Chapter 7 Basic ingredient four: Use technology to enhance Learning opportunities

I was a classroom teacher when educational technology burst upon the scene in the early 1980s. with the advent of the microcomputer, a tremenduous business world. Soon educators began to tinker with this enticing new gadget. Early educational computer programs focused on rote learning of basic skills. One of the most popular was math blaster, which enabled students to practice basic math facts in an arcade-style format. Instead of boring flash cards, kids accumulated points for blasting alien ships with the correct answers to questions such as 2 x 4 = 8. As computers became more sophisticated and relatively less expensive, the educational software application became more advanced. Before long educators were introduced to Integrated Learning Systems (ILS), which offered complete curricula. The ILS software could diagnose individual student weakness, assign appropriate lessons, track student progress, and provide detailed reports for teachers and parents. Some futurists projected that these types of technologies eventually would replace teachers. Other researchers and developers saw the computer as a powerful tool to teach more advanced concepts beyond rote learning. Simon Papert developed a simple programming language called LOGO that enabled young children to write simple programming routines to move turtles around the screen. Children could become active participants in the learning process as they controlled the computer using logic and higher order thinking skills. Major corporations, including IBM and Apple Computer, saw great potential in tapping into the huge educational market. They began to send their marketing and sales teams into the superintendents offices to pitch their so-called solutions to improving teaching and learning. No longer did the textbook publishers own the school market. Since 109-, Americas public schools have spent billions of dollars to purchase hardware and software for classroom instruction. According to Market Data Retrieval, a market research firm based in Shelton, Connecticut, schools spent a projected $5.6 billion on technology in 2001-2002 alone. Educators also saw potential in the explosion of the internet in the 1990s. schools soon were being wired and upgraded to access the World Wide Web. No school dared be left behind as the unprecedented access to information accelerated.

In the early days, elementary school teachers were fairly receptive to this new technology, more so than middle and high school teachers. However, they always struggled with how to integrate computers into daily instruction. As a result, they never did. Computers were an add-on and just one more thing to do in an already overloaded day. Given the expense and limited number of machines, computers were placed in labs that were staffed by a supplemental teacher. Students were scheduled into the labs on the weekly basis, depending upon the number of computers available. Usually this meant about 15 minutes per week of computer time, hardly enough to make and impact. As computers started appearing in classrooms, they were in such limited quantities that teachers considered them an expensive distraction. With one or two computers and 25 to 30 students, there was no way the computer could be integral to the daily routine. I was one of the early pioneers using computers in my classroom. In 1982, I was a first grade teacher at the Florida State University Developmental Research School. Computers were n their infancy then. Our first computer at the school was a Radio Shack TRS-80 with SK of memory and a cassette tape drive to store data. But the kids loved itand so did I. I could see the potential for this new learning tool. Computers truly could personalize instruction. Computers, along with well-designed instructional software, provide three essential elements for learning: student motivation, opportunities for interactive learning experiences, and immediate feedback. Computers are patient and dont scold if you make a mistake, and they dont embarrass you if you take longer to answer. But as a grade-level, self-contained teacher, I could only scratch the surface. Computer time was still an extra. I had to find time in an already tight schedule to take my class to the computer lab. I also found it difficult to keep up with new software for all the subjects I was required to teach. So, like most teachers, I viewed computers as and added frill rather than integral to my teaching. IBMs Writing to Read programs, developed by John Henry Martin, opened my eyes to strategies for creating small group stations so that computers could be integrated into the learning process. In 1986, my school was chosen by the IBM Corporation to serve as a pilot site for this new program. My first grade class room was included in the original research, so I had firsthand experience using computers and typewriters to teach early reading. After initial skepticism, I was sold. I saw my students learning to read at a much faster pace than ever before. The second year, as the Writing to Read kindergartners became my first graders, I saw even more progress. Before Writing to Read, only a small portion of the

kindergarteners came to me as readers. After Writing to Read began, the reverse was true. The majority of the entering first graders could already read to some extent. Technology was making a real difference for my students.