MAET Year 1, 2005

1
The Role of Technology in Education

• Presented by
• Katie
• Cathy
• Chris
• Tricia
• Jeff

• MAET Year 1, 2005

2

• Every new technology with potential to bring
  benefits carries a price.
• www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin121.shtml

3
Physical Development

• Technology works as a catalyst for some growing
  health epidemics.
• Obesity
• Stress
• Visual Strain
• Postural Problems
• Repetitive-motion (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)

We have the most sedentary generation of young
people in American history U.S. Surgeon
General, David Satcher http//www.allianceforchild
hood.net/index.htm
4
Social Development

• Prolonged exposure to computing environments may
  create individuals incapable of dealing with the
  messiness of reality, the needs of community
  building, and the demand of personal commitments.
  
• National Science Board

Computers isolate us and minimize social
interaction. Cliford Stol (1995). Silicon
Snake Oil Second Thoughts on the Information
Highway
5
Communication

• Up to 90 of the meaning of a message is
  transmitted non-verbally
• Fromkin and Rodman (1983) www.stephan.dahl.at/nonv
  erbal_communication.html

According to research, children between the ages
of 10 and 17 will spend 1/3 less time interacting
face to face http//www.allianceforchildhood.ne
t/index.htm
6
Academic Improvement
There is no clear, commanding body of evidence
that students sustained use of multimedia
machines, the internet, word-processing,
spreadsheets, and other popular applications has
any impact on academic achievement Larry Cuban

• Teachers do not receive adequate training and
  support on how to integrate technology.
• Technology is too complex and error prone to be
  integrated successfully.
• Oppenheimer, Todd (2003). The Flickering Mind.

• A study of 31 countries showed that the less
  students use computers at school and at home, the
  better they do in international tests of literacy
  and maths.
• John Clare, (Filed 3/21/2005)

computers have thus far contributed nothing of
note to the learning process Jane M. Healy,
Educational Psychologist, From Children and
Computers-Who Needs themand When? June 2004
www.educationworld.com
7
Cognitive Development

• Computers emphasize only two of the six higher
  order thinking skills.
• Using computers at an early age encourages a
  robotic-like thought process.

http//www.allianceforchildhood.net/index.htm
8
Access to Information

• Voluminous information does not necessarily lead
  to sound thinking.
• Data Glut obscures basic questions of
  justice and purpose and may even hinder rather
  enhance our productivity.
• Theodore Roszak, (1986) The Cult of Information
  A Neo Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial
  Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking. New
  York Pantheon Books.

Much of the material on the Internet is
incorrect or biased and is frequently
unreliable. Jonathan Zittrain Harvard Law
School Professor, Net-savvy Students Shelving
Libraries. March 1, 1999 Boston Globe
The Internet changes our culture, not simply a
tool. Internet connects children to trivial
games, inappropriate adult material, and
aggressive advertising http//www.allianceforchi
ldhood.net/index.htm
9
Cost
Schools cannot afford to keep up with changes and
innovations in technology. Todd Oppenheimer,
(Atlantic Monthly, July 1997) The Computer
Delusion Online. Accessed 2/14/02
http//www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.
htm.
Schools spent 6.9 billion dollars in 1999 to
purchase desktop computers and accessories.
Glenn M. Kleiman, Leadership and the New
Technologies Issue 14, April-June, 2000
Technical support is too costly and inefficient
to support teachers in their learning goals.
10
Power Outage
11
the greater the wonders of a technology, the
greater will be its negative consequences. Neil
Postman (Denver, Colorado, March 27, 1998). Five
Things We Need to Know About Technological Change