Peter E. Pflaum, Synergy site

Peter E. Pflaum - Golden Globe -

The Synergy Network

Wiredbrain Pflaump@wiredbrain.com

From Technology Refusal to Technology Acceptance

JMcKenziejmckenzie@msmail.bham.wednet.edu

This article suggests ways for school districts

to address the serious obstacles to change outlined in Steven

Hobas'1993 piece, "Technology Refusal and the Organizational

Culture of Schools," one of the most illuminating essays Ihave

encountered in recent years. It stands squarely with Larry

Cuban's work in attempting to offer explanations for why it may

be that new technologies have proven to be "full of sound and

fury" but have actually made very little difference in the lives

or classrooms of teachers and students. It is a "must read" for

anyone working on technology planning for schools. Those with

access to Internet can find it with a Veronica search or

contactSteve at hhll@u.washington.edu.

Hobas sees technology refusal as a set of behaviors rootedin

the increasingly archaic purposes of schooling. "

They (schools)

are systems for preserving and transmitting information and

authority, for inculcating certain values and practices while

minimizing or eliminating others . . ." Technologies which

support these purposes (intercoms, overhead projectors, chalk

boards, CAI and ILSs) are welcomed and embraced while others are

shunned,isolated or bent to fit the outmoded purposes. Hobas

demonstrates that schools (and teachers) generally have a great

investment in maintaining the status quoand resisting change.

Those most inclined toward change are those most likely to leave

the profession. Many teachers begin their careers with idealism

only to find themselves transformed and socialized into the

waythings are "spozed to be." Transcendence is sacrificed.

Accommodations are made. Unlike Jack in the story of the bean

stalk, many teachers find themselves forced to trade magic beans

for sacred cows.

Typical approaches to the introduction of new technologies

do little to ignite the passions or harness the deeply held

beliefs of individual teachers. To the contrary, most schools

and districts act in ways that are likely to reinforce existing

behaviors, strengthen resistance and almost guarantee that the

new equipment remains peripheral. Equipment is virtually

"dropped" on classrooms and teachers with almost no investment in

human resource development. It is an arranged marriage.

There

is no love and no real consent. In most cases, the new equipment

arrives (as if from abroad) unable to speak the language (of

schools) and seemingly unaware of the customs and culture which

dictate so much of what may happen in schools. Teachers are

given almost no meaningful staff development which might develop

their technological prowess and savvy. Instead, they are usually

expected to teach themselves what to do with the new boxes or

they are offered skills-based courses which introduce them to

software functions but ignore the challenge of blending the

technology into the activities of classrooms.

Hobas paints a grim picture but ends with the hope that a

changing society may require a profound shift in schooling. For

those who would speed that shift, what are the most productive

strategies? How might we move from marginal adoption and

widespread refusal to broad -based technology acceptance?

Strategy One - Raise Standards, Clarify Purpose and Address "Soft

Technologies"A huge percentage of the technology-related products

and packages which have been aimed at the school market during

the past decade have lacked substance and value. While Hobas

might be correct in his analysis that refusalis rooted in archaic

purpose, I would maintain that much refusal is also rooted in

common sense and wisdom. When offered several hours a week of

mindless courseware in a lab setting, many teachers fold arms

overchests and become stubborn resisters.

They become impatient

with the tedium and the mediocrity of the experience. Before

long, the lab sits empty much of the day as teachers return to

"the tried and true." In elementary classrooms the same kinds of

programs become "sponges," activities to keep the students

occupied at the end of the morning when seatwork is

completed, mimicking the electronic babysitters so often employed

by parents at home.

Too often we buy the equipment without first clarifying

purpose. If we could just get enough computers into the hands

and classrooms of teachers, the reasoning goes,teachers will

discover great uses that will transform classrooms. If we could

just place enough machines on desktops or give each teacher a

computer to take home, they would see the value of technology and

embrace its potential, the argument continues. Unfortunately,

thediscovery process by itself is unlikely to transcend

thealready entrenched purposes of schooling unlesssomeone takes

the time to introduce teachers to activitieswhich are inspiring

and unless someone shows them how to launch the same kinds of

activities comfortably, capably and independently.

The desktop

machines too often sit quietly showing off screen savers (an

interesting ironic market niche) while the teacher teaches.

The

home machine is used for grades and lesson plans.

New technologies with enormous and radical potentials are

often "socialized" into the existing norms and practices of the

organization much like the new teachers described by Hobas.If we

would agree upon meaningful goals before acquiring equipment or

purchasing software, those goals might preclude unwise

investments, acting to screen out products and programs which are

unworthy. District technology plans, under this strategy, would

focus moreon learning than on equipment.

They would identify

ways that technologies empower learning.

They would tie the

selection of systems to the attainment of student outcomes."We

want our students to be good problem-solvers working in teams to

come up with inventive but practical proposals for change." "We

expect that our students will learn how to form reasonable

decisions based upon thorough research which includes global

communication."

Such goals would lead to considerations of technology as

well as pedagogy. We ask which tools, technologies and learning

strategies are most likely to produce the desired results. In

little time, we discover, as Hobas points out, that schools,

themselves, are a kind of technology, a delivery system, if you

will, to produce a type of citizen and employee who was expected

to adjust well to hierarchical controls, routines and

procedures. Memorization has ruled for decades. If we wish to

produce problem-solvers and decision-makers, we will radically

shift the purposes of schooling and must adjust all of the school

technologies accordingly to match this new set of goals."What

kinds of technology are most likely to enhance our students'

problem-solving and decision-making? "This question goes beyond

equipment, infrastructure and systems. Teacher behaviors are

part of the "soft technology" which is basic to schooling as we

know it.

Thus we find many observers suggesting that teachers must

shift from "sage on the stage to guide on the side." If we

neglect this "soft technology" we are unlikely to see much change

no matter how many machines we drop on classrooms and no matter

how ornately we connect up those machines in magical networks

which thread across the district, the nation and the world. "

The

Net opens the world to the classroom.""Why would you want to do

that?" After decades of perfecting virtual reality before it

became technologically fashionable, many schools see the advent

of the Internet and its rich information resources as more threat

and danger than opportunity. Textbooks and lectures have

carefully screened the more objectionable and controversial

aspects of reality out of history, science and literature.

Despite the pleas of national studies for mathematics and science

tied to life issues and problem solving, school learning is all

too often an exercise in detachment, abstraction and isolation.

The Internet offers projects such as Save the Beaches which send

students out to clean up beaches, collect garbage and bring it

back to school for analysis. Dozens ofparticipating schools in

this country, Chile, Spain and elsewhere share their data, their

questions and their hypotheses. And then the students seek out

policymakers.

The exercise leads to action. It may also breed

parent complaints. Nina Hansen, project inventor and

coordinator, shared a story one day of an irate parent

questioning the value of spending half a day on the beach.

The

science, the social studies and the mathematics lessons eluded

this parent who could not recognize them unless they were

presented within the confines of a rectangular space occupied by

rows of desks. Evidence mounts that the most dramatic benefits

from new technologies like telecommunications emerge when

teachers organize their classrooms around student

learning rather than teaching. This represents a dramatic shift

in the "soft technology" of many classrooms.

The teacher

orchestrates investigations and projects, helping students to

construct meaning and develop insight rather than ladling it out

with silver spoons.

The December issue of From Now On quotes

extensively from Marty and Jacqueline Brooks' 1993

ASCD publication, In Search of Understanding: the Case

for Constructivist Classrooms, noting, in particular, the

excellent list of teacher behaviors which characterize

constructivist classrooms.

These behaviors constitute the"soft

technology" and human infrastructure which will support optimal

use of new electronic information technologies. Note these four

of the dozen in particular:

1.Constructivist teachers encourage and acceptstudent autonomy

and initiative.

2.Constructivist teachers use raw data andprimary sources, along

with manipulative,interactive, and physical materials.

7.Constructivist teachers encourage student inquiry by asking

thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask

questions of each other.

12.Constructivist teachers nurture students'natural curiosity

(pp. 103-107, Brooks & Brooks, 1993)If a teacher has devoted

several decades to the development of "soft technology" or

instructional strategies which emphasize teacher control, teacher

expertise and teacher wisdom, constructivism is a radical

departure. How, then, does clarification of purpose lead to

technology acceptance rather than refusal? If new technologies

require such major shifts and adjustments in teacher patterns,

is it not likely that the refusal Hobas described will continue

well into the next century like an endless loop?

While I do not yet have "hard" data to validate my

hypothesis, I am banking on the following possibility to break

through the inertia, the stasis and the culture of smokestack

schooling: Dormant Idealism -

The original idealism and passion

which once inspired many of today's veteran teachers to join the

ranks has been suppressed but is not dead. This passion may be

available to fuel the dramatic shift Hobas mentions if teachers

come to see technologies and student centered classrooms as

offering something as magical and transcendent as the instincts

which first brought them to teaching. If they are fortunate to

work in a district which has embraced restructuring and

site-based decision-making, they may elect to shift the

"softtechnology" of their schools to dovetail with the

"hardtechnology."

The strategic question is how do we re-light

that fire?

Strategy Two - Personalize the Journey

We must offer teachers adult learning experiences

with the new technologies which excite them, appeal to

their deepest selves and model the kinds of learning we hope to

see developing as we move into the next century.

These adult

learning experiences must be, quite simply, inspirational."Ha!"

the doubters will cry. Staff development has such a poor track

record and technology training has been so skills-based for so

long that the cynics will have a field day with this entire

proposition. Even worse, the vast majority of teachers cannot

even complain about bad staff development because they are not

even afforded that luxury. Three recent staff development

experiences in this school district have rocked my whole

conception of technology refusal and acceptance. Fortunately,

the new insights which emerged are optimistic.

1) Peer Coaching -

The February '94 issue of From Now

On described a staff development strategy I call"Invitational

Immersion" which relies upon technology coaches to immerse

colleagues in successful units of study. This strategy has

allowed even relatively techno -phobic teachers to embrace new

technologies with confidence and comfort.

