Editorial Developing technology policies for effective classroom practice.docx

Editorial Developing technology policies for effective classroom practice.docx

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EditorialDevelopingtechnologypoliciesforeffectiveclassroompractice

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//www.citejournal.org/vol7/iss3/editorial/article1.cfm

Volume7,Issue3  （2007）   ISSN1528-5804

SubmitaFormalCommentary  DownloadPrint（PDF）Version

Bull,G.,Park,J.,Searson,M.,Thompson,A.,Mishra,P.,Koehler,M.J.,andKnezek,G.（2007）.Editorial:

Developingtechnologypoliciesforeffectiveclassroompractice.ContemporaryIssuesinTechnologyandTeacherEducation[Onlineserial],7（3）.Available:

http:

//www.citejournal.org/vol7/iss3/editorial/article1.cfm

Editorial:

DevelopingTechnologyPoliciesforEffectiveClassroomPractice

GlenBull,JohnPark,MichaelSearson,AnnThompson,PunyaMishra,MatthewJ.Koehler,andGeraldKnezek

Informationtechnologyhaschangedbothbusinessandsocietyinrecentyears.Justastheadventofelectronicmediashapedsocietyatthebeginningofthe20thcentury,thecapabilitiesoftheInternetarechangingourworldinthe21stcentury.Substantialeffortshavebeenmadetoensurethatschoolsarewovenintotheinfrastructureoftheweb.EveryschoolandvirtuallyeveryclassroomintheUnitedStateshavebeenconnectedtotheInternet.OthereffortssuchastheOneLaptopPerChildinitiative（seehttp:

//laptop.org）havebeenundertakentoextendthemeshofconnectionsworldwide.Despitetheseinvestments,schoolsarenotyetdemonstrablymoreeffective.

Themostrecentlarge-scalestudyoftechnologyinschools,sponsoredbytheU.S.DepartmentofEducationdidnotyieldastatisticallysignificantdifferenceforclassesusingselectedreadingandmathematicstechnologyapplications.Aguesteditorialinthepreviousissuediscussessomeoftheimplicationsofthefindings（Fitzeretal.,2007）.Theauthorsnotedthatthestudyprovides“avaluable,un-retouchedsnapshotofhowinstructionaltechnologyisusedinourschools”eventhoughitoffers“littleguidanceforresearchers,educators,developers,andpolicymakerswhowishtodevelopbetterwaystotakeadvantageofeducationalsoftware”（para.22）.

Thechallengeofusingtechnologyeffectivelyinschoolsisonethathasbeendescribedasa“wicked”problem（Rittel&Webber,1973）withincomplete,contradictory,andchangingrequirementscharacterizedbycomplexinterdependenciesamongalargenumberofcontextuallyboundvariables.Thewickedproblemsoftechnologyintegrationrequireustodevelopinnovativeandcreativewaysofconfrontingthiscomplexity.Researchindicatesthatsuchinnovationoccursbestattheintersectionofdisciplinesandthat“themorediversetheproblem-solvingpopulation,themorelikelyaproblemistobesolved”（Lakhani,2007）.

Ourgoalinthiseditorialistosetthestageforsuchinterdisciplinarycollaborationstotacklethewickedproblemoftechnologyintegrationinteaching.TheCITEJournalispublishedbyacoalitionofteachereducatorassociations[1],theNationalTechnologyLeadershipCoalition（NTLC）.Eachoftheparticipatingassociationsisindividuallycommittedtoadvancingeffectiveuseoftechnologyinschoolsand,thus,NTLCprovidesavenueforjoiningforcesacrossdiversedisciplines.Anannualleadershipretreat,theNationalTechnologyLeadershipSummit（NTLS）,convenesthisdiverseproblem-solvingpopulationtoconsiderthecriticalissuesfacingtheresearchandscholarlycommunityaroundtechnologyintegration.

ThenextmeetingoftheNTLS（theninth,henceNTLSIX）isscheduledforthisfall.Inthiseditorialwedescribekeythemestobediscussed. 

ThinkingAboutTPCK

Acriticalaspectofthinkingabouttechnologyintegrationisthediversityofdisciplines.Shulmanobservedthatcrucialaspectsofpedagogicalpracticeareuniquelyconnectedtospecificcontentareas,coiningtheterm“pedagogicalcontentknowledge”（Shulman,1986）.Extensionoftheconceptto“technologicalpedagogicalcontentknowledge”（TPCK）bringsmuch-neededrecognitionofthecentralroleofcontentandpedagogyinusesofeducationaltechnology–aroleoftenmissingindiscussionsuntilrecently（Mishra&Koehler,2006）.

AsMishraandKoehlerargued,realizingthepotentialofthetechnologyrequiresskillsandknowledgenotjustoftechnology,pedagogy,andcontentinisolationbutratherofallthreetakentogether.Teachingsuccessfullywithtechnologyrequirescontinuallycreating,maintaining,andre-establishingadynamicequilibriumamongallthreecomponents.

