A Reflection on Technology Education Over
the Last 20 Years
Jeff
Blankenship
Lamar University
For
my interview, I chose to interview Mrs. Dee Ann Barsallo, a member of the
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Instructional Technology staff who recently retired after 26
years of service in the district. Her
background includes experience as an elementary classroom teacher, service as a
Gifted/Talented specialist, and in her final role with the district, an Instructional
Technology Specialist.
During
the interview, I asked Dee Ann to compare and contrast her teaching practices
over the last 20 years with emphasis on how her teaching practices have evolved
and how are they different now from when she began teaching. Dee Ann indicated that when she began teaching
in 1987, teachers were basically expected to follow the teacher’s guide (e.g., page
1 to the end) from the adopted text – a selection made by a group of district
teachers and administrators after an analysis of approved materials provided by
the state. She indicated that teachers were allowed to use their own methods of
instruction without much guidance and/or scrutiny from other teachers in the
grade level, campus administrators or district curriculum coordinators. Teachers
were allowed creative license to present materials and skills to the students,
as well as, add “fun” to their learning. Testing (local, state, or federal) was
present but not the driving force behind the content presented to the students,
as it is today.
In
addition, I asked Dee Ann to share how the strategies used at the end of her
career differed from when she began teaching.
She stated that after 26 years in
the same district, she could only speak from experience within the boundaries
and regulations set forth by HEB. She
indicated that teaching today is all about standardized testing and its final
scores. She further stated that continuous
improvement methods that have been implemented by the district impacted several
of the strategies she typically used. Her feeling was that data and scores
drive the district curriculum, which is written by hand-picked teachers and
approved by district level curriculum coordinators, Assistant Superintendents
for Elementary and Secondary Instruction and the Deputy Superintendent for
Curriculum. This curriculum is directly connected to the assessment and every
teacher is expected to follow the day-by-day, week-by week, six weeks-by-six
weeks prescribed lesson plans without waiver.
Dee Ann indicated that she was saddened by the fact that there was no longer
room for the teacher’s own personal methods and practices.
As
part of the interview, Dee Ann was asked how she felt the characteristics of
your students have evolved over the past 27 years. More specifically, how students today differ
from when she began teaching. Dee Ann
informed me that she has seen tremendous change in students’ attitudes as traditional
family structures have changed, the economy has worsened, and fewer parents
find time to be involved in the educational process. She stated that in the
past, students started school already prepared with social skills and
background experiences to help provide a solid foundation for their
success. Today, many students start
school without ever having had a book read to them. Without a good, solid foundation and continued
support, it makes successful learning extremely difficult. She emphasized that
education really takes a team of three – the parents, the student, and the teacher
– to achieve success. Dee Ann felt that
as time has passed, the burden of ensuring success has fallen more heavily on
the teachers’ shoulders and father indicated that many parents and students
have “checked out” due to the pressures of everyday life, especially in the
schools when there are high numbers of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
When asked to compare the major learning theories in current practice to those
she studied in the past, Dee Ann indicted
that early in her career, one primary influence was Howard Gardner. Whose literature supports: (a) the importance
of engaging students actively in what they are studying; (b) the implementation
of student-directed learning; (c) the theory of multiple intelligences - linguistic,
logic-mathematical, musical, spatial, kinesthetic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, and naturalistic - and the importance to identify them in your
students and their application in lesson planning. Dee Ann also referenced Edward de Bono and his
book Six Thinking Hats. In his research, de Bono identifies six
distinct directions in which the brain can be challenged. In each of these
directions the brain will identify and bring into conscious thought certain
aspects of issues being considered (e.g. gut instinct, pessimistic judgment,
neutral facts). In his book, de Bono
uses colored hats as metaphors for each possible direction (de Bono, 1985):
- Information (White) - considering purely what information is available, what are the facts?
