Teachers, Ed Tech and A Reality Check: Notes From This Week’s Capitol Hill Forum

Given the speed with which technology is finding its way into classrooms, it’s worth taking a step back to make sure it’s being used well once it gets there. That was the theme at a forum on Capitol Hill this week, “Seizing Opportunity in the Digital Age: New Directions in Professional Learning,” hosted by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training. The event put a much-needed spotlight on the difficulties of incorporating technology effectively into classrooms, the importance of educator professional development, and how to use technology to supplement teacher instruction.

Wendy Drexler, Chief Innovation Officer for the International Society for Technology in Education, opened the discussion using a version of Politifact’s ‘Truth-O-Meter’ to analyze the validity of today’s common beliefs about education technology: “Technology in schools improves teaching and learning? Not true.” Drexler explained that technology’s benefits in education and classrooms only exist when used effectively.

The other panelists agreed — too often, they said, technology is supplied to schools without any training behind it. “Training and accountability needs to come from the top down,” explained Marnie Lewis, Instructional Technology Coordinator for Tuckahoe Elementary in Arlington Public Schools. Without requirements from superintendents and other members of leadership, she continued, there is no pressure on educators to learn how to incorporate iPads and other technology into their instruction. Lewis expressed the frustration and anxiety educators feel about allowing their students to use iPads for independent learning, noting fears of Facebook abuse and lost devices as key reservations.

Overall, according to Drexler, teacher education programs have not drastically changed over the last 20 years, unlike technology which dramatically changes from year to year. When technology is addressed in teacher-preparation programs, it tends to be in a separate course, isolated from content or subject matter, she said, and those courses don’t help prospective teachers learn how to incorporate technology into specific subjects they will be teaching, she said.

Drexler noted that the most requested form of professional development from educators is time. Teachers need time to connect with colleagues through platforms like online learning communities. One of the panelists, Arkansas Principal Daisy Dyer Duerr of St. Paul Schools, said she has started to address the issue in her school by offering professional development credits for participation in online education-related Twitter chats such as #kinderchat. These online platforms allow teachers to connect with educators near and far to improve their practice and integration of technology within their classrooms.

Still, even if teachers are trained in using technology, not all of their students will have access to the same options. The panel shared a significant concern about the relationship between access, equity, and technology, where access means more than computers in classrooms—it also means finding a way to connect both schools and their students with complete broadband access.

Duerr described the challenges of integrating technological infrastructure into a rural community and school district. In her district, only 10 percent of her students’ homes have Internet access; and though her school successfully obtained grants to purchase take-home tablets, the devices were unusable outside of school. “Of course we can’t say no when offered iPads,” Duerr said, but she explained that the district had struggled to match grant-funded devices with an improved technologicalinfrastructure. In her single-provider rural community, a 70 MB bandwidth increase would cost approximately $4,500—where it would only cost $500 for a similar upgrade in a neighboring community with more options in providers.

In more populous areas, educators and school leaders have found some creative solutions to help their students connect during non-school hours. Dr. Karen Couch, Superintendent of Kent County Public Schools in Rock Hall, MD, cited an after-school program she initiated that connects students with free Wi-Fi in local churches near the schools. Couch has arranged for seven churches to remain open for specified hours so that students can access the Internet and use their provided devices to complete their school work.

Notably, everyone on the panel shared a similar frustration with technology integration. From professional development, to funding, to infrastructure, every area needs improvement. Gone are the times when students were dropped off at computer labs for a parent volunteer to introduce “typing games,” Lewis said. Now students and educators are embarking on utilizing these tools in every subject and every aspect of their communications. As technology progresses, the panel concluded, educators and school leaders must find a way to synchronize the evolution of technology with the modernization of current classroom instruction, professional development, and outdated infrastructure.