An Unintended Consequence of Technology Enhanced Podcast

A Recipe for Success

How do you make digital learning a success?  Start with a strong foundation built on theories and educational  concepts.  A top of that pile a heaping scoop of instructional design...any flavor of your choice.  Mix it together with a dash of alternative spices, morals, ethics, and philosophical thought.  Allow it to bake completely before topping it with a layer of digital, global connectivity.

Digital learning can be successful with the right recipe.  Exact measurements and ingredients are not necessarily needed.  Digital learning is what we make of it.  There is a recipe that is perfect for each learner and is unique just as each individual learner is.

Technology has the opportunity to change the lives of many, positively or negatively, but only if the chasm of the digital divide can be crossed.  Affordable and accessible is the name of the game when it comes to making sure technology can be an asset.  Race, culture, socioeconomic status can change a lot for a student in this digital age.  Where classrooms are moving to become more digitally centered in preparation for life after graduation, those without access are in danger of being left behind.  To be part of the growing global village requires students to have access to the technology and know how to use it.  If and when access is granted, knowledge is a necessity.  Knowledge comes form the ability of teachers to teach it.  Here is where old school needs to meet new school.  Teachers need to become learners of the digital age and understand that technology requires a new train of thought and teaching.  Pedagogy and content are not longer enough, they must be adapted to technology.  Using technology for games and rewards will not make successful users.   The complex world of unintended consequences must be handled in order to show students how to be successful in a global village, for better or worse.

The exact recipe doesn't exist, but guidelines are a place to start.  The R2D2 model claims the best way to start is fuzzy and clarify as you go.  A pinch of this and dash of that is the way to start...but from there time, development, and customization is what it will take to create a successful digital learning environment.

From A Distance the World Looks Digital...

Distance education used to be correspondence based; register, pay, and they send you a packet of materials to complete for your course.  Technology and the rise of the digital age have changed the concept of distance education dramatically.  No longer are you confined to the pencil, paper, and information provided, but now the world of education is at your digital disposal.

This week after watching a video and discussion over the arrival of MOOCs (massively open online courses) I started to realize that maybe distance education is the education of the future.  While there may be something to be said for the traditional classroom and face-to-face discussion, distance education is evolving so fast that before long sitting at your computer will emulate the face-to-face classroom.  The what ifs of the future.  For now MOOCs are not the mainstream and for educators in the K-12 environment, I think we have some waiting to do before it comes to our towns.  However, distance education is changing how our students are educated.

My school provides an education to about 650 students in a rural community.  Distance education makes a world of difference to us.  By no means or at any point have I ever felt like we are short-changing our students with the education we can provide them, but I can definitely see the positives of distance education. Distance education has allowed students to use the ICN to take German from an instructor at a neighboring school, it has given students the opportunity to take college credit courses through a local community college  during the school day without going to campus, and it has allowed me the experience of creating a semi-flipped classroom.  Rural schools face unique challenges associated with funding and staffing.  Distance learning provides valuable opportunities not otherwise available.

With distance learning does come the challenge of making sure students taking the courses are supported and can be or at least feel successful.  This is where instructional design and course development become increasingly important.  Time and development, instructor support, communication, and an online community make distance education a success or failure.  Much of distance education requires the developer and instructor to take the theories of pragmatism and existentialism and create an environment that is open, innovative, hands-on, and personal.  Distance education uses the digital world to increase what education can do and be for anyone who wants it.

The World is Flat!?!

When I stop to consider the idea of the global village, it makes me consider a book I read this past spring called The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.  In this book, Friedman spends hundreds of pages trying to convince the reader that due to globalization what used to be halfway around the world is now right outside our back door.  He explains that due to technology and the ever decreasing digital divide the world is now more interconnected than ever before and that we as a global community will be better for it.  Friedman at the same time offers a warning to the United States about being left behind as the rest of the world races to be the leader in digital technologies.

The global village also makes me think of Hillary Clinton's famous comment about the idea that it takes a village to raise a child.  This concept of community and everyone having a hand or taking part in the raising of a child sounds encouraging, but at the same time it is concerning.  I believe Clinton was trying to comment on the fact that with the changing world we need each other more than ever to prepare our youth with all the experiences and expertise available, but at the same time conflict can arise.

