Remember When Colored Chaulk Was Going To Revolutionize Education?

Remember when colored chalk was going to revolutionize education?

You know, it was going to help engage students for 20th century learning.

Well, technology is the new "colored chalk" - and technology will have about the same success as colored chalk in transforming education. I call it, "computeritis". If it comes from a computer, its got to be right and got to be good. Not to mention, someone has got to sell you something before you can use it. Do you see why everyone is pushing technology - not to mention that it is easier to spend some money and wait 4 years and spend some more money than to begin addressing some real issues in education.

I've been tagged as the "technology" person on the Rock Hill School board - but at our recent retreat, I rated technology very low. Why?

Because it is a tool, not a transformation. That doesn't mean I don't push for technology, for teachers access to the Internet and simple things like having a telephone in their classroom. It is not so much about technology, as treating teachers like professionals and making all the tools available for them to use. After all, they are the education experts in the school district.

So, what did I pick as number one? Relationships. Relationships between a teacher and their student. Relationships between a school and the community. Relationships to build life long learning and confidence to do the hard work. Is it easy? Absolutely not. Does it use technology? Probably, and most of the other tools at our disposal. Is it new? No. It is the same as when everybody was talking about "colored chalk". Just a lot more harder to do now.

This is an interesting post from The US News & World Report. I'm amazed that these guys think the problems they've identified can be solved by technology. Read below:

Executives, Policymakers Want More Technology in Classrooms

Hear what CEOs and politicians feel the future holds for students.

By Brian Burnsed

Posted December 3, 2010

No matter their overarching ideological differences, prominent CEOs, state politicians, and noteworthy political figures found common ground when they gathered in Washington this week to discuss the state of the nation's educational system at a summit held by theFoundation for Excellence in Education, a group founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. 

That common ground? Technology. 

Whether it's near-ubiquitous devices such as smartphones and iPads or social media meccas like Twitter, technology that has been developed within the past five years is woven into nearly everyone's daily life. Yet the American school system has been left behind, educational policymakers point out. "It's interesting to me that technology has actually transformed how we interact together socially. It has transformed how we do business, but technology has yet to transform how we provide education," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said at the Dec. 1 summit. "We could do simple stuff like eliminate art and music and cut days out of the school year…eliminate sports and band. [These are] simple things to do, none of which are good for children. Or we could think about how we're going to become more productive, [and] how we'll become more efficient using technology." 

[See how iPads are making their way into M.B.A. classrooms.] 

William Simon, CEO of the U.S. division of Wal-Mart, America's largest employer, and Edward Rust, the top executive at insurance company State Farm, both indicated at the conference that they're unsatisfied with the state of the incoming workforce, citing young workers' general inability to efficiently use critical thinking skills and to adapt to the ever-changing technology that surrounds them on the job. Rust noted that 60 percent of applicants looking to join State Farm are unable to pass a basic entrance exam that focuses on the fundamentals of math and critical thinking. Wal-Mart has already responded to this problem by offering employees a chance to sharpen their mind and earn college credit at a discounted rate via American Public University, an online school. "We can't even imagine what education or technology will be like in 10 years," said Simon. "Students need to be not only trained in that, but they need to be taught how to learn." 

[Read more about Wal-Mart's partnership with APU.] 

Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman of Boston Properties and editor-in-chief of U.S.News & World Report, and Kathleen Shanahan, chief executive of construction firm WRSCompass, both cited technology's ability to make the world smaller as an asset for schools. Rather than being confined to their classrooms, the best teachers should be able to use the Internet and portable electronic devices to teach students thousands of miles away. The executives believe that such a change would allow schools to cut substandard teachers and offer greater financial incentive to the best ones, who would reach more students than ever before. "We need to go digital," Shanahan said. "We need to blow up these textbooks. We need to have teachers from all over teaching children to the best of their capacity." Zuckerman concurs: "If we can find a way to get the best teachers and the great teachers using technology to spread their capacity and their talents and their teaching skills to more and more schools I think we have a chance to [make significant improvements]," he said.

 [Read Zuckerman's take on American jobs.] 

Duncan and the panel of CEOs did admit that while technology grows exponentially, adoption of it in classrooms has been sluggish by comparison. They pointed to a few pockets of innovation, such as the experimental program School of One, which is run by New York City's department of education. At these schools, teachers have access to data that highlight their students' strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis, allowing them to cater custom lesson plans and homework to the needs of students on the individual level. The innovative approach would be impossible without the heightened presence of technology in the classroom according to Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City schools. While School of One's methods are unique, policymakers are confident they will be commonplace if schools are open to drastic change. "Five years from now education is going to look very, very different," Duncan said. "Paper is going to disappear. I think we're on the cusp of that." 

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