Virtual Reality. Thinking about virtual anything also creates an opportunity to think about what reality is. I just returned from a two-week trip with Habitat for Humanity, to a village called ChehbAl, about five hours in a four wheel drive vehicle from the nearest telephone, without electricity, hot water, medical care, and so many other things we take for granted. Families live in one room huts built of sticks with thatched roofs and mud floors. There are no toys in the village except a soccer ball and a hoop made of a loop of hose and a stick; there really is no need for them since boys go to the fields at age 5 and girls begin taking care of younger siblings at about the same age. There is a primary school, through grade 5, attended by those who can be spared occasionally from helping the family subsist. The classrooms are dark, and the materials consist of journals, pencils, and a few shared books. This is but one snapshot reality: another consists of an idyllic, lush tropical setting, surrounded by banana palms, mango, lemon, and orange trees, with log bridges over waterfalls of the river. As our truck pulls past a soccer field on the edge of the village, children and adults alike pour out of their homes and rush to greet us. We are welcomed by a marimba band and speeches in which the villagers, choked with emotion, thank us for coming to join them in efforts to build safer, sturdier homes for their families.
It is a society based on ayuda mutua: mutual aid, in which all help each other to survive and to improve their lives. There are no locks, no crime, no police, enough to eat, with the chickens, ducks, and pigs, corn, and fruit. Children crowd around eagerly as soon as we wake up in the morning, human sponges eager to learn a little English, a song, a dance, or just watch us go through our strange customs of brushing our teeth or taking photographs or recording a journal entry. The work is hard here: at 4:30 am, the gas generated molino grinds corn for the tortillas prepared for each meal, and the roosters provide the alarm clocks to get to the fields by 6. No time to ponder the meaning of life or where to go on the next vacation or whether a relationship is really meaningful or committed. Reality: idyllic, safe, ungoverned by clocks, mutually supportive, relentlessly unchanging, physically overwhelming.
In my brief visits to the school, the teachers and students are curious. What are schools like where I live? What is important? What do students need to know? How do you explain computer technology in a world without television and telephones? How do you explain teaching students to get along or creating reward systems for motivation in a village run by consensus, in a school where students lucky enough to attend share their learning with pride and appreciation?
Before I went on this trip, I felt fairly certain I had a grasp of some key ideas in implementing technological change in schools to benefit learners with special needs. My trip to the future has been changed substantially by the detour I took to experience a different reality. What are the trade-offs for this so-called primitive society as modernization and change take place? What has been gained, but also what is lost? What trade-offs are we faced with as our own technology changes our lives--and how do we decide what is important?
The most powerful part of the Guatemalan experience for me was the intensity of the connection between people, person to person, from different cultures, skills, abilities, interests, and experiences. How can we harness the potential technology gives us to focus on this most fundamental task: increasing the sense of connection of one person to another and the connection of learner to the excitement and empowerment of learning?
If you're thinking that there are easy answers to these questions within this article, you can stop reading here. If you're ready to leave your comfy spot on the beach and jump on a surfboard to head for the waves of change, I invite you to join me in some thoughts about classrooms, technology, and dealing with change in light of the questions presented above.
Three of the discoveries that have been consistent throughout the research conducted in Apples Classrooms of Tomorrow offer insights (Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer, 1991):
SRI Internationals case studies of schools deeply involved with restructuring and technology found that sites that were most successful in infusing technology were schools and projects that also devoted a good deal of effort to creating a schoolwide instructional vision--a consensus around instructional goals and a shared philosophy concerning the kinds of activities that would support those goals. In some cases preparing technology-savvy students was part of the schools original mission; in others, technology emerged over time as a means to achieve other goals, such as the acquisition of higher order thinking skills. What appears to be important is not the point at which technology becomes a part of the vision, but the coherence of the vision and the extent to which it is a unifying force among teachers (Means, Olson, & Singh, 1995).
For those of us who want to be successful change surfers in our schools, the following attitudes and behaviors seem critical (Hewlett-Packard Information Systems and Technology Group, 1995):
Two tools that are helpful in assessing both individual and school-wide readiness for restructuring for more student-centered, curriculum-rich experiential learning supported by technology are the Levels of Technology Implementation Survey (Moersch, 1995) and the Levels of Instructional Practices Survey (Moersch, 1994), Figures 1 and 2. You might think about the setting and people where you work or live. Where are you now, and where are you going? Where are you in relation to the people you must get along with?
As you think about what technology really means for you and your students, consider the experience of teachers and schools where technology has been a force for change and restructuring. Think about the changes and reforms going on in your school. Do they address the fundamental need of increasing the sense of connection of one person to another and the connection of learner to the excitement and empowerment of learning? To what degree do you and your colleagues have a shared vision of what school and classrooms should be like for students and families? What can you do to create opportunities to surf in a sea of change? Send me e-mail with your ideas, inspirations, and experiences, and lets continue the discussion!
Mary Male mmale@aol.com
Figure 1Levels of Technology Implementation
| ||
| 0 | Nonuse | Perceived lack of access to technology tools or lack of time to pursue implementation |
| 1 | Awareness | Use of computers is one step removed from classroom teachers (e.g., integrated learning system labs); computer applications have little or no relevance to teachers classroom program |
| 2 | Exploration | Technology tools supplement existing instructional program (games, simulations) |
| 3 | Infusion | Tools such as data bases, spreadsheets, graphing, desktop publishing, telecommunications augment instruction |
| 4 | Integration | Technology tools provide rich context for understanding concepts, themes, and processes. Multimedia, telecommunications, data bases, spreadsheets, word processing are perceived as tools to solve authentic problems. |
| 5 | Expansion | Technology access is extended beyond classroom. Teachers actively elicit technology applications and networking from businesses, government agencies, and universities to expand student experiences. |
| 6 | Refinement | Technology is perceived as a process, product, and tool to solve authentic problems related to real-world situation or issue. Technology is a seamless medium for information queries, problem solving and product development. |
Figure 2Levels of Instructional Practices
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| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |
| Learning Materials | Organized by the content; heavy reliance on text and sequential instructional materials | Emphasis on science kits; hands-on activities (e.g., AIMS, FOSS) | Determined by problem areas under study |
| Learning Activities | Traditional verbal activities; problem-solving activities | Emphasis on student's active role; problem solving activities with little or no context; verification labs via science kits | Emphasis on student activism and issues investigations and resolutions |
| Teaching Strategy | Expository Approach | Facilitator; resource person | Co-Learner/facilitator |
| Evaluation | Traditional evaluation practices including multiple choice, short answer and true-false questions | Multiple assessment strategies including performance tasks and open-ended and problem-based questions | Multiple assessment strategies integrated authentically throughout unit |
| Technology | Drill & practice, computer-based programs computer games, little connection between technology use and overall theme/topic | Technology integrated into isolated hands-on experiences | Expanded view of technology as a process, product and tool to find solutions to authentic problems, communicate results, and retrieve information |
Hewlett-Packard Information Systems and Technology Group (1995). Winners and Losers Research.
Means, B., Olson, K., & Singh, R. (1995). Beyond the classroom: Restructuring the classroom with technology. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(1), 69-72.
Moersch, C. (Fall,1994). Labs for learning: An experiential-based action model. A paper for the National Business Education Alliance.
Moersch, C. (1995). Levels of technology implementation (LoTi): A framework for measuring classroom technology use. Learning and Leading with Technology, 23,(3), 40-42.
Sandholtz, J., Ringstaff, C., & Dwyer, D. (1991). Research findings: Technology innovation and collegial interaction: ACOT Report #13. Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer, Inc.