Education and Technology
Education and Technology: Reflections on Computing in Classrooms. Charles Fisher, David C. Dwyer, and Keith Yocan, editors. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1996.
I expected this book to be yet another set of glowing reports about how technology could enhance learning in our classrooms if we teachers would just learn how to use it. Instead, I found a thoughtful discussion of why the legitimate role of digital technology in teaching and learning remains unclear.
The contributors review the results of the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project, spanning the years 1985 to 1995. The project brought experts in digital technology together with several school districts to further the understanding of technology as a learning tool.
As expected, many of the authors emphasized how technology can contribute to the constructivist approach to learning—that is, computers, online systems, and multimedia can provide students the opportunities to construct meaning from their knowledge. However, the authors were careful to balance the importance of knowledge construction with the continued need for knowledge instruction (the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student). They reviewed the compatibility of both types of learning in the context of the technology-oriented classrooms.
In what I consider the best section of the book, Kristina Hooper Woolsey distills her truths about classrooms and technology in poetry and in a list of statements that she labels "intuitions." Among her intuitions are, "Teachers offer the main opportunity for success" and "Most great education takes place without computers, and is not very costly." I found her observations about teaching, learning, and technology a refreshing change from the bandwagon approaches writers often employ to sell technology to unsuspecting buyers.
The major theme of this book highlights what should be obvious to all of us: Technology alone cannot improve teaching and learning. If it is to be effective, "technology use must be grounded firmly in curriculum goals, incorporated in sound instructional process, and deeply integrated with subject-matter content."
Published by Jossey-Bass Inc., 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, CA 94104. Price: $35.
—Reviewed by Brian Bottge, District 742 Schools, St. Cloud, Minnesota.
