An experiment in which students and teachers were all given computers, curriculum materials, and wireless Internet access 24/7 would have little impact if the teachers were resistant, the equipment/media was poor, and the costs to maintain it were high.
While being given all of these materials sounds amazing, I can see a project like this being unsuccessful if teachers are not provided adequate training on how to use the materials effectively. When new things are just thrown at teachers without support as to how to use it, many teachers become resistant because they feel it is “one more thing” they’re expected to do. I witnessed similar resistance at my school, when all math teachers in the district were given iPads in a grant from PROMS/E. Some teachers felt they were being given “one more thing” they HAD to use and do.
Another reason I see a project like this not being effective is if the instructional media is not up to par. For example, if all it does is provide a book on a computer that students already have in hand, it is not providing anything more than what they already have. It’s like when television programs were unsuccessful as educational tools because all they did was simply put a teacher on TV.
Furthermore, a project like this may be unsuccessful if the cost to maintain/repair the equipment is high and if money is not allotted for these tasks. If something happens to a teacher or student’s computer and there are no means for maintenance, you can no longer make this the only form of instruction. In addition, what if there are troubleshooting issues and someone is unable to access information while their computer is being fixed?
A project like this has great potential for having a large effect on instructional practices. However, it does have its limitations.
In order to limit the factors that make a project like the one mentioned above (teachers and students given 24/7 use of laptops, curriculum materials and Internet access) less effective, there needs to be proper training and discussions for teachers, designs for implementing the project need to be tested, and the design needs to accommodate the interactive capabilities.
Teachers need to be provided proper training in a project like this so that they know what is expected of them. In addition, they need to be provided examples of effective uses of the media and time to put these plans into action. As this chapter stated, “…effective use of media for instructional purposes requires careful instructional planning.” Furthermore, many teachers are looking for ways to make their lessons authentic. Thus, they need to be shown how to create these real-world experiences using the technology. Finally, to make to tool even more effective, teachers need to be shown how to use it as an interactive tool between student and teacher, teacher and teacher, student and student, and student and content. It would also be helpful to discuss ideas for the project with teachers before throwing it at them. Many teachers become resistant if they are told to do something rather than being a part of the implementation process.
I think it would also be useful to test designs for the project before implementing it. It can be a sort of formative evaluation. Allowing people to try out first in order to work out the kinks, will help to make a huge transition like this go more smoothly.
Finally, the last way to make a project like this effective is to make sure to use new instructional design models to accommodate the interactive capabilities. One thing that makes technology so great today is how interactive it is. Teachers and students need to be shown how to use it this way in order for a project like this to be successful.
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