Dominguez - Distance-educator article summary - Virtual Schools

Education Next
Winter 2009 / Vol.9, No. 1
http://educationnext.org/virtual-schools/

Virtual Schools
Will education technology change the role of the teacher and the nature of learning?
By John Chubb, Terry Moe and Larry Cuban

Presented in a Q&A forum format, this article looks at the effect of old-school politics on the current changes technology is presenting to the classroom. In order to succeed, technology will have to transform not only education but the politics involved as well. This article also serves as a commercial for Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education the new book by John Chubb of Edison Schools and Stanford University political scientist Terry Moe. Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University and author of Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom, offers a different perspective to the article.

The panel begins looking at how technical innovations have changed the classroom. Mr. Cuban (LC) offers that while new technologies are eventually deployed in the classroom, adoption and use by educators often lags considerably. John Chubb (JC) and Terry Moe (TM) suggest that the old one-way technologies, radio and TV, do not have the interactive elements that todays information technology possesses. I think we have to look to the classroom teachers in order to close the gap between deployment and integration of technology in the classroom. There needs to be effective day to day support in addition to extensive training and practice for these teachers.

When it comes to technology in the classroom, many educators make tiny changes so as to not disturb the status quo and challenge jobs. JC and TM believe, as do I, that this will not be enough to make effective strides in classroom technology with the competition, pressure and rapid change that is now part of our reality.

JC and TM suggest that technology in schools may end up winning by not disrupting the establishment and taking a proverbial side-door. Virtual schools may offer courses that are not available at local schools or cater to demographics that are currently underserved, thereby, not competing with them directly. I feel while this may be the case, it may only be for a short time. As virtual schools become more popular they may start to lure away students and resources.

Larry Cuban feels there is not enough evidence to suggest that technology will displace traditional teaching methods. The student-teacher relationship will continue to be the center of teaching and learning. Chubb and Moe believe schools of the future to be more of a hybrid of traditional and technological strategies. Here, I agree with everyone. While I feel that we have already begun to slowly move toward hybrid school settings (especially in higher ed) there is no substitution for human interaction and relationships. I see no reason why these can't remain at the center of learning even if they occur at a distance.

LC states that the most promising innovations in education so far have come on the administrative side with the digitization of student records. While having technology that can more easily identify struggling students and teachers there remain political obstacles to doing anything about them. In the classroom many teachers view technology as a burdensome add-on to their already full plate. JC and TM agree with the administrative / information innovations but also see technology as a powerful tool for differentiating instruction. Technology can be used for remedial purposes offering extra practice for students falling behind or acceleration and enrichment for advanced students.
Granted for a teacher to harness this type teaching power it would take much time and effort up front. It seems almost like having to learn an entirely new way of teaching, a prospect that can be understandably frightening.

In regards to the politics of adopting technology LC feels that it is still a top-down flow, from school board and superintendent down to the classroom level. He feels teachers and parents will continue to fight the "efficiency of technology" to continue with educations key role; to supply the economy with skilled graduates. JC and TM feel that teacher unions will continue to oppose technology, a threat to security and stability, in order to protect the jobs of their members. While both of these stances is plausible, I have to lean toward the side of JC and TM in believing that eventually something will give and that something will be the antiquated politics of traditional education. Technology has succeeded in permeating every part of our society and our classrooms will be no different.