Tools are technologies that extend your biological abilities in some way. It’s not enough that you have the tool, but the situation must also be appropriate to the use of the tool. Further, the benefit derived is directly proportional to your skill and knowledge regarding the application of the tool in that situation.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the use of tools in the classroom, I keep seeing statements like, “After spending millions to install computers/internet in the classrooms, the district showed no improvement in test scores.” It’s not enough to have the computer. You need to use it for tasks that make sense and you need the skill and knowledge necessary to accomplish those tasks. And when it comes to computers — especially networked computers — this is a problem for teachers and students alike.
The major problem is one of knowledge. The more knowledge you have about a tool, the more likely it is that you’ll attempt to apply it appropriately. This is particularly true of basic tools because we make assumptions about our skill base on those tools — and unless you’ve engaged in some serious learning about a tool, your base assumptions are probably wrong.
Take email as an example. How does email work? What is it good for? How can it be applied in an educational setting? How could a learner use it? What are the various components and complexities of email? Despite the fact that all of you have used email, I doubt that most of you could answer these questions. That’s not a criticism, but an observation based on the very human situation that you use email like an appliance — like a toaster. You know enough to make it do what you want it to do, but you don’t really understand it well enough to think of ways you might use it differently.
Another problem is one of skill. Mastery of any tool comes only have the application of knowledge in an authentic situation. It’s not enough to know how to use the tool, you must actually use it to really gain mastery in its application. Again, in the statistics and research about the use of computers and networks in education, we repeatly see that the researchers neglect to consider the skill level of either the teacher or the student or both when drawing their conclusions about the efficacy of an application.
So in these next two units as we consider the various tools in our distance education toolbox, let’s keep asking the questions,
- How does it work?
- What is it good for?
- How much skill does it take?
- What else could we use it for?
September 11th, 2007 at 10:31 am
[...] For more on tools and distance education, see On Tools. [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
So, the problem with tools is if you’re not using them then there is no need for them. That makes since when teachers want to abuse Power Point and turn every lesson into a slide show. I struggled with that when I student taught. I overused Power Point and as a result I felt I was boring the students. I need to make better decisions on when to use technology in the future to avoid these problems.
September 13th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I think technology is just like anything else when we are teaching kids – you use anything enough, you lose their attention. Students in today’s schools require constant input to keep their attention. They are used to computers, video games, televisions, interactive cell phones, etc. that teachers are boring to them. I have to agree with Nancy above that PowerPoint has been run into the ground. The students don’t enjoy creating presentations anymore because of this. The joy of the technology has been over used. As teachers, we must try to ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen with all the new tools made available.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
[...] subject is the basic tool box but it might help to have a basic understanding of what tools are. On Tools. Tools are technologies that extend your biological abilities in some way. It’s not enough that [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
We have Smartboards we can check out in our school and many of the classrooms have airliners. I find that because I don’t have either in my classroom I use it very little. When I do use it I always forget how to set it up and I have to call and ask for help. Mastery of tools are important and I am curious to see how the new wind which all have airliners, will improve their test scores. I can’t see all those teachers using the tool like it should be used.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
We can’t simply use a certain technology because it is available. We need to be certain that a particular technology is going to strengthen our lesson when we use it. If not, it may result in overusage and boredom among our students. The problem with most technology is that teachers and students alike lack the knowledge and skill to use them. We need to practice using new technologies in order to reach mastery. This is when we will find it most beneficial in our lessons. If we can use it appropriately, we can teach students about it. If we can’t use it appropriately, our students are not likely to learn from it.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Thanks for the clarification on tools! I’ve always wondered why one is so quick to blame statistics on the technology itself. If it’s not being used, how does one expect it to be a useful tool?
September 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
It seems to be that time and money is spent to get us tools, but then no money or effort it spent to teach us how to use the tools. Most teachers will not jump in with both feet and learn on their own to use a new tool, especially those that are already afraid of technology. My district received several iMac and eMac computers through KY Dataseam and the district purchased several more. The problem with this tool is that we had training on how to use them one evening after school, and during the training most of the computers were not working. That was the only day of training that we had and it was not enough for all teachers to effectively use them in their classrooms. We still have teachers that cannot find Microsoft Office on the Macs, let alone use them in the right way. I am not sure why districts get us these tools and then do not ensure that we learn how to use them efficiently. Have we asked for more training? Yes. Have we gotten more training? No. The concensus among the teachers is that they hate Mac computers. There is nothing wrong with the computers, I have learned to use them on my own and they are great. Most people will not take the time to learn to use a new tool on their own. Mastery is needed so the tools are being used to their potential.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
A lot of the modern tools we use are tech for techs sake, without much thought for the potential application of said tools. We have smartboards in every room in our school, as a UDL school, but the teachers rarely use them for much more than a whiteboard. Today a teacher actually went beyond that for a couple of minutes and pulled out a map from the database that went along with the discussion, on the fly, but beyond that, its all just another whiteboard to most.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I made a discovery about technology and tools in the school district where I teach, this summer. I had a class that required that I research the available technology in the district. I was amazed at the number of people that I had to contact before I could obtain the information that I needed. Once I found the information, I was even more surprised at the tools that were available I was not aware of. So, not only had I never been trained to use the technology, but I had never even been informed of the tools that I could use. I think that the major problem is not the availability of tools, just the information we are given.