2) Information Rich Networks and the "Buddy System" - A networked

lab of 29 computers connected to a fileserver and a CD-ROM drive

serving out the Windows version of World Book's Multimedia

Information Finder has produced adult reactions which approach

Charley's joy in the chocolate factory. For many of the teachers

involved in these sessions, technology has been a once or twice a

week diversion for years now. A good number have felt little

passion or interest. Number Munchers and the Oregon Trail were

hardly inspirational. Suddenly they find themselves clicking on

dozens of high resolution maps or pictures.

They graze

through dozens of articles, conducting powerful word searches.

The room is filled with pleasurable noises. Everyone is

successful. Everyone is curious. Everyone is safe

and comfortable.

They are making meaning, producing a

rich information harvest. This particular electronic

encyclopedia is so user friendly, intuitive, graphic and powerful

that learning seems just like eating a hot fudge sundae. Up to

now, rich information harvesting was not offered up in many

networked lab situations, but suddenly the joys of making meaning

can be illustrated in very personal terms for teachers who might

never otherwise understand how technology might open new windows

to the world.

Unlike journeys on the Internet, this source offers many

of the comforts I critiqued in last month's article on "Rubber

Rooms." It makes a great introduction to the powers of new

technologies and it helps establish the value of considering a

shift in the school's "softtechnologies. "A particularly

effective part of this learning is the reliance upon a "buddy

system." When introducing groups to new technologies and new

programs, whether they be children or adults, I have relied

increasingly on pairs and teams sharing computers rather than

individuals working in isolation on their own machines. I

have found that this move dramatically increases the success

level of all groups and immediately communicates the

appropriateness of mutual support. Freed of isolation,

participants rely less upon the instructor and more upon each

other to resolve frustrations. Instead of leading the group

through extensive, linear-sequential exercises, I rely upon

instructional "bursts" of two or three minutes followed by "play

times" which set the groups free to explore. "Try everything on

this menu!" I encourage. Teams adjust pacing and experimentation

to fit personal needs, preferences and curiosity. Some dive for

the graphics. Others focus in on text searches.

The crucial

result? Passion.

3) Essential Questions On three consecutive afternoons I worked

with more than 20 secondary teachers in a course entitled "Power

Learning." Originally cancelled for inadequate enrollment, this

group was recruited by a few eager souls who had heard good

things about the winter session of the same course. What are the

chances that staff development might prove inspirational from

3:00 to 5:30 after a full day of working with high school

students? That's a pretty tall order. Even more challenging was

the focus upon numerical data. How sexy can that get?

The level

of focus and intensity shown by this group was amazing.

They

would settle down as teams working on their projects and the end

of class would suddenly arrive as a surprise.

They were absorbed

and immersed in their tasks to an extraordinary extent.

The

secret? I think it was the use of a single essential question

which made the power of spreadsheets and graphing

suddenly quite evident. While nearly everyone of them had at

least a passing previous relationship with spreadsheets, no one

had ever really shown them how they might be used to resolve a

challenging problem. Spreadsheets were previously seen as

calculators. During this workshop they became decoders and

meaning makers.

The essential question? "Your team is a world renowned

consulting firm hired to advise the minister of health of an

African nation on the five most powerful ways to reduce the

infant mortality rate of her/his nation. You will explore a vast

database drawn from World Bank data and test the power of

relationships between infant mortality and variables such as

rates of innoculation to see which variables deserve the greatest

attention. "

The teams brainstormed variables, posed hypotheses,

explored the electronic encyclopedia and then dove into the

immense database, cutting and pasting data into a spreadsheet and

beginning the generation of graphs. Easy as these first graphs

were to create, they soon discovered that powerful representation

of complex data requires artistry and design rather than simple

automation.

They sorted infant mortality rates in ascending

order for their comparison groups so the relationship with a

second variable would stand out more clearly. This ranking

supported generalizations. "Infant mortality is likely to rise

as the rate of innoculation against disease . . . "

They also

saw the effectiveness of showing infant mortality as a consistent

set of bars in contrast with the other variable as a line chart.

They were puzzled by the quest for meaning, challenged by

the question and motivated by making of meaning. It was a

constructivist classroom and they were inventors.

Conclusion

We may have come to the great divide in educational technology as

rich information sources suddenly become available and the

sounds of traffic on the electronic highway penetrate the walls

of schools. Even though technology refusal may have been rooted

as Hodas claims in the nature and purposes of schooling designed

for a different kind of society and economy, the technology

choices offered to teachers in the past and the failure to

provide appropriate adult learning opportunities may have

contributed dramatically to patterns of refusal. Our best hope

to pierce through patterns of refusal is to focus upon technology

applications which are worthy of our time and energy and capable

of inspiring fresh outlooks on the part of teachers. We must

combine high standards and purpose with adequate resources in

support of adult learning, providing staff development for

technology which includes attention to "soft technology" and

student centered learning. We must seek to engage the passions

and dormant idealism of teachers so the journey of change will

seem worthwhile.------------------------------------ BOTTOM

------------------------------------