To have a global village we must all play active roles and feel the connection, but what happens when we can't ALL feel the connection in a positive way?  Technology is out there and while most of the world is feeling the effects, they are not all involved and some of those that are may be experiencing some of the unintended consequences that come with technology.  What makes a community is the expertise of everyone and the sense of feeling close, but not all of those members can be recreated through technology.  A community comes with a sense of tradition and culture, two things that are missing from the digital age.  Many cultures around the world are resistant to the incorporation of technology into their communities for this very reason.  Technology may bring in new business and financial opportunities, but are they welcome or even positive changes?  In his article "Do We Really Want a Global Village?", Stephen Talbott states that "Our quest for a global village begins with the implementation of physical networks and accompanying technology" (p. 5).  Companies see the world as their market place and venture throughout it trying to find the best way to maximize and make a buck.  The unfortunate side-effect is the true sense of community missing from a global village.   Talbott continues by saying "If we really wanted a global village, we would start with the local culture, learn to live in it, share in it, appreciate it, begin to recognize what is highest in it..." (p. 5).  Digital technology has changed the lives of business in the global village, but the change in the culture of the villagers can be an unintended consequence of that very same technology.

Digital Divide...What a Tangled Web We Weave!

A digital divide is the inequality associated with the have and have nots.  This have and have not situation arises when groups of people, for reasons associated with race, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, etc, do not have equal access to the hardware and software associated with technology.  Providing access and training to technology is a growing concern for schools today when preparing students for life after school, but it is a tricky and sticky situation with how to close the divide and heal the gap. 

The 21st century is that of the computer or technology age.  Students graduating from our institutions will be required in greater and greater amounts to become increasingly more familiar with a never-ending stream of technologies that exist or will exist.  As educators, this is something that we will face when preparing students for the "real world".  This technical education is faced with some serious issues.  In our current educational system, our student come from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of personal situations.  This directly affects their access to technology.  There are some students who have personal access to some form or another and yet others do not.  This access challenge is a very real concern in the discussion of how to best prepare our students.  Schools understand the importance of access to technology, but many will struggle to make it happen.  First of all, technology is expensive and many schools do not have the funding options.  Secondly, those that have made the investment will have infrastructure issues with servers and equipment.  Finally, teacher preparation. 

1. Technology is expensive.  Many times schools are reliant on tax base to run their schools, but the increasing costs associated with being technologically up-to-date leaves schools in a financial short-fall.  
2. For many schools that make the investment, infrastructure is a real concern.  The more computers the more associated costs with networking and servers.  Technology has many associated costs that people fail to consider.  Most old buildings are wired for the increased electrical usage, it requires more servers and server space, Internet service and speed must be maintained, and software must be constantly monitored and updated for maximum potential.
3. Teacher training is a large area of concern.  Having technology is one thing, but proper implementation will make or break a schools investment into the technology for their students.  Closing the digital divide is just as much about teaching students how to use technology as it is providing the access to it.  Teachers must be able to teach students how to use technology effectively as a research and analysis tool.  Technology is for much more than word processing and presentations these days.   

This tangled web of challenges is a very serious concern for schools.  It seems that with one issue come many other attached or entangled issues.  Many schools in Iowa, like my own, have decided to help students with their access issues by going 1:1 with computers for their students.  This is one way to address the hardware aspect of the divide, but it must go hand in hand with preparation.  Schools need to invest in training their teachers on effective implementation if the hardware is going to work.  Especially in lower socioeconomic areas where teacher experience and quality is lower, extra effort must be given to helping them use technology as an effective tool.  Our school has spent a lot of extra time in professional development with the technology prior to giving it to students as a way for the teachers to understand how the technology work and how to maximize its usage.  

The Great Debate

Paradigms are shifts in education.  Paradigms allow us as educators to sit around and debate the changes in education and analyze these shifts for the positives and negatives.  There is always a new way of doing something in education and each time a new idea arises, a debate over its validity and value can emerge amongst professionals.  While the recent paradigm shift toward TPACK may seem important at this time, that doesn't mean that educators will cease to debate its merits before deciding it needs improving or proves to be inadequate as technology and teaching change or evolve.  Before we know it a new paradigm shit will happen.  We know paradigm shifts will happen because critical theory constantly asks any professional to criticize and evaluate their actions. 

