Image Source: http://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/Inside/2009/photos/generic-green-computer.jpg

Wes Fryer, in his piece If Obama doesn’t really care about 21st Century Skills, perhaps EETT proposed cuts don’t matter?, at the ISTE Blog writes:

I’m delighted our schools, specifically in Oklahoma where I live, will receive more funding and support for educational technology needs in FY10. I’m here to tell you, our schools NEED IT. They are woefully underfunded overall, and specifically underfunded when it comes to technology. I fear, however, that in many cases Miguel’s worst fears may be justified unless state leaders (here and elsewhere) step up and insist that technology funds be spent in ways that support the TRANSFORMATION of the learning environment.

This means, in my view, EVERY student and teacher in grades three and up being equipped with a netbook computer. With volume pricing, these laptops can be purchased for less than $300 each with an extended warranty from the vendor. Do all computer hardware vendors REALLY want to sell schools lots of inexpensive netbooks? No, many certainly don’t. They would much rather continue selling $1000+ laptops, and limit those sales to only a FEW campuses, a FEW teachers, a FEW administrators, and a FEW students.

As I reflect on Wes’ piece, I have to challenge both of the assertions in bold and italics above. To discuss the first, consider that we’re NOT talking about FEARS that are groundless and without rationale. As Wes points out himself, Larry Cuban and researchers, not to mention pundits, have already established that technology use in K-12 schools is more dependent on the teachers’ practice rather than the simple placement of technology. Whether we agree with Jamie McKenzie’s assertion that penetration doesn’t translate into integration–and who can disagree with that point, even if you believe ubiquitous computing will make a difference–it’s clear our PRACTICES have to change. These aren’t wild ignorant fears that seize you in the night, planting burning crosses in your front lawn, but rather, the understanding that jumping out of an airplane with a parachute in your hand, not on your back, won’t save you.

What we currently have are computers purchased and maintained largely by school business offices, relatively divorced from teaching methodologies, and either not in a quantity or in a condition to allow overworked teachers to change their teaching methods.
Source: Steve Hargadon

And, transformation of those teaching practices has NOT changed a thing. When will we accept the simple realization that what happens in classrooms today isn’t the result of careful deliberate actions, logically considered and systematically applied, but rather, a mish-mash of teaching. Consider Douglas Reeves’ assertions in this ASCD Educational Leadership article:

To reduce the failure rate, schools don’t need a new curriculum, a new principal, new teachers, or new technology. They just need a better grading system. . . Guskey and Bailey (2001) and Marzano (2000) have synthesized decades of research with similar findings. . . Practices vary greatly among teachers in the same school—and even worse, the practices best supported by research are rarely in evidence.

While Reeves is referring specifically to grading practices, we have to consider that if K-12 schools can’t get it straight in regards to the most fundamental of “practices” –grading student work and providing feedback–then do we honestly expect that they will be able to accomplish changes through the systematic use of technology?

What we need is more deliberate teachers, but who is going to wait long enough for that to happen? Blogging by educators is effective provided it encourages reflection! Consider that deliberate reflection on teacher practices is effective whether blogging is in play or not:

Teacher beliefs are self-generating, and often unchallenged. Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves infusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity, resulting in developing a deliberate code of conduct.
Source: Transforming Teaching Practice, Barbara Larrivee

Wes asks us, Do all computer hardware vendors REALLY want to sell schools lots of inexpensive netbooks? No, many certainly don’t.

That’s not true…that’s exactly what companies would love!

Let’s consider that the lifetime of most “traditional” computers is 5-6 years. That’s the replacement cycle for laptops and desktops, respectively. What’s the replacement cycle for netbooks? A lot shorter–two to three years. In fact, “If this computer breaks, you just throw it away and get a new one.” If American consumers—as well as K-12 schools–can fall for disposable computing, then how much money will we be funneling towards hardware vendors?

Charles Moore points out, If my TV or refrigerator or washing machine, all of which cost less than my laptop, pooped out after just four years of service, I would be fuming, but with computers, I have only once in the past decade and a half gone more than three years without buying a newer, faster one. Instead, we’re embracing devices that endure but a short time….

We are seeing the death of computer-based drill-n-practice and this is moving online. Once Pearson and other companies figure out that their programs need to run on any operating system and major browsers like Firefox and Safari, not just Internet Explorer, we’ll hear the scramble with the NO money being spent on computer software…instead, districts will pay $$$ to accomplish the following:

• Ubiquitous, disposable appliances in wireless computing environments based on netbooks
• Web-based integrated learning systems that cost $500K plus following an ASP model

How does the math work out on that assertion? You tell me. If Obama wants to spend money funding the next generation of environmentally friendly technologies, why should he pour money into one of the most environmentally UNFRIENDLY technologies…the computers that end up in K-12 schools? How does increased spending on technology “jive” with Green Computing initiatives?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure