Standards and Technology: Are They a Good Fit?

Many things go together-sweet and sour, black and white, even hot and cold. But does technology, as it is currently presented, fit well with into Indiana’s academic standards? Technology has many definitions and many faces. It can be as simple as using a calculator to check division problems in math class or as complex as holding a multi-classroom webcast spanning three different continents to compare literature. How technology is interpreted or integrated by teachers in classroom settings is directly influenced by how technology is presented in the standards. Teachers feel overwhelmed by the mandates of No Child Left Behind, and as a result, are not going to add any extras to their curriculum unless they are required. Because of this approach by many teachers, technology is not readily added to many classrooms on a regular basis. Technology use is limited to general, easy-to-use applications that require little to no preparation on the teachers’ part or higher-level thinking on the students’ part. Schools must change the way they approach technology integration and education if they are to offer students the chance to be competent, productive employees who can compete in a global job market. States can change the way technology education is viewed by amending their standards to include more use standards and use standards that promote higher-level problem solving opportunities, along with the additional teacher training and ultimately, more funding to provide up-to-date, functioning technology for schools to use.
Technology congruence with the Indiana standards is in the eye of the beholder. Many teachers see no problem with the way technology is written into the standards. They feel so much pressure to cover all of the standards presented on the state assessment they have reservations about adding more to their curriculum. Adding more technology use adds to this pressure. Many educators do not feel comfortable using technology at higher levels. They are comfortable with basic word processing and e-mailing, most using these simple applications on a daily basis. They do not feel comfortable using these applications with their classes. Many do not have experience leading others through the use of technology, and as a result, do not feel comfortable handle issues and problems in a technology classroom setting. Because of this reluctance to use basic technology with their classes, they do not see a problem with the way technology is integrated into the academic standards . As a technology teacher, I feel that there is a problem with the way technology is integrated into the Indiana standards. When one looks at what current business asks of its’ employees, our standards do not come close to preparing students for the demands of employment. Many business leaders are reaching out to educators, offering helpful suggestions to lead the discussion on how to better prepare students to be successful, productive employees. The demands of the twenty-first century have changed the way we should be preparing students; education, school environments and standards have not adjusted to this change. Our current educational system is still programmed to produce workers with basic skills that are capable of working in a mass production setting, such as a factory assembly-line. This is no longer a viable option for most workers in the United States, or an educational option for our schools. Until federal and state governments recognize this as an issue, I do not think the standards will offer the technology integration they should.
Figure 2When looking at the Indiana standards and technology integration, I feel several areas are lacking. Figure 2 The core standard with the most technology references is language arts, with roughly thirty eight technology references, all being technology use standards, in kindergarten through twelfth grade standards. This is surprising and somewhat disappointing, considering that many times the use is not higher level, but basic word processing and presentation-oriented. The next highest number of technology use standards is in the mathematics standards, with twelve technology use standards. The third highest number of technology use standards is in science, with five use standards. Science is second on the list of technology references, with twenty four references. It is disappointing that even though science has a sub-heading with the word technology in it, there are not more technology use standards integrated with the science standards. Social studies is last on the technology use list, with three standards that require using technology. Social studies has eighteen standards that reference technology, which places it higher than mathematics in the reference category.
The definition of literacy has changed dramatically over the past few years, and continues to change before our very eyes, “For the first time in history, our job, as educators, is to prepare our students for a future that we cannot clearly describe.” (Warlick, 2004, p. 15) Many of our students spend the majority of their time now dealing with information, whether it is in the form of music, video games or Internet. We as teachers must be willing and able to harness this new information age and use it to provide students with the tools they need to succeed in school and in life, “Many children bring experiences from outside the class, which are technologically rich, into classrooms which are poorly configured with regard to social and collaborative technologies. Such conditions create what some call a digital disconnect,” in Levin, Arafeh, Lenhart & Rainie’s study (as cited in Hanbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators, 2008). By incorporating technology use into our curriculum we are showing students familiar ways to handle unfamiliar information. By allowing students to manipulate data through a computer or a hand-held device, we are letting them use their strengths to complete the tasks we ask them to complete, not master a completely new style of learning to master the same tasks, “…perhaps the best thing we can teach our children now is how to teach themselves.” (Warlick, 2004, p. 11) This allows teachers to focus on content rather than on concept; the social studies class reading to and listening to their text on CD, or better yet, MP3 players. The teacher can focus on the material being presented, not the fact the several of the students have reading difficulties and cannot comprehend the text.
When teachers begin to utilize technology more efficiently, it will allow students to more thoroughly cover content and possible even cover more content. Teachers need to begin to think of technology “in place of” rather than technology “in addition to” their current curriculum. This will open up many more avenues for student learning and also make planning less of a chore and more enjoyable. Teachers that have tablet laptops with digital texts will be able to plan anywhere and add much more multi-media content to support the textual content being presented. This allows more flexibility in planning and also simplifies how and where teachers must plan, “…stop forcing teachers to work harder, and start helping them work smarter…” (Warlick, 2004, p. 13).
To solve these problems, states need to begin to recognize what skills students need. As I stated earlier, literacy is more than reading now. Students need to be able to read all types of documents, whether they are text or data, and interpret the documents and draw conclusions or make decisions based on what they have read. Using technology in classrooms will allow students to do this more efficiently. They will not only read the article, but will analyze the text using graphic organizers, post reflections on blogs and read and reflect on others’ blogs and compare what they read to their own work. This type of collaboration will offer insight into their work from others outside their education circle, helping to open up their world and allow them to understand things on a more global scale.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education should bring more technology into schools. This shift toward more product-oriented coursework will help open up opportunities for students. The federal government is taking this initiative very seriously, with congress creating a bi-partisan STEM caucus. The mission of this caucus is to promote STEM education in general, with emphasis on such issues as women and minorities, partnerships within science and math, student achievement and also educating others on the importance of STEM education. Along with the federal government, other organizations are showing interest in the STEM initiatives. Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center have joined together to produce Technology Counts, an annual report on the state of technology in education. Now in its eleventh edition, this report examines technology, including the STEM issues, technology access, use and capacity, science and math test scores, and technology policies or standards, with all data broken down by state. When looking at technology use in Indiana schools compared to other states, Indiana earned a C+ as its overall grade, scoring a B in access to technology, a B- in use of technology, a C in capacity to use technology.

Breaking down these categories further, the researchers looked at fourth and eighth grade access to computers, the number of students per instructional computer and the number of computers with high-speed Internet per student. When looking at technology use, the report included student technology standards, testing on technology, whether the state has established a virtual school and whether the stated offers computer-based testing. The third and final aspect included in the report is capacity to use technology. This included whether the state includes technology in its teacher standards, administration standards, and various licensing requirements. One thing that stands out in Indiana’s report is the data that shows classroom technology assistance. There are very few schools that have a dedicated technology teacher in-house to not only teach students but also act as a reference person for other faculty and staff. Many times this reference person serves in another capacity and happens to be “good at computers”. This data collected on a national scale is very similar to the data collected in my survey of one corporation and their technology use. There is not enough support for teachers to help increase their comfort level to a point where they are willing to integrate technology into their curriculum on an everyday basis. Couple this with the inability of many teachers to trouble-shoot technical problems with their equipment and a lack of working or available machines and I think this contributes more than anything to the reluctance of many teachers to use more technology. If more technology was made available and teachers were given the proper training, not only so they felt more comfortable using technology but also so they understand that technology use is not in addition to their current workload, but in place of some of their current workload, they would be more willing and able to add technology. Also, if more technology use was not only added to the standards, but also tested, teachers would feel pressure to add it to their curriculum and use it on a regular basis. When looking at technology standards verses traditional “core” standards, many states fail to cover all that needs to be covered. Only six states offer both integrated technology standards in addition to stand-alone technology standards. Sixteen states offer embedded technology standards only. Twenty six states offer stand alone technology standards. While this number is encouraging, I feel these states have not thought enough about how technology should be used after students learn it rather than just the fact it needs to be taught. Two states plus Washington DC have not added any technology to their standards. These numbers show the wide disparity in technology use in our schools across the country. Again, like many other areas, states are allowed too much freedom to decide what students learn or do not learn. While congress has taken the time to push the STEM issue closer to the forefront of education, they have not taken up the issue enough to mandate that schools add technology as permanent learning tool to their curriculum.
The solution to the issue of technology is a simple one with many complex parts. More technology must be added to our children’s education. Technology use and understanding must range from knowing what a computer is to what they are used for in a range of environments, from manufacturing to publishing or composition to space flight and beyond. There are many offerings on the table to help schools and teachers incorporate technology. The key is helping these same schools and teachers add to what hey are already offering without making technology just “one more thing on their plate.” There are many creative and easy ways to “mainstream” technology use into the classroom. Until teachers are offered the proper equipment and training, they are not going to be open to the true ease of use many younger teachers and students feel when it comes to technology.
Schools need to provide low pressure, meaningful training for teachers. They need to adequately staff their technology programs with qualified instructors who do not only teach students but also teach staff. Teachers have to not only feel comfortable using technology themselves, they need to have positive experiences in a controlled setting, possible even a team-teaching setting, in using technology with a class. They must have easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement suggestions to introduce technology into their lesson planning. Teachers also need simple standards checklists, such as Responsibility Matrix Form (Planning Learning: Developing Technology, 1995) that allow them to monitor technology use along with their other standards checklists.
States must adopt technology standards that allow for not only the understanding of technology evolution and influence, but also the require the use of technology in completing standards-based tasks. States must provide funding to support these standards and allow for gradual implementation, with a flexible, yet motivating time-line for schools to follow. They must also shift away from paper-pencil testing and toward online testing, offering students the chance to use a medium they are more comfortable with show what they know. Students will find education more meaningful once they have the proper tools.
When all these pieces come together, I feel that a large portion of the education puzzle will be solved, and many of the issues schools face today will become minor issues, if they do not go away completely. Not only will schools become more efficient at providing students what they need, but students will take a much more pro-active role in their education. This will require teachers to do less management and paperwork, and do ultimately what they desire to do most of all, teach.