To use technology or not, how to use technology and where....more debates for technology and education.  How do we know that technology is effectively being used?  How do we know that students are learning properly using technology?  How do we know anything, unless we take a step back to criticize our methods through the application of critical theory.  We should be asking ourselves if the technology is being used properly, fairly, and in the end examine our ethics.  This great debate over the usage of technology brings us to the importance of developing morals and an ethical code.  Ethics are the code the teachers live by when teaching.  Just like doctors follow the ethical code "Do No Harm" when it comes to their patients, teachers have an ethical responsibility that we are not doing harm to our students education.  The TPACK paradigm show teachers the importance of not only understanding content and how to teach content effectively through our pedagogy, but it emphasizes the importance of understanding the value of technology and how to properly use and implement that technology.  Ethics force teachers and really look at what and how they are teaching students...technology is a tool not the answer.

Shouldn't We All Attend an Invisible College?

Critical theory asks us to criticize ourselves, education, technology, etc.  Critical theory helps with accountability and responsibility for actions.  Isn't this what teachers should be doing as educational professionals?  Critical theory provides the opportunity for awareness and self-direction which in the end makes us question if what we, as teachers, are doing is the best. 

The idea of a an invisible college is simply an informal group of intellectuals that get together to conference, collaborate, support, and question each other.  In many ways, an invisible college could be a lot like a professional network.  Peers get together to discuss changes in education, technology, pedagogy, and encourage discussion of any issues that arise.  I feel that in any school building, amongst co-workers, invisible colleges should and more than likely do exist.  If they don't, educators are missing out on a valuable resource. 

Critical theory does more than simply just create the potential for a professional network via an invisible college, but is also allows us to scrutinize the current educational system for any issues that may be lying around.  When it comes to technology, critical theory really get educators to look at the importance of ethics and the necessity of knowing the potential risks associated with technology.  While technology is supposed to make our lives easier and provide us with so many more opportunities, it is important to realize that technology comes with unintended consequences and limitations.  Unfortunately, because technology is available to classrooms, teachers feel that the technology must always be used in someway, shape or form.  The unfortunate side of this is that the technology is not always used correctly.  Andrew Yeaman, J. Randall Koetting, and Randall Nichols suggest examining our ethics as they relate to educational technology by asking ourselves a series of questions. 

1. What is the philosophy of educational technology?
2. Can the field adopt nonlinear or improvisational design strategies and processes?  
3. How can anyone be assured of a fair and equal education in the midst of educational technology systems that tend to favor dominant cultures? 
4. Is "educational technology" an oxymoron?

I think it is extremely important for teachers to ask themselves these questions when using technology in their classrooms.  It is important that teachers criticize themselves to see if they are ethically using education or using it just to use it.

The Moral and Ethic Debate of Instructional Technology....What To Do?

Morals and ethics, two terms so similarly used, but yet different.  What is moral or what is ethical is so much more than what is right or wrong.  Right and wrong come with strings attached, with questions to be answered.  Right and wrong are no longer black and white, but shade of grey.

Morality is the conforming to the customary practices of societies and their definition of what is right to do in a given situation.  This is an individual approach to social teachings.  The society defines right and wrong and individuals pick up on those ideas in order to develop their own sense of morals or what is right and wrong.  Morality is about what should or ought to be done in a given situation.  The actions of a person in a society are usually closely linked with rules, obligations, and in many instances laws.  It is because of this link that morality finds itself mixed up with legal situations.  Laws are instituted to keep order and maintain the success of a society.  This causes some confusion between what a person should do morally and what they should do legally.  Louis Pojman in "What is Moral Philosophy" explains this mixing very well with his example of lying.  Lying is generally considered to be immoral, i.e. it is wrong to lie to somebody, but it is not necessarily illegal to lie (unless it is to law officials, in court, or on your taxes).  He provides another example of legal but immoral.  You witness someone being beaten up in the street by your house.  The moral thing to do would be to call the police and report the incident, but you do not legally have to.  Laws have physical punishments for breaking them, but breaking morals is only punishable by your conscious and community.

Ethics is a moral code.  It is a system made up of right and wrong with external implications.  While morals are individually developed and internally processed due to social pressures, ethics are socially developed and externally enforced.  Ethics are a social code of right and wrong that are less about the pressure to do what is right for our own satisfaction, but more about how society will punish us if we don't do what is right.  Many times when we see ethics in practice it is for professional or business practices.  Violating ethics or the moral code by which the occupation insists can result in punishment like being fined, having your professional reputation ruined, or loosing your job.

