Matt Richtel wrote the rearview mirror story of the last decade -- technology layered on top of how we've always done school yielding meager results, at least when measured in traditional ways. The story of this decade is that personal digital learning will change the world.
The Sunday feature in The New York Times did a disservice to the field. It's easy to make sweeping statements about the past and prop up critics. Richtel knows well the case for digital learning; he just chose to leave it out.
Where technology is designed in rather than layered on, it is transformational. When it creates entirely new learning opportunities, like the 4 million students learning online, it is transformational. When it enables schools that blend the best of online and onsite learning, it is transformational. Why would Matt look only at weak examples and skip the 40 blended models featured in the Innosight Report, "The Rise of Blended Learning"?
For two years, Gov. Bob Wise's Alliance for Excellent Education has been calling attention to the skill gap, the funding gap and the effective teacher gap. A July report stated, "The Alliance concludes that taking advantage of digital learning to expand opportunities and access for students, especially in rural and urban areas, is the only way to address these issues." The Alliance report goes on to outline 10 examples of smart uses of instructional technology. Why didn't Matt talk to Bob? Why didn't Matt talk to Susan Patrick from the online learning association?
Weak ROI on computers in schools is an old story, but the future will not look like the past. Hundreds of schools and pilot projects make the case for personal digital learning. More broadband, cheap access devices, new apps and powerful platforms are reshaping how people learn. Learning technology is reshaping the world by making education more personal and by creating more time and opportunity.
These benefits are evident today in schools like Carpe Diem and in networks like AdvancePath. The benefits are accelerating, and there's no going back. All new teachers grew up digital. Kids come to school wired. Many new learning apps are free and expanding virally. The "new normal" economy is demanding more knowledge and skill, but the fiscal crisis is demanding better outcomes for less money.
A look back is only of value if we learn from success stories as well as mistakes. Matt knows the story; he just left out the good parts: personal digital learning is transforming American public education and extending access to millions of students worldwide.
Follow Tom Vander Ark on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tvanderark
There are some excellent education bloggers elsewhere on here, but sometimes HP seems to be more interested in mouse-clicks than thoughtful, non-self-serving content.
With technology we are able to develop our teachers and provide them with a sustainable career, because we are enabling our teachers the chance to maximize classroom time for instruction, guided practice and extending critical thinking skills. Technology focuses on basic skills acquisition, independent practice, assessment and remediation/acceleration allowing for each student to have individualized learning. Through technology parents are updated on their students progress every eight weeks, shedding light on what eliminating the achievement gap really means for their community. In turn, this has empowered many parents to stand up to their community leaders and ask for every child to be given this educational opportunity.
We wanted to share a recent SRI study that shows positive impact of online math instruction on student achievement gains at Rocketship. The press release can be found here: http://goo.gl/s1PsQ and the report: http://goo.gl/5vyla. This study was conducted last year so that we could ensure that our Learning Lab is effective. This upcoming year we hope to continue to produce more positive reports showing the impact of a well balanced model that encompasses technology and teachers.
Richtel sets up a straw man with his classroom - packed with laptops, “big interactive screens,” kids blogging, compiling song lists, or using Facebook as tools to study Shakespeare. Richtel refers to it as the “Utopian vision” of some. But, it's test scores are stagnate. So this means the technology in schools discussion is overhyped and not as transformational as some would hope? ”Do we really need technology to learn,” he quotes someone at his article’s conclusion.
But who says his example is the one we are holding up as THE example? Who would call his class a Utopia? Who says that kids using Facebook to put together fake profiles of Shakespeare characters is the dream vision of a technology-saavy learning? Whether using crayons and construction paper or Facebook, a lesson Shakespeare can still suck.
Tom's quote sums it up: Where technology is designed in rather than layered on, it is transformational.
Read my extended retort if you have time. http://getting-schooled.tumblr.com/post/9870012111/are-teacher-bots-better-than-real-teachers.
Great rebuttal. Tom.