- Emotions (Red) - intuitive or instinctive gut reactions or statements of emotional feeling
- Discernment (Black) - logic applied to identifying reasons to be cautious and conservative
- Optimistic response (Yellow) - logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony
- Creativity (Green) - statements of provocation and investigation, where a thought goes
Another
inspiration mentioned by Dee Ann that is currently referenced within education was
Blooms Taxonomy, created by educational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Bloom. In order to promote higher forms of thinking
in education, such as analyzing and evaluating, rather than rote memory
learning, Bloom's Taxonomy divides educational objectives into three domains: (a)
Cognitive; (b) Affective; and (c)
Psychomotor (sometimes loosely described as knowing/head, feeling/heart and
doing/hands respectively). Within the
domains, Bloom states that learning at the higher levels is dependent on having
attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels (Bloom, 1969). A goal of Bloom's Taxonomy is to motivate
educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of
education. Dee Ann specified that although Dr. Bloom began to publish and
promote his theories in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, its influence is present
in today’s curriculum. Dee Ann stated
that as of her departure from education (the district), the Continuous Improvement
Method is now the primary driving forces behind instruction and learning. The focus is about data and the analysis
about what it tells us concerning personal or class success and/or failure.
- Builds on existing efforts to improve student achievement
- Encourages a continuous process
- Incorporates researched practices (Effective Schools)
- Identifies strategies for targeting areas of low-performance
She stated that
while she recognized the importance of data collection and analysis in terms of
formative assessment, she felt that testing standards have definitely
overshadowed the art of differentiated teaching methods.
As
the interview drew to an end, I asked Dee Ann one final question on how she felt
technology has impacted learning and to compare the use of technology 20 years
ago to our use of classroom technologies today. Dee Ann stated that there was no technology when I began
teaching over 25 years ago. She
indicated that as computers became part of the business world their influence
slowly moved into the educational world.
She said that in the mid-90s, she began using one computer in her classroom
to enhance research projects. She
indicated that they teachers and students were not connected to the World Wide
Web, so all information came from compact discs (i.e. encyclopedias, software
programs, photo tours, etc.). She stated
that students were excited and engaged even though they had to take turns. As the
district added labs of computers, she turned to those in order to provide the
students with a tool for word processing.
She indicated one of the biggest changes in technologies influence on
learning was the introduction of the internet.
An opinion that is still commonly held, “Modern, web-based learning and
computing provides the means for fundamentally changing the way in which
instruction is delivered to students” (Arsham, 2002). She said that once teachers and students were
connected to the outside world through the web and had ready access to MS
Office, they began using computers as tools for current research and digital
creation. She indicated that this was
the first time that classroom assignments were made with the expectation of
computer usage for the final products.
She expressed that today we have interactive white boards and document
cameras to present the curriculum and engage the students in more hand-on
lessons. In addition, software is
available that allows the students to create products that involve video, text,
links to the web and much more, “Students can do all of this using computers,
iPads, Mp3 players, digital video records and so many other option provided by
district funds -- Technology has definitely influenced the way learning
materials are presented and the way most students interact with those
materials” (personal communication, October 8, 2013).
In
conclusion, I felt my interview with Mrs. Barsallo was very informative. It was interesting to hear how instructional
strategies and theories have evolved and impacted education over the last 20
years. Even more interesting was hearing
her account of how technology integration essentially evolved and was fully encompassed
within her educational career. In
addition, I was pleased to learn that many of the classroom strategies and
theories that were in application 20 years ago are still practiced today. Much of my personal education involved
Gardner’s theories on Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy is currently
used for educational planning within my own district. In fact, his taxonomy model has evolved to
encompass digital content, Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, and is often referenced in
my own planning of professional development and many of the regional (TCEA) and
international (ISTE) conferences I attend.
Ultimately, I believe this interview demonstrates the idea that good
teaching practices, theories, and strategies have the ability to transcend
time.
Reference
List
Arsham, H. (2002, March). Impact
of the Internet on Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from The United States
Distance Learning Online Journal:
http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/MAR02_Issue/article01.html
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. New
York: Longmans, Green and CO.
No comments:
Post a Comment