How does this relate to education and technology?  Technology has opened up a whole new set of opportunities in education, but at the same time it has also raised a whole new set of questions.  Technology is our window to the world, but on the other side of that window we will find a potentially dangerous world if not taught how to deal with it. Morals are personal behavior and students must be instructed on how to behave using technology by teaching them how technology should or should not be used.  Technology can be harmful to students if not properly instructed on how to use it.  The students in a school are instructed using a code of conduct, in essence a code of ethics, that if they do not follow when using technology will result in punishments.  Technology can be safe and helpful, but it comes with moral and ethically obligations.  Those morals and ethics start with the teacher and continue with the students.

Paradigms....Shifts Happen

A paradigm is an example or pattern of something.  Essentially a paradigm is a model.  For those of us looking at paradigms in instructional technology, we might say that a paradigm is our underlying series of theories and methods for how we go about carrying out the process of using or incorporating instructional technology.  The advent of technology has required us to be more flexible with each passing day because new technology is being introduced everyday.  All of this new technology increases the amount of possibilities in the classroom when it comes to technological aid.

The first of the paradigm shifts comes in the form of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI).  This essentially was the formal introduction of computers into education as a typing or aid-based tool in the traditional classroom.  The applications of technology during this paradigm shift were very straight forward and fit the basic needs of the teacher in helping the students to grasp core concepts.  Teachers were still there to provide the information and evaluate learning.  CAI hasn't disappeared over time, we still use basic typing and "drill-and-practice" programs that were created by this paradigm, and it will continue to part of IT in the future as well.

Another shift came when Artificial Intelligence (AI) workers decided to explore the world of education and we got the ITS Paradigm.  The thought of the AI world was that if you could teach a machine to show intelligence then why not train it to create a one-on-one tutoring system.  This idea turned into using computers and their programs as educational tool, in essence, treat computer like more than just word processors.

This shift eventually led to to a constructivist approach.  This new approach suggests that technology could now be used for personal inquiry and discovery.  The learner essentially assumes the role of teacher and the technology becomes the tool by which the student teaches themselves new information.  It requires prior knowledge and new knowledge to be built off of one another.

Technology and its possibilities are asking educators to shift again with the emergence of TPACK.  TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  Teachers are always expected to know the information associated with their content or grade level and they are expected to understand how to best teach students, but when you throw in technology these two concepts add a whole other realm of things that must be taken into consideration.  TPACK is the interlocking circles showing the connection between technology, pedagogy, and content.

  Taken from www.tpck.org.

TPACK is not necessarily a new concept dreamt up over night, but it is the culmination of researchers realizing that effective classroom instruction requires that teachers understand how all three concepts are directly linked to the success of the other concepts.  Content knowledge (CK) is knowing the subject matter and pedagogical knowledge (PK) is knowing the practices and methods of teaching and learning for overall educational purposes.  Combining these two concepts (PCK) means that a teacher fully understands the best way to convey their content combined with prior student knowledge in order for learning of new information to take place.  Technology knowledge (TK) is about about understanding standard and advanced technologies.  This means understanding how  to use things like books and whiteboards all the way to computers and software.  TK also requires teachers to be able to adapt to new technologies as they become available.  Combining technology and content knowledge (TCK) requires teachers to understand how their content can be changed with the usage of new technologies available.  Including technology as part of pedagogical knowledge (TPK) gives teachers the capability of understanding how technology can change instruction in the classroom.  It will not necessarily change what we teach, but how we teach it.  Finally when you combine these all together, you get technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK).  TPACK is something that teachers need to constantly be working at to better understand.  It isn't something that can be learned overnight or in a workshop.  It is a style of teaching that needs to be an ongoing growth process.  Teachers that embrace TPACK understand that technology, pedagogy, and content requires knowledge of student learning, content implementation, and how technology can enhance them.  

Traditional vs. Alternative ID Models

Tradition is how we have always done things.  It is usually conservative, more rigid, linear and provides less room for modification to meet new needs.  Tradition isn't always bad, but it doesn't always allow for growth and development.  This can be said about anything when you relate to tradition...it is how we have always done things.  When it comes to education, teachers are always looking for the newest option that meets the needs of more students over a broader spectrum.  Alternative ID Models provide this new option. 

