Blog Response for Azzia Thompson's Introduction to using Internet in the Classroom.

Azzia did a good job presenting issues related to trends accelerating the use of technology in the classroom. She addressed two trends: Redesigning Learning Spaces and Students as Creators.

Describing the trend on Redesigning Learning spaces she mentioned the concept of improved lighting in the classroom. The article mentioned a correlation between more exposure to natural light and improved academic performance. This is very interesting to me. As a substitute teacher I have been exposed to many sub par learning environments. Many of the charter schools that I have seen are housed in drab old buildings that are often poorly maintained with depressing classrooms. I agree that having better aesthetics and arrangement in the classroom can improve learning. I also agree that having improved access to technology can benefit learners. I think it is key, however, that these technologies are used appropriately. I have often witnessed tablets and i pads used to keep kids occupied as opposed to helping them learn something.

 Students as Creators is another great concept. I agree with Azzia that standardized test constraints often hinder the democratization of the classroom that is possible through this trend. It would be great if students had a role in designing their curriculum and how they learn. This would inspire them to be active participants in the learning process and allow them to find creative ways to use the new technologies that they often no more about and are more comfortable with than their teachers.

The two challenges that impede the adoption of technologies in k-12 classrooms addressed by Azzia are The Achievement Gap and Advancing Digital Equity.  Both these challenges are direct results of the current high levels of economic inequality. Azzia recognizes that the inconsistencies with instruction in lower income schools results in poorer outcomes on standardized tests. In the way our current system is set up this results in these schools being penalized and the students that need the most resources receiving the least. I would add that the inconsistencies and weaknesses in the education standards in low income schools also hinders the effective use of technologies in these classrooms. One positive that could result from this situation is that these low income school often have brand new teachers that may be more adept with technology than their veteran counterparts.

Digital Equity is another major issue. Many lower income students do not have access to high speed internet in their homes or access to computers or tablets. I was fortunate to study for a time with a professor who pioneered research in this field. His name was Abdul Alkalimat and he was the chair of the Africana Studies department at the University of Toledo. He called this lack of digital equity the digital divide. While living in Italy I new of many communities that provided free access to the internet for all of their citizens. This should not be so difficult to accomplish if the will of our political leaders is there. One of the ways that this access to wifi could be dispersed is through routers attached to street lights. Hopefully, the Obama program that was established to address these issues, that Azzia mentions, will remain in place and work effectively.

Closing the digital divide and ending the achievement gap are both necessary conditions for improving educational standards for all of our children regardless of race, class, or gender. It is going to take a concerted effort by citizens to make this happen and not just wishful thinking. Eliminating our regressive testing program that penalizes impoverished districts is a necessary component of making these improvements.

Introduction to Using the Internet in the Classroom

Describe 2 Key trends that accelerate the adoption of Internet-based technologies in K-12 and the implications of these trends.

In my experience as an educator and a parent I have been exposed to a variety of educational settings, both in the United States and abroad, and seen varying levels of innovation and technology in use in classrooms and schools. One Key trend that should be prevalent over the next 5 years is the Rethinking How Schools Work, accelerating the adoption of Internet-based technologies in k-12 classrooms (Adams Becker et. al. 2016). For me it seems that this is a great concept in theory, but that socioeconomic conditions and the constraints of common core standards and standardized testing, are key indicators of what progress is made in regards to rethinking how schools work. Nordic countries whose education systems lead the world in student outcomes and competencies are much less stratified by class than the United States.  The researchers state that:

"Education leaders looking for successful alternative models to adopt can look to Nordic school systems. In addition to fostering more equitable conditions for students, schools in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have been pioneers of emerging technology and 1:1 programs.37 With no national curriculum mandated, schools are decidedly more agile and student-centered, creatively leveraging technology to cultivate more engaged and active learning" (Adams Becker et. al. 2016).

I have seen the Nordic model at work in very few settings in the United States and these are usually where the economically elite have access to education and where the schools are not constrained by meeting state mandates on standardized tests. In Toledo, for example, Maumee Valley Country Day School has a middle school where there is a large open room for students to use as a collaborative learning space that allows them to implement state of the art technology to work on project based learning or other creative projects both in school and from remote locations. Testing is only done at the 10th grade level and students begin to learn how to implement technology as a tool for learning and collaborating from elementary school. The school leaders pride themselves on following the Nordic approach and they insure their students are capable of functioning successfully in this environment with almost 100 percent parent collaboration and wide access to new and developing technologies as they hit the market. 

