J.P. Van't Hof
76-100m
Sauer
12/6/96
An Investigation of Technological Literacy
What does it mean to be technologically literate? What can the skills associated with technological literacy do for students? According to Bob Etheridge, State Superintendent for Public Instruction in North Carolina,
"Using the tools and resources of technology, all students can guide themselves, step by step, toward the mastery of knowledge and skills and will discover that their classroom options for learning and achievement have increased significantly" (King 10).
Even though technological literacy may not be as important to students who do not wish to further their education, i.e. blue collar employees who will gain the training that they will need on the job, it is an excellent supplement for those who do. As will be shown, a technological literacy can open doors to many different realms of information and opportunities. Yet, certain problems with technological literacy in the schools exist. Technological literacy requires that students use technology, and the latter is not an inexpensive acquisition. In addition to this need for funding, the need for proper training is essential to the implementation of technology into a curriculum. Educators need to have a literacy of certain technologies in order to teach students about the technologies. In the following pages will be discussion of the benefits of technological literacy and some of the problems associated with the full acquisition of that literacy. I will examine the strategies and opinions taken from various educational organizations, such as the North Carolina Public Schools, Daniel Barstow of the Computer Science Journal, and John L. Oberlin, the Director of Finances and Planning in the Office of Informational Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The possibilities that technology offers students are limitless. For example, a strong technological literacy allows students to access a greater research base. The resources that are available on the Internet are vast and expanding, and there is a great need for students to know how to access this information. Why do students need this? If a student plans to seek higher education, research is an inevitable reality. Take for example this essay; a well-developed technological literacy was needed to find sources and support in my research. In addition to the Internet, CD-ROM databases and multimedia resources, such as atlases, and are all important resources, for not all information and software are located on the Internet. With a broader research base, a student who plans to further his or her education has the opportunity to gather more and better information.
Using technology in yet another form, presentations and multimedia productions can be enhanced and supplemented by a technological literacy. Both presentations and productions (i.e. videos, multimedia computer projects, etc.) are expressions of a student's thought or interpretation on a particular topic. With the use of technology, these thoughts can be more clearly and creatively illustrated; this use of creativity and illustrative structure allows one's ideas to flow in a more impressive and understandable format. If two students were given the assignment of analyzing the cost-effectiveness of one industrial cleaner compared with another, for example (the example is simplified for clarity), and one were to display results using charts and multi-media savvy displays and the other not, wouldn't the student with the visual displays make a better and more convincing presentation than the student with out any visual support using technology? The use of technology to more accurately and effectively demonstrate one's ideas is obviously beneficial to a student of higher education.
Lastly, one of the greatest benefits of technological literacy is demonstrated by the thinking skills and thought processes that it provokes. "Critical thinking, reflections on social values, and abstract reasoning can all reach new levels when technology is properly applied" (King 6). This last statement made by Franklin L. King was taken from description of the Technology Scholarship Program for Alabama Teachers at Jacksonville State University (King 6). He effectively states what technology can do in a practical application for the thinking processes of the students, and how they process information: Better critical thinking. How is this accomplished? Technological literacy opens one up to many different resources, as already mentioned; it is these resources that allows one to compare the opinions and findings of different authors which stimulates critical thinking. In fact, Franklin says himself, quoting an unknown source, "This is the information age, not the age of technology" (King 6). Using a technological literacy effectively, students will be given the opportunity to the process information in critical ways, causing new ideas and avenues of thought to develop.
If all of the above qualities of technological literacy are to help a college-bound student in their future education, these qualities need to be introduced and integrated earlier in education. This would mean that schools on the primary and secondary levels need to take a responsibility in the integration of a technological literacy into their curricula. One of the goals of the North Carolina Public Schools (made up of primary and secondary schools) is summed in the following: "...Graduation requirements specifying more rigorous course work and computer proficiency, technology based instructional management...are essential next steps" (N. Carolina SDPI 4). This school system recognizes the need to integrate technology into the curriculum of primary and secondary schools. Yet, recognizing the need for integration is not a bothersome problem; other problems, such as funding, and speculative opinions lurk in the shadows. Technological literacy does not fall into place like a puzzle piece. Some sizing, problem-solving and adjustments must be made in order to make it fit into the large picture of education.