• R2D2 provides a model that examines recursive and reflective attitudes.  This means that there is no clear starting point or clear path when it comes to reaching the end point.  Designers will work on the process continually while every so often stopping to reflect and revise the instructional design.  R2D2 has three focal points: define, design and development, and dissemination.  These are non-linear and are just a way to help organize work.
• Chaos Theory provides the idea that one small change can lead to unpredictable changes.  This is a non-linear, dynamic principle that is open and requires feedback and constant revision.  Teachers using Chaos Theory requires them to be flexible and to incorporate new knowledge.  
•  Rapid prototyping allows for the creation of a model, using it to learn from, and completing it as you go in order to learn from the model.  Prototypes are built on a small scale and then used in exercises.  Once the exercises are complete then based on outcomes, changes to the current system can happen.

Alternative methods provide options to the traditional methods of ID.  These alternatives allow for designers to pick and choose what they want to implement.

R2D2 is Not Just for Star Wars Anymore

The constructivist mindset toward instructional design provides us with the R2D2 Model.  R2D2 looks at Reflective, Recursive, Design and Development that can provide one of the ways constructivism can be applied to instructional design.

There are three principles that make up R2D2.

• Recursive means that you will encounter and address the same issues in learning over and over again. Recursive is almost like repetition but in a non-linear fashion. There is no set progression of tasks to be completed and they may occur at any point and be completed in any order. Being recursive is about revisiting tasks and items over and over again in an attempt to reevaluate them and make revisions. (A Recursive, Reflective, Instructional Design Model Based on Constructivist-Interpretivist Theory, p. 12)

• Reflection provides for the ability to start with a vague outline of a task and then fill in the details as you go. This is a collaborative and cooperative experience that allows for the creation of a shared vision and outcome. In the end they work to create a shared vision that may not have existed in the beginning, but develops over time. This reminds us that ID is a living process that changes over time due to the input of others involved in the development process. (A Recursive, Reflective, Instructional Design Model Based on Constructivist-Interpretivist Theory, p. 12)

• Participation is about involving designers as the participants rather than simply as outside observers. Participants come with areas of expertise and specialized training that are important in the ID process. (The Maturing of Constructivist: Instructional Design: Some Basic Principles That Can Guide Practice, pg. 12)

R2D2 is really more of a set of guidelines instead of rigid and demanding procedures.  It is a model for which to follow, but does not require you to be exact when implementing it.   Within these principles, R2D2 gives users focal points.  These focal points are non-linear and the model suggests that users with work on the three focal points throughout the model at any point.  These focal points are define, design and development, and dissemination.

• Define- this relates to the focus of the design. In R2D2 focus starts blurry and then becomes more clear as the design is defined. 
• Design & Develop- this is where more of the action in R2D2 happens. Design and development happen together. During this the selection of a development environment, media and format selection, evaluation procedures, and product designs and development happens.
• Dissemination- this focal point is the final product and implementation of the model. The R2D2 model does not suggest using materials immediately but to adapt and implement along the way to fit the context. This also can mean learning new methods of implementation along the way.

R2D2 is just one option for how to best implement constructivist ID.  It is one of the most radical and requires a large amount of buy-in from the users of this option.  Teachers must change their effort and allow for greater group participation, as would any alternative ID model.

Instructional Design...is Tradition the Best Design?

Instructional design allows the teacher to lay out the specific plan for instruction down to the details and materials that will be needed.  There are many methods and outlines that could be followed.  The constructivist view on instructional design is different from traditional methods in the fact that it allows for new assumptions about learning and instructional basics.  Tradition isn't always bad, but new ways and idea development can modify tradition to make it better.

I don't want to this to seem like I think constructivism is the best alternative, because it does have some downfalls.   It does give room for control issues and the requirement of prior knowledge, but it is a good place to start and draw some very important ideas from.

Constructivism gives the learner the idea that knowledge is actively being constructed, just like its name suggests.  Knowledge is a foundation upon which other knowledge is built.  This new knowledge them comes from experimentation and analysis.  The core idea is that teaching and learning don't necessarily have to go together.  Now, as a teacher, this idea is disturbing, but it is an important reality to face.  Constructivism is about forcing the individual to find the meaning without having the meaning or answers forced upon them.  The student therefore must find the answers for themselves by testing reality and getting hands-on with their learning. 

