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 Educator
Development
for ICT
Response to: Myths and Realities about Technology in K-12 Schools
The original article was written by Glenn M. Kleiman, The Center for Online Professional Education (COPE) at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). This article will appear in 'The Digital Classroom: How Technology is Changing the Way We Teach and Learn,' a book-length special report from the Harvard Education Letter featuring articles and essays on topics such as professional development, distance learning, the digital divide, special needs, using technology to teach science, math, reading and writing, and much more. Authors include Howard Gardner, Chris Dede, Margaret Riel, and Larry Cuban. Available April 2000 in paperback for $16.95. To order call 1-800-513-0763 or e-mail orders@edletter.org

The online document can be found at http://www.edc.org/LNT/news/Issue14/feature1.htm but click here for a local version.
Myth #1:  Putting computers into schools will directly improve learning; more computers will result in greater improvement.

Question(s) to answer:
What is learning?
What do we consider to be our main curriculum goals at this stage of educator development for ICT?
What is "appropriate software"?
Key idea(s):
"need for professional development, technical support...classroom management, and curriculum management"

Myth #2:  There are agreed-upon goals and "best practices" that define how computers should be used in K-12 classrooms.

Question(s) to answer:
How do we rank the various approaches in terms of our vision for educational ICT?
Key idea(s):
"educational goals must be clarified and that plans... must be developed to fit those goals."

Myth #3: Once teachers learn the basics of using a computer they are ready to put the technology to effective use.

Question(s) to answer:
What is your experiences of the suggested stages of technology introduction?
How long does the average teacher take to work through all five stages?
Key idea(s):
"significant changes are required in teaching practices, curriculum, and classroom organisation; that these changes take place over years..."
Comments:
By Steve Kessel (Course Co-ordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Learning Technologies, Curtin University of Technology, Australia)
"this myth was the prime motivation for what we're doing...  Knowing how to use the technology is NECESSARY but not SUFFICIENT...  thus we try to provide many, many examples of use in K-12 classes... "

Myth #4: The typical district technology plan is sufficient for putting technology to effective use

Question(s) to answer:
Key idea(s):
"technology be viewed as providing tools to  meet central educational goals, not as defining a new, separate set of goals."
Comments:
Look at the key concepts being taken into consideration in developing the Teacher Development Framework.

Myth #5: Equity can be achieved by ensuring that schools in poor communities have the same student-to-computer ratios as schools in wealthier communities.

Question(s) to answer:
Can there be real equity? Is the digital divide growing? How do we most effectively decrease the gap?"
Key idea(s):
"we need to examine all the essential conditions...not just the number of computers purchased."