Informal notes
Technology in K-12 education
by Cindy Petterson
September 19, 2001

"…Will traditional printed books survive the future?" (McLester, 2001):

    • Consider that the blackboard took 60 years to become a whiteboard–will technology assist in the replacement of traditional books?
    • e-books or digital books may be read using a hand-held device
    • e-books may be customized to particular curriculum
    • e-books are interactive
    • The hurdle is emotional–bound books are part of our culture
    • Is it panic akin to the Gutenberg press?

Riverdeep Group purchases education software for $60 million (Sarkar, 2001):

    • Riverdeep Group of Dublin, Ireland, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, purchased Novato’s Learning Company from the company whose name will revert to Broderbund
    • Riverdeep will integrate the software into it’s K-12 curriculum tailored education package
    • The Learning Company will provide retail outlets to mesh with their school base

Science and technology education key to global success (Warch, 2001):

    • In 1957, the U.S. had a wake-up call in respect to the country’s technological standing as Russia had just launched Sputnik
    • In 2001, the U.S. is in a similar situation
    • According to former Senators Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, who chair a national security panel, science and math performance is in a downward trend resulting in a country unable to maintain a global leadership position
    • The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching, chaired by former astronaut, John Glenn, has a similar concern for the lack of math and science teachers at the K-12 level
    • One solution is educating science teachers in the liberal arts colleges where the focus is to create innovative methods of teaching

National Education Association (NEA) Wired (www.nea.org, 2001):

Second grade teacher, Karen L. Smith, in Las Vegas, Nevada uses technology:

    • During Dr. Seuss month, kids build a library and take home books to read
    • Smith assigned part of "One Fish…Blue Fish" text to each student
    • Each 2nd-grader creates an illustration using Kid Pix to go with text
    • Illustrations are assembled into a slideshow with recordings of students reading

Sixth grade teacher, Brenda Dyck, teacher and cyberlibrarian in Calgary, Alberta, Canada:

    • Dyck developed a "Filamentality Sampler" from the Ellis Island web site to teach students about Chinese immigration
    • Students found answers to the assignment questions on links to the Ellis Island Site
    • The class produced creative writing projects akin to the level of someone with first hand knowledge–Dyck attributes this to the virtual tour

Bill Gates launches high tech schools in Colorado (Mitchell, 2001):

    • Four high-tech charter high schools will be constructed in Colorado with a $8 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
    • The schools will be equipped with individual student workstations
    • Students will attend school from 9-4 and work on internships
    • The four schools will be networked to share information
    • San Diego already has a model school called High Tech High
    • Visit www.newschoolsdevelopmentcorp.org for more information

Board of Education awards grants for new small schools in New York (Chiles, 2001):

    • The trend has moved from large, traditional schools to small specialized "learning communities"
    • Working with the SUNY Maritime College and the Wilderness Preservation Society, the Board of Education is planning to open a science and technology center in the Bronx
    • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the partners
    • Foundation funds to convert large, poor-performance high schools into small learning centers
    • The idea is that small learning centers are more efficient and serve to close ethic and social gaps

Educators in Massachusetts use technology to make science appealing to girls (Helman, 2001):

    • The Massachusetts Board of Education are driving women into technology and engineering careers by starting them early and by using high tech labs
    • Schools use curriculum changes and a change in approach from boy-oriented explosions and chemical reactions to girl-oriented, how is this relevant to the real world lessons
    • Julie DeVincentis Stow Lab classroom in Massachusetts, in conjunction with Tufts University and Intel Corp., is one of the pilot schools for grade school kids to learn engineering
    • Intel grants funds to draw women into technology careers at an early age with the hope that they may become future employees and innovators

Nebraska high schools offering courses using live, two-way video teleconferences (Matczak, 2001):

    • "The latest school technology may have your teenager watching a television instead of a teacher"
    • "Distance learning," is a technology to transport classes from one school to many
    • This allows for greater course variety and efficient use of funds for teacher salaries
    • With two thirds of the schools outfitted for this technology, Nebraska is the national model for distance instruction
    • Foreign languages, math and science are the most popular subjects
    • Many subjects would not be available to certain rural schools without this technology
    • Teachers have a remote control to zoom in on a student in another classroom, microphones suspended from the ceiling and fax machines to exchange papers and test materials
    • Opponents feel that this type of instruction is not a benefit to students over a live teacher
    • Students feel the only disadvantage is availability of the teacher to answer questions before class

Washoe County school districts (Bray, A., 2001):

    • Typical fifth grade classrooms are equipped with one PC for every two students
    • Students use the internet to access information for history reports
    • Assignments may be typed on word processing programs
    • Kids are introduced to computers as early as kindergarten and first grade

 

High tech student portfolios (NEA Technology Briefs, 2001):

    • Student portfolios track development by collecting samples of work at various stages
    • Portfolios are made up of scanned images, multimedia clips, and word processed files
    • Students may access files to update work and reflect on their own progress with critical analysis
    • Successful implementation requires computers, scanners and printers in the classroom
    • Text, voice, video and image capabilities will create more well rounded presentations
    • This technology requires a new set of teaching skills and innovative administration

 

Sources:

Bray, A. (2001, spring semester). University of Nevada, Reno lecture and discussion of technology used at Alice
Taylor Elementary, Washoe County Nevada.

Chiles, N. (2001, July 25). Ed Board Awards 8 Start-Up Grants. Newsday (New York, NY). News, pg. A26.

Dyck, B. (2001). Focus On Technology. National Education Association. Retrieved September 17, 2001 from
 the World Wide Web: http://www.nea.org/cet/wired.html.

Helman, S.W. (2001, May 3). Stow; Engineering a change of attitude educators aim to make science more
appealing to girls. The Boston Globe. Globe West; pg. 1.

Matczak, M. (2001, March 24). Many Midlands Schools Want Their Ed. TV ‘Distance’ Classes Big in Rural
Areas in the Classroom. Omaha World-Herald. News; pg. 1.

McLester, S. (2001, March 22). E-books are bound to be better for teaching. Los Angeles Times.
Tech Times; Part T; Page 7.

Mitchell, N. (2001, April 26). High-tech schools conceived: Gates foundation gift launches plans for four
charter campuses, 1-15 teacher-student ratios. Rocky Mountain News. Local; Ed. Final; pg. 4A.

Sarkar, P. (2001, September 7). Learning Co. sells education division; Software firm Riverdeep buys unit.
The San Francisco Chronicle. Business, pg. B3.

Smith, K. (2001). Focus On Technology. National Education Association. Retrieved September 17, 2001 from
 the World Wide Web: http://www.nea.org/cet/wired.html.

Technology Briefs. (2001). Technology and Portfolio Assessment. National Education Association. Retrieved
September 17, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http//www.nea.org/cet/BRIEFS/brief4.html

Warch, R. (2001, April 21). Liberal arts key to science equation. Chicago Sun-Times. Editorial; pg. 18.

 

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