To complete a constructivist design, the teacher must use three phases:  analysis, development, and evaluation.  Where traditional instructional design starts with a learning goal and specific content, a constructivist classroom does not have these restraints and allows for knowledge, skill, and discovery to exist naturally.  The goals then can come after the fact and can evolve through the learning process.  This analysis phase may also include taking prior learned materials and have students either build upon this knowledge and break down any misunderstandings.  Development of the information comes through active, authentic, and collaborative learning.  This means giving students the opportunity to experience learning on their own, learn to problem solve, make their own choices, be placed in real-life situations, see different perspectives, and learn to work with others.  Finally this instructional design model requires reflection.  This means examining the learning being done, looking back on outcomes, critically assessing the learning, and making any adjustments.

I really see this constructivist approach as an interesting way to give students more control over their learning and to make it more real-life.  However, it must be properly implemented and the environment must be controlled for safety.  I do no think this is for every teacher or every student, but I do think their are important aspects that can be implemented into any classroom.

The Teacher and Instructional Design

As a  teacher, we see the classroom as a series of lessons that we have worked to create in order to transfer information to our students.  The lesson is designed with information via lecture, activities, and assessments to make sure that our goals are being met.  These actions, combined, are what we can call instructional design. 

Instructional design is our ability to plan out what we want students to learn and how we want it to be learned.  Within the goals of instructional design it requires that the user do a lot of evaluation.  It is important that goals are developed, the need of the learner is evaluated, strategies are outlined for how those learners will be reached, and after the teaching has taken place evaluate if the goals were met through assessment.

Instructional design lends itself to the systematic approach.  When taking a system based approach to designing instruction, it helps the designer to be more efficient and effective with the instruction that will be provided to the student.  This means that the designer, many times the teacher, need to take part in a series of steps.  The teacher will identifying the objectives and goals before writing the lesson, develop the information that is to be presented, create activities to enhance learning, decide what materials will be used, then present the information, and finally assess or evaluate what students learned or how the instruction went for potential future revision.

It is important that when taking part in instructional design that the student is the focus, the instruction is designed to be goal or objective based, the real-world has been taken into consideration, and that outcomes can be measured through some for of assessment.  Instructional design has some basic steps that must happen: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Start by analyzing your class for the type of learner, what do you want to accomplish, and any roadblocks that could come about.  Next design how the information will be presented when it comes to content, presentation, activities, and assessments.  The development phase is where the materials and activities themselves are decided upon and prepared for usage.  Implementation of the instruction is the execution of what was prepared during development.  Once implementation is complete then evaluation is necessary to discover if students have met the objectives and goals that were established.

Instructional design really has the student at the center of its basis.  It is important that teachers engaging in instructional design start by setting goals and objectives for the students before just jumping into a lesson.  The end result is always student performance, so it is important to have a detailed plan for how to help students reach the results we want. 

The Rainbow Connection...

Philosophies, Theories, and Literacy oh my...

These three topics are the foundations of understanding the importance of technology in the classroom.  I have come to realize that it doesn't matter if you are looking at global theories on education or IT based philosophies, they are all interrelated to the point where most have something in common.  What they all have in common is the importance of communication and the role that it plays in the lives of EVERYONE! 

Education is turning into a giant factory system, where our goal seems to be to provide the most efficient education with the greatest end result.  Standardized tests are the way that the government gauges how well the factories (schools) are turning out the products (students).  This systematic approach to education has us looking at the loss of teacher control over the classroom creativity and bringing around the idea of teaching to the test.  Creativity in education, whether you take the progressive or reconstruction approach, is was what allows teachers to give students and wide variety of experiences and couple it with hands-on learning that will carry them into the "real world". 

One of the extremely important life skills that is becoming increasingly important is the idea that teachers need to introduce visual and media literacy into the classroom.  It used to be that literacy meant reading text, but with technology ever improving literacy no longer can be just isolated to text.  Technology has brought along the invention of television, movies, and the Internet to name a few.  We, as educators, need to help students to understand what digital literacy is and how to use analytical skills to read the symbols and images associated with this new type of literacy.  This brings us back to the way we educate students.  No longer can we stay rooted in conservative educational and IT philosophies, but we must embrace a changing attitude.

Visual Literacy...Shaping the Way we View Information

Visual literacy is the ability to see images and interpret the message they are trying to send.  Literacy to us, normally means reading , but literacy is changing from words on a page or words being shared to include more.  Messages no longer have to include text, we can look at pictures and symbols in order to decipher our information.It is an information transfer that is growing in its popularity today due to the increase in the importance of media.  Media comes to us through the television, radio, print, and now the Internet.  It has changed how information is transmitted. 