While this should be the rule and standard across the board for education in our society, it unfortunately is not the case.  Most schools that I have experienced may appreciate the language and ideas of the trend -- Rethinking How Schools Work -- however, they struggle against the constraints of meeting state standards, a rigorous testing regimen, and students that often come to school without the benefits of stable home environments and where knowledge acquisition is not encouraged and practiced. Parental involvement in some cases is barely existent and this is not the fault of the parents, who have often been undereducated themselves, and are struggling to make ends meet economically. 

Many of these schools also lack the resources to afford enough of the new technologies as they develop and are limited in providing these resources to their students. Teachers also fall behind on pedagogical trends as soon as they are in the classroom for a couple years and out of the University setting.

Another key trend that I am finding interesting recently is Coding as Literacy. A couple weeks back my 3rd grader came home with a packet of information on the Week of Code that her homeroom teacher had her class participate in.  It seems that there is a major and growing demand for coders throughout the US economy. Coding captivated my daughters attention for a week but she was just exposed to a brief taste of what it is. Again, after that week long introduction and excitement, coding is no longer on the radar as the rigors and demands of preparing to meet state standards takes precedent. 

At a Nordic modeled school like Maumee Valley or West Side Montessori, a student whose interest was peaked by the Week of Code would be encouraged to pursue that interest and provided with the technological and pedagogical support and assistance to develop a much more profound understanding of coding that could lead to all kinds of possibilities. I suggested to my daughter's teacher that she start a coding club and may bring it up at a PTO meeting. Fortunately, Grove Patterson Academy is one of the few Toledo Public Schools rated excellent and there is mandatory and strong parental involvement. I am confident that at most schools in Toledo, that are either failing or performing very poorly, lacking in resources, and lacking in parental involvement; the Week of Code was probably not even mentioned.  

Describe two challenges that impede adoption of technology in K-12 and the implications of these challenges. 

From my perspective, the educational system in the United States is in a major crisis. At the root of this crisis is the fact that we have the highest level of income inequality in our history. Wealth has been concentrated into fewer and fewer hands while the vast majority of Americans struggle for less and less. All of the key challenges that impede the adoption of technology in the classroom are somehow related to this socioeconomic inequality. Two of these challenges are Rethinking the Roles of Teachers and The Achievement Gap.

In every teacher's ideal world they would have the professional support, technological resources, administrative encouragement and facilitation of professional development for implementing the best, up to date practises that effectively enhance the use of technology in the classroom to help their students become more effective learners and successful citizens. When Rethinking the Roles of Teachers, unless it is in a unique almost always private school environment or in another country, these or some of these needed attributes are generally lacking. Part of this is due to the regressive testing and property tax based funding of public schools. Many of our schools just lack the resources to be able to provide most of these resources consistently. 

Another problem that I see is the low teachers salaries in the United States. Teachers cannot be expected to consistently pursue educational opportunities and continuous professional development when the compensation for their work is so dismally low. One solution that I could see for this, is compensating teachers for pursuing continuous professional development. Some school systems do this to some degree but not at the level that I believe is necessary to allow teachers to stay up to date on the latest innovations in technology.

The Achievement Gap speaks directly to the economic inequalities that I have been addressing throughout this blog. It also includes race and gender inequality. America is increasingly becoming a society of haves and have nots with a much more rapid growth on the have not side. The standardized testing regimen is not currently in place to provide help to the poorest children and this is helping to exacerbate the problem of widespread concentrated economic poverty and inequality. Statistics show that African American and Latinx American populations, disproportionately suffer from this social and educational inequality due to systemic barriers. 

Schools that perform poorly on standardized tests and that, logically, need the most resources and the best teachers, and more access to technology in order to close this achievement gap are currently penalized under our regressive system. Instead of using testing as a diagnostic tool to figure out where problems lie and dedicate resources to fixing and addressing those problems the opposite is occurring.  

This regressive system is scapegoating public school teachers and administrators and pitting urban, higher minority, districts against rural and suburban, more homogeneous, districts in a battle for limited resources. This is also giving rise to the charter school movement that is replacing low income public schools with hybrid public/private charter schools that perform just as badly if not worse than traditional public schools while funneling even more of the limited resources away from traditional public school districts. The situation seems untenable and disgraceful to me and seems about to get much, much worse. The solution would start with a progressive system where those districts that are in the most need are provided with the same resources available to the more fortunate, like those at Maumee Valley and Ottawa Hills. This would take a complete overhaul of our current educational funding mechanisms.

References: 

Adams Becker, S., Freeman, A., Giesinger Hall, C., Cummins, M., & Yuhnke, B. (2016). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K.

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