Using technology transformatively

Something that I've been thinking about, the past few weeks, is the difference between just "incorporating technology" and actually using technology to do significant, worthwhile things that couldn't have been done (or couldn't have been done as easily) before. Sometimes I feel like the idea of "using technology in the classroom" is currently at the point that "hands-on learning" was ten years ago, or that the whole-language movement was twenty (Thirty? Forty?) years ago. That is, each of these valuable techniques has passed through a stage where it is considered so valuable in and of itself that people are encouraged to use it whenever possible, without necessarily stopping to consider whether it's the best (most effective, most efficient, etc.) method for a given situation. (All three of these particular techniques share the benefit of being highly engaging, which is always worth something. All three are extremely valuable, worthwhile methods to employ some of the time. None is so good as to be the best method for every learner all the time, though, and as we've learned in the case of the other two, careful decisions need to be made as to when to use one of these techniques, when to use direct instruction, etc.)

This topic has come up in our course blog before, for example in terms of people being frustrated that some teachers seem to get "credit" for "incorporating technology" well just because they use lots of Powerpoints. To some extent the focus on "incorporating technology" for its own sake is built right into our Curriculum Standards, in the form of a list of suggested technology applications for each learning standard. Sometimes the suggested web sites, etc. are great content resources for teachers or students. At other times, though, they strike me as just incorporating technology for the sake of incorporating technology. What's inherently better about making a concept web in Kidspiration than on paper, for example? (Or is it that helping kids become proficient with technology is such an overarching goal that we really should be teaching everything we possibly can that way, even if it sometimes slows down a lesson that would work just fine with pencil and paper?)

By analogy, I was thinking about the push to incoporate more writing into every subject area. When I assign writing in Math or Science, sometimes my primary goal is literacy skills (e.g., I might want kids to practice writing a compare / contrast essay, while reviewing information about types of quadrilaterals as a side bonus at the same time), but often my primary goal is the math or science content itself. On the other hand, when I plan Computer Lab activities for my students, the primary goal is almost always content reinforcement or exploration in whatever area of the curriculum (often Science, this year) I most feel the need for extra time. I choose web sites and digital tools by how much they can help students learn the Science (or whatever), and only occasionally by how much they will help them learn the particular technology skill itself.

Some of the "cool tools" that we've seen in class feel more like "fun toys" than like real learning tools, to me. My students did a fun "introducing themselves" activity that I got from a colleague at the beginning of the year, using Wordle, and last year my class did a wonderful end-of-the-year project with our Computer teacher using Animoto and pictures of themselves from kindergarten through fifth grade. I'd be unlikely to use either of these "tools" to teach or even review real content, though (even after seeing examples on each of those web sites of ways that other teachers have done so). If I did, I'd feel like I was mostly incorporating technology for technology's sake, not efficiently and effectively enhancing student learning. (Again, to me this seems like the problem of teachers doing great hands-on activities with students, without making sure that they are also "minds-on": the students are very engaged, but can miss the academic point completely. And if the particular content to be taught through a hands-on activity isn't carefully chosen, students can potentially end up spending a long time on a very minor bit of academic content.)

At the other end of the spectrum from Wordle and Animoto, are projects like the one we read about using Kiva (the microlending site). That's why I think project-based learning is so exciting -- that's an area where web 2.0 tools can be truly transformative! Personally, I find the constant push to "incorporate technology" kind of overdone -- way too much like Whole Language a generation or two ago. We need to constantly stop and ask ourselves whether technology is the best way to teach a given concept, or whether we're just trying to mentally check off the "using technology" box. When kids do significant real-world projects that they couldn't have done without web 2.0 tools, that's truly worthwhile!

What got me thinking about all this again was trying to choose a "Digital Sharing Project". I thought about creating a wiki on project-based learning, which I'm truly interested in, but other people have already done that -- it felt like reinventing the wheel. I thought about making a wiki of grade 5 curriculum resources, but the Technology teachers in each elementary building have already done something pretty equivalent. Many people were talking, in class this past Thursday, about creating a wiki that their students would contribute to. I was leary of creating huge amounts of additional work for myself in moderating that kind of activity amoung ten-year-olds, though, and also I am still unconvinced that having students of that age share their thoughts online really adds anything significant to having them share their thoughts in class. It felt too much like incorporating technology just for the sake of incorporating technology!

Finally, I realized that I've been needing a venue in which the three-person groups that have been writing myths together, can easily revise them together or take turns revising them from home or school. I also wanted to be able to see and comment on their changes right away. At first I thought of using Google docs, but it wouldn't work with kids this age because it requires email addresses. All of a sudden, a free "Plus level" teacher wiki seemed like it might be just the right thing!

This is certainly not a "transformative" use of technology. It does feel like a real purpose for my wiki, though; one that goes beyond just "incorporating technology" or finding a final project for this course. I'm glad of that.