If one were to say to a teacher in just about any public school, from the poorest to the most affluent, "There just isn't enough money to do all of that," the teacher would not be surprised. In fact, that is a commonality that is all too well known. A graduate and former employee of a public school, I am well aware of the problems that are associated with the fact that there is never enough money in the pot. The fact of the matter is, even though the prices on computers are decreasing, the costs still are all too formidable for the schools to handle. Take, for example, an individual computer, the Power Computing Power Center 132 Mhz desktop computer. Selling with 16 Megabytes of RAM, a 1 Gigabyte hard drive, and an 4X CD-Rom at $1895 seems like a great deal (MacMall 52). But look at the implications that the schools must face every day. Add to this configuration a 15-inch monitor, the Apple Multiple Scan 15-inch Display, for $349 (MacMall 24), and multiply this by 30, allowing a computer to be used for every student in an average sized classroom. The expense has expanded from $2,244 for one unit to $67,320 for an entire lab. It does not stop here. Still needed are expenses to cover the networking that has become so popular and necessary if printing is required, the costs needed to furnish a room for this type of use, software licenses for all of the machines, electrician fees to cover the configuration of the power supply for that number of computers, and even climate control to ensure that the computers do not overheat. Without a firm value, it can be easily estimated that this cost will peak to over one hundred thousand dollars, if not more. This is too high of an expense to suggest without further financial support. Too many schools cannot afford this, as exampled by Jamie Wilson, an English-as-a-second-language teacher at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Washington, D.C.:
"And yet we have some of the fewest resources. I am looking at a media machine, a thermofax machine, that if it breaks down, it cant be fixed...I have a room of antiques as we are crossing in to the 21st century" (Sanchez).
One must then trace the funds that most secondary and primary schools, more specifically public schools, receive for their operation. For public schools, these funds come from the community in which the schools are located and the government structure under which the schools operate. Understandably, at the shear quantity of these expenses, any group of people, such as voters or policy-makers, can get quite flustered and uneasy. They are understandably speculative of the value in educational standards to which they might devote such large sums. As stated by Oberlin in "The Financial Mythology of Information Technology: The New Economics,"
"Unfortunately, it may be fair to characterize the dominant culture of these organizations [educators and their patrons] as being contemptuous of financial activities that attempt to quantify academic endeavors, and suspicious of those who advocate or engage in them" (Oberlin 22).
Literally, Oberlin is saying that educators and the people who cater to education (the people who fund schools: voters in the community) need to look at, in concrete terms and dollar signs, how important technological literacy is to them, even though they may not want to do it. If these people cannot be convinced that the technology is worth the money spent, then technology, and hence technological literacy will have no place in the schools. If the voters and administrators cannot be convinced until they see the technology at work, but the money does not exist to show what it can do, how are the schools going to gain any ground in technological literacy?
Just as the costs that computers represent for schools are seemingly a problem, problems that are not quite so money related are seeping into the framework. Teachers are absolutely necessary for the implementation of technology. One of the points that is raised by Daniel Barstow, in "Computers and Education: Some Questions of Values," is "A computer is a sophisticated device, and how many teachers really will learn to control and utilize its powers?" (Barstow 117). As he asks, how many teachers will and are using technology to its full advantage? If the answer to Barstow's question is "very few," then it is implied that teachers have let the sophistication of computers "get the best of them." This cannot happen; teachers must overcome the sophistication. And yet, too often the effort fails to be made. As stated in a report of a study of Greek teachers involving technology, "The teacher's participation in these multi-hour and not clearly education oriented seminars [technology service training for teachers] is limited" (Meimaris 94).
To the converse, teachers cannot become over-absorbed in the use of technology. In particular, if a teacher allows the "computers to do the teaching" then, as Barstow says, "...human responsibilities have been abdicated to a machine" (Barstow 117).
What seems to be the case in either situation is that teachers are not properly prepared to have such technology in the classroom and use it effectively. A survey of the 120 preservice teachers of Greek schools showed the following results:
Out of the total number of 120 teachers, only four had been trained in computers of whom two neither own nor use a PC; only four use a PC at school, and of those only one had the proper training" (Meimaris 95).
Clearly, these teachers show a lack of the training needed to integrate technology into the classroom, for many do not indicate any effort to become familiar with the technologies themselves. According to Michael Meimaris,
"Any form of introduction of the new technologies to schools will therefore have to take into consideration: 1. The perceptions and practices of the teachers themselves about the teaching and the learning process. 2. The teachers' own knowledge about the new technologies......" (Meimaris 93).
As he states, the integration of technology into the classroom is dependent upon the characteristics of teaching and learning specific to each teacher. He also says that the integration of these technologies will depend on the teachers' knowledge about the technology. Do the perceptions of a teacher about the teaching-learning process not affect what an individual teacher knows about technology? Yes. Technology cannot and will not be supported nor integrated into the classroom if the teachers do not support the use of technology in their ideals of the teaching learning processes. How can we expect to integrate technology into a situation where it is already stereotyped and segregated? In the light of technology, attitude is everything, and teachers need to have the best in order to continue.
