted over existing curriculum rather than being part of a ground-up revision of the curriculum.  As such, they become an afterthought or an optional extra that gets dropped the minute there’s a crunch for time or resources.

The solution to this lies with the schools themselves. To be successful with technology, schools will need to rework their curriculum to deeply integrate technology into all aspects of teaching and learning in the school. Then, they will need to get very serious about extensive teacher training around technology to ensure that every teacher in the school is ready to execute on the new integrated technology approach.

The degree to which this task is embraced and fulfilled will determine if ed tech becomes an integrated part of every students learning experience or goes the way of the filmstrip.

Posted in Technology Trends, General News, Publishing Industry, Government, Lesson Plans | Print | 1 Comment »

27. May 2008 by The Advisor.

eschoolnews.com is reporting that a group of scientists has developed a computer game for use in helping students learn about the body’s immune system. The game uses the highly visual, interactive methodology of computer gaming to teach immune system science to students. The larger strategy is to use the popularity of gaming with school-age children to get them interested in science. Given the shortage of scientists and engineers in the United States (which is only projected to grow), this seems like an effective strategy.

Not surprising, however, are the negative comments articles about using gaming in the classroom receive. An example:

The jury is out, however, on the efficacy of such an approach. Already my students bombard administration with cries that what they’re studying is “boring,” or “not fun.” I really don’t want to empower students away from a textbook anymore than we already have. Can these kids navigate a “cool” virtual reality and stay focused? You bet. Take many of the same kids, put a good ole textbook in front of them, and suddenly…poof! Their interest is gone. Sad…since 95% of what they’ll do in college is still textbook driven.

This comment was submitted despite the fact that the scientists who developed the game did an efficacy study and determined that:

students who played the game had significantly higher knowledge scores at post-test. There also was a statistically significant decline in the perceived difficulty of immunology content, and students who played the game had a higher interest in biology than those who did not play the game.

The key to the negative reaction despite proven efficacy is the part about the “good ole textbook. ” Clearly, by that choice of words, the comment indicates a preference for textbooks, or more generally, the familiar, over something new. There is even an indication that the textbook experience is a superior method if only the kids would quit goofing around with games, get serious, and pay attention.

The only problem with this line of thinking is that the textbook is just one of many tools that can be employed by educators for use in teaching. How many of us have endured a dreadful educational experience that was completely text book based? In today’s world, we need to look beyond the comfortable and familiar towards what is effective.

This goes way beyond gaming. The approach with technology throughout education and educational publishing has been to graft technology solutions onto existing solutions rather than crafting truly new, innovative solutions employing technology.

However, there are bright spots out there. The Immune Attack game is one of them.  Another is the work of Dr. Elizabeth Simpson, PhD of the Learning Research Institute. Dr. Simpson has been pioneering research into the use of games and gaming in the classroom, and in particular, the use of existing, off-the-shelf games as teaching tools. For example, Dr. Simpson has studied the use of games like Restaurant Empire in vocational trade education. In the game, players have to successfully design, launch and manage a restaurant to win. The very concepts students must master to successfully complete their vocational education program are the same ones they must master to win the game. This is not to say that the game is the end-all of these students’ education, rather, the game is tightly integrated with other resources to provide an engaging education experience with lasting results.

Pass the Wii controller, I’m going to practice my golf swing before heading out to the course . . .

Posted in Gaming in Education, General News, Publishing Industry, Lesson Plans | Print | 1 Comment »