The media requires us to have a working knowledge of how to be visually literate.  We need to know how to read and decode symbols and pictures just as much as knowing about text.  Visual literacy is the actual decoding, but media literacy takes it to the next level.  Media literacy requires the reader to analyze for information and decipher the messages.  In order to be media literate it is important to take a critical eye and understand that our understanding makes a difference in the information that we receive.  Media literacy raises an even stronger argument for the importance of analytical skills and critical thinking skills.  Can we form our own opinion or are we easily swayed?

Digital and media literacy are becoming increasingly more important to bring into the classroom as we head into what Douglas Rushkoff called 'screen-agers'.  Teens today are more adept than ever at accessing technology and are exposed to more digital images than any other previous generation and it will only continue to increase for years to come.  Teachers must find a place in their classrooms to help students dissect the messages and increase their digital and media literacy.  In this digital age, we must help our student to be better prepared for what they will be exposed to outside of the classroom.  I see my role as helping students to expand on their life skills and digital and media literacy are crucial life skills the same as basic text literacy is.

The Education Factory

Frederick Taylor created an idea that essentially breaks down larger tasks into more manageable and smaller tasks with the idea of improving efficiency.  This idea created a simplified version of tasks that allowed for workers to specialize in one task versus learning to do it all.  By creating specialized workers, the worker was able to complete the task more quickly and with greater success thus improving the efficiency of the work being done.  Taylorism found its way into American factories, ie the Henry Ford and the assembly line, and revolutionized the workplace.  The issue with Taylorism became the repetition and worker boredom that resulted from keying on one specific task over a prolonged period of time. 

How did Taylorism find its way from the factory world to our classrooms?  Well it comes in the form of standardized testing.  While the tests themselves, may not necessarily fit Taylorism to a T, the process by which teachers prepare students for these tedious and government regulated/mandated tests is.  Take a test which is instant recall and factual based and break it down to show students how to find the correct answer or simply just have it memorized and you have a system that has been broken down into smaller tasks for efficient test taking.  Teachers are constantly under pressure to perform and turn out positive results, or face consequences.  This pressure results in teaching to the test.  When you must teach to the test, teachers break down the fastest and easiest way for students to find the correct answers while creativity, analysis, and inquiry are thrown out.  The government doesn't necessarily seem to be concerned with how creative, inventive, or hands-on the classroom, they are concerned with the numbers.  While the factory workers became bored with the monotony of their repetitive tasks, so do teachers, and eventually students will as well.  It is a shame to see so much emphasis in technology, differentiation, and experimentation, when achieving positive results on standardized tests loom over our heads.

Shopping for an IT Theory

"Learning becomes a bit like shopping" comes from the text Learning Theory: models, product and process by Mark K. Smith.  It really strikes me as important when talking about the theories of informational technology (IT).  Learning is a key component of the usage of IT.  When deciding what route to take when using this technology for educational purposes, it becomes important to shop around and see what learning can take place with what technologies. Theories will give us a plan or route to follow because theories are predictive or explanatory.  This is key in the shopping process.

There are four key IT theories that can be used for educational purposes.  They are Systems Theory, Communication Theory, Behaviorism, and Constructivism.

