Doug Johnson

Informate, Not Automate
Teacher Magazine, September 2004

U.S. schools were expected to spend nearly six billion dollars on educational technology during the 2003-2004, adding to the over 60 billion dollars spent since 1991.  While education budgets shrink, classroom sizes grow, accountability measures skyrocket, and teacher salaries remain stagnate, one has to wonder if this huge investment in wires, mother boards and things that go beep in the night is actually improving schools’ effectiveness.

I don’t know that anyone has the definitive answer. It depends on whom you ask, what is being measured, and how educational “effectiveness” is defined. There is a good deal of research out there (www.ncrel.org/tech/effects2/ is a good starting point for the curious) little of it conclusive and much of it sponsored by those who have a financial interest in its outcome. Critics abound, including The Alliance for Childhood’s 2000 “Fool’s Gold” report  and Jane Healey’s 1999 book Failure to Connect.

What’s a classroom teacher to think? Is personal investment in technology and the hours it takes to learn about it worthwhile? One may not have a choice.

In her book In the Age of the Smart Machine, professor Shoshana Zuboff describes two distinct types of impact technology has on the workplace: automating and informating. The first thing businesses do is automate with information technologies (IT), taking standard operations and making them faster, more accurate and less labor intensive. But the real power of IT, Zuboff argues is when it starts allowing businesses to do things that would not be possible without it.

Confused? Let’s look at some examples from education:

• Electronic grade books automate the functions of the good old red booklets allowing grades to be calculated, class lists imported, and grades exported to the student information system. But when the grade book is made web-accessible to parents, they can monitor their children’s progress in real time and intervene long before the conference at the end of the first grading period. Our school’s system even e-mails parents when a child receives a failing grade on a test. That’s informating.
• Moving worksheets and tutorials onto the computer screen, automates drill and practice teaching, enhancing it with immediate feedback and entertaining sounds and visuals. In informated programs the tests and tutorials serve as a means of formative testing, giving the teacher the knowledge of precisely which skills individual students need to learn (hopefully before the next big state test).
• The stand and deliver lecture common in so many classrooms can be automated enhancing it with a lovely multimedia presentation with clarifying photographs, diagrams and written key concepts. Multimedia production tools informate the educational process when students use them to communicate the results of constructivist-based learning activities that require higher level thinking skills and original solutions to problems.
• Computers in labs, libraries and classrooms automate standard educational practices of writing, computation and research. Small communication devices wirelessly connected to networks such as laptops and handheld computers (PDAs) informate the learning environment, allowing their student users anytime/anyplace access to resources, learning opportunities, experts, and each other.

Just as technology has reshaped the business sector over the last two decades, it is reshaping the educational landscape in powerful ways and will continue to do so at an accelerated pace.

As a former classroom teacher and librarian and as a current technology director, I understand the apprehension about technology felt by many competent, effective and thoughtful teachers. If you are one, I would offer this advice:

1. Invest time in learning computing basics. A list of these, based on the ISTE NETS standards can be found at http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/code77-rubrics-beginning.html.
2. Use what technologies personally empower you with your students. If a word processor makes you a better writer, use that technology with your students.
3. Become a co-learner with your students regarding technology. Kids will always be more knowledgeable and comfortable with the gizmos that us “mature” folks. Let them teach you.
4. Be skeptical, but remain open-minded. Unless the new technology use promises increased learning opportunities for your students, don’t jump in. These bright toys can be fun and seductive. Just make sure they have a purpose.
5. Demand reliable, secure and adequate resources from your school. You shouldn’t be expected to create two sets of lessons plans: one for when the technology works, and one for when it doesn’t.

This column will be the rantings of neither a technophile nor technophobe, but clear-eyed (if opinionated) views of how technology is impacting the classroom teacher.  If you have questions about, disagreements with, or praise for anything you read here, please e-mail me at dougj (at) doug-johnson.com.

I am convinced that technology will never replace today’s teachers. But teachers who know how to use technology will.