What is to be done about these problems? First, what educators, both teachers and administrators, need to come to terms with is that technology does not need to be accumulated in a "all-at-once" fashion. It needs to be put into place in pieces. Supporting this argument, Barstow, agrees in his article that technology does not need to be a night and day change,
"A large comprehensive system, offering administrative and instructional services, might cost several thousand dollars per year for rental, maintenance and support personnel. Yet a microcomputer can cost under a thousand dollars to purchase. In a time of financial cutbacks, is a computer not a wise investment of the educational dollar?"(Barstow 118).
Starting with a small core of technology, schools then can seek support from the voting community and prove to them that this technology is necessary and useful in education. In fact, that is exactly what occurred while I was a student and employee at my high school, Forest Hills Central of Grand Rapids, Michigan. In a class that put much focus upon the use of technology into the classroom, Mass Media, we started with only one machine, a 040 Macintosh with video digitizing capabilities. Even at that time it was not a cutting edge machine, yet it served its purpose well. Spending much time as a part of the class preparing presentations, personal-electronic portfolios, and other multimedia productions, we effectively proved to ourselves that such a tool was very effective in causing us to think critically about experiences from that class and others; creativity flowed throughout due to the use of flexible multimedia applications which allowed use to give our work artistic and aesthetic qualities. Now, all that was needed was to prove to the community, which included various businesses, business leaders and other individuals, and the Board of Education, which is elected by the voters of the community, that what we were doing was important and educational. One week before a crucial vote for a millage increase to fund a new wave of technologies in the schools, we presented. Displaying what we accomplished with one computer, in one classroom, we felt confident that the community and Board were convinced of the promises that this technology had to offer. Even though the attendance of the presentation was disproportional to the population of the voting community, the attendees, particularly the business leaders, had much effect in disseminating the positive feeling, through business and personal connections, to the larger population of the community. Hence, one week later, the millage was passed. What is important here is to see that we didn't give the community a tour of a massive, high-tech computer lab, nor did we give them any types of statistics trying to prove the need to start with a huge integration. We only showed them what we did with one computer, and what could be done in the future. "People will believe in change when they see change," states a principal of Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Washington, D.C. (Sanchez).
Finally, the teaching community needs to realize that they are one of the most important factors in the integration of technology into the classroom. even in some of the most challenged of schools in the country, as is the case for Abraham Lincoln Middle which does not even have running water for students at times (Sanchez), there are teachers who want to make the difference. Other educators should take example and learn from these models. Jamie Wilson, of Abraham Lincoln speaks:
"... I would like to be held accountable. I want to be responsible, but I need the resources and the community needs to be welcomed in the school. It's not just a question of money, it's a question of involvement. It's a question of people who truly, truly understand what education is about, understand the need of the children" (Sanchez).
Teachers need to be the driving forces in the acquisition of a technological literacy. They are the integrators, and if they do not show the leadership towards such literacy, the literacy will become non-existant in their schools. The problem with this, of course, is that in society technology is anything but non-existant. "To produce the kind of graduates employers seek, teachers must begin to move away from the traditional 'teaching' roles that served yesterday's schools and become...competent managers of diverse instructional materials and technologies..." (N. Carolina SDPI 5). Schools need more teachers who are willing to make an concerted effort towards educating students with technological literacy. Together with the support of the community, teachers can help make technology one of many literacies that their graduates acquire.
Works Cited
Barstow, Daniel. "Computers and Education: Some Questions of Values." Computer Science Journal. Feb. 1979: 116-119.
King, Ed.D., Franklin L., et al. "The Technology Scholarship Program for Alabama Teachers at Jacksonville State University." ERIC Document: ED 394916, 29 Oct. 1995.
Mac Mall. Advertisement. Mac User. Nov. 1996. 24, 52.
Meimaris, Michael. "Technological Literacy or Illiteracy? The reality about Greek Teachers." Verbo-Visual Literacy: Understanding and Applying New Educational Communication Media Technologies. Selected Readings of the Symposium of the International Visual Literacy Association. 25-29 Jun. 1993. ERIC Document: ED 393417, 1993.
North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction, Raleigh. "A Technology Plan for the North Carolina Public Schools." ERIC Document: ED 372753, 1994.
Oberlin, John L. "The Financial Mythology of Information Technology: The New Economics." Cause/Effect. Spring 1996: 21-29.
Sanchez, Claudio. "Claudio Sanchez visits D.C.'s Lincoln Middle School." Morning Edition. 19 Nov. 1996. Online. National Public Radio Online. <http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/>.