• Systems Theory has the user looking at organization and structure.  One way to view this would be like a factory system.  Everything serves a function in the system and continues along each way, step by step, but products only get made when the entire system functions correctly.  When something isn't working, then dysfunction occurs. Each item or event is identified and the the connections are identified.  This helps to explain how each piece works together to make one functioning unit.  This theory inserts itself into education by assisting in the development of problem-solving skills.  Identifying where the problem lies and seeing how it relates to the others allows learners to see the effect the problem has on the other involved parts in order to fix it.  This is an approach centered on looking at the whole picture and what it takes to make the system or the concept work due to the interacting pieces.
• Communication Theory is used to explain the process of communication.  Its real necessity is to provide feedback.  Starting with a sending and ending with the receiver, there is a specific process to relay necessary information between people.  Feedback is a crucial component of education in general  .  In education, we see communication coming primarily between teachers and students.  This communication can only happen when there is an overlap in the experiences of the teacher and students.  Feedback is then provided as control over the process from both the sender or the receiver.   
• Behaviorism explores the theory that we as teachers affect how students will act or react based on their conditioning to a certain situation.  These actions and reactions are measurable and is some instances obvious to the observer. For education this is very important because we as educators need to know or be able to recognize that with instruction comes mastery of information.  We find this out through assessment and reinforcement of positive behaviors related to mastery of those skills.  Much of behaviorisms success in its application comes from providing clear objectives and intended outcomes.  This is a crucial concept for any classroom's success.  
• Constructivism is a cognitive theory that centers on the learning process.  It requires not necessarily on the information being learned, but on what the learner already knows.  This means that educators are taking what students already know and apply it to knew information.  We, as educators, what students to take what they already know to develop new ideas and commit it to memory.  Constructivism is building blocks to create a foundation for learning and we continue to build new information on top of old information by creating links between old and new information.  This is a more active and engaging learning environment.  Students are in control of their learning process.  This is a hands-on environment that encourages active learning where students are problem-solving and engaged in creating their own learning process.  As an educator, it is important that a safe learning environment is created and not directly doing the teaching, but guiding the student in finding the answers on their own and learning how to analyze information that has been received.  

How should we use these thought to teach our students?  How do these IT theories relate to the theories of education?  Well, as you look at the connection it is important to look at what fits the best with each other.  In any educational theory communication is going to be essential, no matter the teaching style communication has to happen, even if it is introspective communication.  Behaviorism looks at skills mastery and the behaviors and positive reenforcement that must happen in order for learning to take place.  Constructivism seems to be a more progressive and reconstructist in its core ideas.  Constructivism is about constructing a foundation and then using experiences, experimentation, and analysis through a safe and engagement environment created and facilitated by the teacher.   The educational theories of Progressivism and Reconstructivism would support this student centered, problem-solving, higher order process and behaviors found in Behaviorism and Constructivism.  Building foundations and understanding how to reach a solution are a strong connection point between these concepts.  I can see a connection between the Systematic approach and Essentialism.  Essentialism is about teaching students core, intellectual based ideas through a systematic process.  There is a disciplined approach to how to teach that is clear and logical, which fits how any system functions.

Philosophies and Theories of Education

There are four general philosophical views that can be applied to the world of education.  These world views find very strong connections to educational philosophies.  Each world view has an educational counterpart derived from the core foundations.

• Idealism is the approach that centers on the truth and true reality.  It almost seems to be the idea of attaining the best or ideal part of a situation.  Idealist philosophies are most closely linked with the Perennialist philosophy in education.  It is about developing the individual learners ability.  Teaching using this philosophy  means using lecture, discussion, and discovering new knowledge.
• Realism examines the concept that reality and the human mind are independent of each other.  Realist education focuses on math and sciences using the development of our mastery of facts and basic skills.  This focus is also the focus of the education based Essentialism philosophy.  This type of education focuses on critical thinking, observation, and experimentation. 
• Pragmatism takes the approach that reality constantly changes.  Educators taking this path in education are focused on the Progressivism philosophy.  They believe that we learn best through applying our experiences and thoughts to problems.  Schools emphasizing this train of thought focus on subject matter of social experience, hands-on engagement, experimentation, and application of experiences.
• Existentialism relies on the individual and individual choice/standards are central to the choices that are made.  This would mean allowing more individual freedom and personal expression and choices in the classroom.  This existenialist attitude is where the Reconstructionism philosophy in education finds a connection.  Reconstructionism examines social questions and tries to create a better society and world through social reform.

Analyzing these ideas has me looking at these world views and wondering where I fit as an educator. I see my educational reality fitting in more of a pragmatist point of view.  I what my students to master information and to understand how to develop basic educational skills to a mastery level.  I also think that it is important to educate students on how to critically think, make observations, and experiment.  I think a lot of education is about teaching students how to master, but at the same time learn how to develop on their own.  At the same time, I think that pragmatism also finds itself in my philosophy on education.  Our personal experiences shape who we are and in many ways can become a huge learning opportunity.  As educators and learners, observing our surroundings and experimenting makes our education more personal and enriching.

As teaching has progressed over time, the emphasis on what is important seems to change and evolve.  History tends to move in trends.  Education can take the same approach.  Just as history goes through cycles and we see repetition, education does the same thing.  It is almost like education is a trend.  What is popular now may not be for the next generation.  Right now it seems that we could find a school that fits every one of these trains of thought; some being more popular than others.