 Teachersconstantlynegotiateabalancebetweentechnology,pedagogy,andcontentinwaysappropriatetothespecificparametersofanever-changingeducationalcontext.Teachersconstructcurriculathroughanorganicprocessofiterativedesignandrefinement,negotiatingamongexistingconstraintstocreatecontingentconditionsforlearning.InparticulartheTPCKframeworkemphasizesthecriticalroleoftheteacherascurriculumdesigner—theawarenessthatteachersareactiveparticipantsinanyimplementationorinstructionalreformweseektoachieveand,thus,requireacertaindegreeofautonomyandpowerinmakingpedagogicaldecisions.

Thisemphasisontheinteractionamongthethreecomponentsimpliesthatcontent-neutralapproachestowardtechnologyintegrationwillnotsucceed.Researchonlearningshowsthateffectiveinstructionmustteachthestructureofadiscipline（Bransford,Brown,&Cocking,1999）.Thisisparticularlycriticalintoday’sincreasinglyglobalizedworldwheredeepunderstandingofsubjectmatter（particularlyinthedisciplinesofscience,mathematics,technology,andengineering）needstobedeveloped.Genericusesoftechnologythatdonotemphasizethedeepideasofadisciplinedonotleadtodeepconceptualunderstandings.

Anexampleofthisde-emphasisoncontentcanbeseenintherecentstudysponsoredbytheDepartmentofEducation（Dynarskietal.,2007）.Amajorityofapplicationsevaluatedinthisstudyweretutorialprograms—applicationsthatemploytechnologyasadeliverysystem.Thistypeofusemaynottakefulladvantageoftechnologytoaddressspecificaspectsofthenatureofthecontenttobecoveredandtheroleoftheteacherinrepresentingitinpedagogicallyappropriateways.Inotherwords,theseapplicationsrepresentaspecificapproachtouseoftechnologythatembedsatransmissionmodeloflearning.

ThisapproachisindirectcontrasttotheideasattheheartoftheTPCKframeworkandthebeliefsundergirdingtheestablishmentof NTLC—thatis,thattechnologyshouldbeintroducedinthecontextofcontentinstructionandthatteachersshouldtakeadvantageoftheuniquefeaturesoftechnologytoteachcontentinwaystheyotherwisecouldnot（Garofaloetal.,2000）.Ifthepedagogicalcontentknowledgerequiredforeachdisciplinediffers,itfollowsthatthewaysinwhichtechnologymightbestbeusedforeachdisciplinemayalsodiffer.

Thethreefoldframeforthinkingabouttechnologyintegration（T,P,&C）canbedevelopedinmultipleways（Figure1）.Forinstance,onecouldfocusonPedagogy,andseehowitinteractswithTechnologyandContent.Alternatively,onecouldfocusononecontentarea,andseehowPedagogyandTechnologycanbebestutilizedtodevelopstudentunderstandingofcorecontentideas.

Figure1.TheTPCKframework.

Inthisinitialexplorationweexaminethethirdpossibilityofconsideringtheaffordances（andconstraints）imposedbyoneparticulartechnologyanditsinteractionwithcontentareasandpedagogicalgoals.Wedothiswithasensitivitytothelimitationsinherentinsuchanapproach,butalsowithanunderstandingthatidentifyingpotentiallypromisingmodelsandempiricallyassessingtheirefficacyinclassroomuseposesignificantchallenges.

Teachersneedtoknowwhichtechnologiescanbecombinedwithappropriateconceptsinspecificcontentareas.Ourintentionistodevelopexampleswithineachofthecontentareas,focusingfirstonasinglepervasivetechnologicalapplication.ThedifferentusesoftechnologytoaddressdifferentpedagogicalgoalswithineachcontentareamayhelpclarifytheusefulnessofTPCKasanorganizationalframework. 

IntheforthcomingNTLSmeeting,wehavechosentofocusondigitalvideoasacontextforfurtherfleshingouttheTPCKorganizationalframework.Thiswillconstitutethesecondmajorstrandofthemeeting.DigitalvideoispermeatingeveryfacetoftheWeb,fromuser-contributedvideosonYouTube（）totheshortvideoclipsnowfrequentlyaccompanyingstoriesontheNewYorkTimesandWashingtonPostWebsites.Hence,itseemsanappropriatefocusforourworkindevelopingillustrationsofTPCKandforconsiderationatNTLSIX.

ImplicationsofTPCKforDigitalVideo

TherearetodayanumberofeducationalvideositesmodeledoncommercialorpublicWeb2.0technologiessuchasYouTube.Thesesitesoftenarchive（witheasysearchcapabilities）videoclipsofeducatorstalking–essentiallyemployingtechnologyasaconduitforthetransmissionofinformation.Thereisundeniablevalueincapturingandsharingtheworld’smostcreativeteachers’discussionsoftheirfavoritesubjects.However,wearguethatlimitingtheuseofdigitalvideotothemeretransmissionofclassroomlecturesdoesnottakefulladvantageofthecapabilitiesofthemedium. 

Incontrast,webelievethatdigitalvideotechnologiesofferuniqueopportunities（throughinteractivityanduser-generatedcontent）torethinktheinstructionalparadigmparticularlytomatchtheneedsofthesubjecttobetaught.Thetechnologynowmakesitpossibletocapturecomputerdisplaystocreatescreencasts,combineimageswithstudentnarrationfordigitalstorytelling,andconstructdigitalanimationssuchasFlashmovies,amongotherpossibilities.Asaresultofemergenttechnologicaladvance