SchoolFinder Blog

Quality Education: Technology

Way back during my teacher education I wrote a master’s thesis on technology. The basic conclusion was that technology was a tool, not a fix for education. Of course that should be obvious, yet even today we have schools, districts, foundations, and such pouring millions into putting technology into schools without enough consideration for who is going to use it.

I’m not against technology, obviously, but there has to be a lot of thought and consideration put into the teachers who use that technology. Teachers I know run the gamut from completely technologically illiterate to geeks in the best sense of the word. The problem is no teacher will ever use technology in the classroom just because it is there, at least not more than once. Technology has to improve the education that is going on in the classroom.

During my research on my paper I remember learning that in the fifties many people thought that films would replace teachers. We now know that showing a movie in the classroom usually means half the students are going to sleep. It doesn’t have to be that way, films can be a useful educational tool. I have even used film, and lately streaming video, to enhance lessons. It is just so much easier to schedule films for the day you have a substitute.

Not long after the advent of personal computers many people started thinking that technology would revolutionize education.  Many thought that it wouldn’t be long before a student could learn everything they needed to know from a computer. Today, you can learn anything you want to on the computer, much of it for free.

Even though you can learn everything you need to with technology, schools are still going strong. For some, many students even, education needs to be personal. Our children not only need to learn the three R’s, reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they also need to learn how to learn. They need to discover how to interact with peers, how to collaborate, share, and so much more that requires human interaction. It doesn’t matter how great the technology teachers will always be needed to, not exactly tailor education to the students, but create the environment best suited for learning.

So what role does technology play in education? Technology plays a big role in facilitating education; and it is increasing all the time.

Today, I am in Denver Colorado learning about The Pinnacle GradeBook. (A part of KUE Digital the parent company of GlobalScholar) Pinnacle is an amazing piece of software, developed by amazing people like Anthony Faulkner. A grade book of course is a red book teachers have been using for years to track student progress and determine if they have achieved mastery of the subjects being taught. The Pinnacle Gradebook does that, plus helps keep learning and teaching organized, plus allows teachers, administrators, students, and parents to track the students learning in almost real time, and so much more.

This technology doesn’t give information that couldn’t be learned using paper and pencil, but it does provide the information within seconds after entering grades. It gives this information fast enough and with hardly any effort that it can be used in the classroom on a daily basis to improve instruction.

The real test of the technology though is will it be used by teachers. In this case it is, in this case the use of Pinnacle GradeBook is as easy, if not easier to use than a paper and pencil grade book. Will it be used by teachers? Yes, it will. Will every teacher use GradeBook to it’s full extent? No, but each year they might want to add a bit more to what they used the year before.

When technology becomes a tool that teachers can and will use in the classroom. When technology increases the quality of education in the classroom. When technology is more of a help than a hindrance. That is when it becomes a part of the fabric of education in this country.