Flickering Mind Indeed

There was much that resonated for me while I read through the first third of Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind (2003). Much of the time I found myself having to reread sections because my own flickering mind had wandered off from the book to think about my own experiences. 1985 in high school typing on an early word-processing program. 2003 as a first year teacher at Sherman Elementary never once touching the computers in my classroom (there were only two, and I don't think they worked). Comparing my own current distance-learning experiences with the COMET program with situations that Oppenheimer described. My experience did not match his portrayal of the brilliant student Andrew Hunt having a rough go of it. Since Andrew's episode happened several years ago, perhaps distance-learning has improved greatly. Perhaps since I am in an Educational Technology program, the professors know what they are doing in regards to distance-learning. There are always many variables to consider, and the findings are often inconclusive. While I didn't agree with everything I've read so far, I always try to connect it to my own experiences. In the first section of his book, History of Technotopia, I fear some of what he describes in other districts will be doomed to repeat here in my own.

Oppenheimer describes how first film was going to be the magic teaching tool, then radio, then television, and now of course computers. He goes on to describe how Apple lobbied for tax rebates on donated computers and that everyone wanted to get computers into the classroom. Computers were going to fix education. Enormous amounts of money was spent, equipment was not used or flawed, teachers did not know how to use it, achievement was not improved. Computers did not fix anything, they were just another example of history repeating itself. Film, radio, TV, computers. But what he does not emphasize is the rate of advance of technology. He describes a class wasting much time searching the internet for information that could've been found in books. Of course, they were using pre-Google search engines. That makes a huge difference. His book is only six years old, but things improve so fast that some of what he writes about has lost some of its relevance.

But one thing that he talks about that has not changed is the expense of this equipment and determining whether or not it is worth it. The San Diego Unified School District has $2.1 billion from Prop. S, and a healthy chunk of it will be spent on technology.

Proposition “S” will wire classrooms for interactive learning and school campuses for WiFi. It will enable students to access lessons online. It will also help teachers and students interact directly. Proposition “S” will bring technology upgrades to every school in every neighborhood.

I have seen the roll-out plan and the lists of what each grade level will be getting -- smart boards, clickers, computers. Personally, I'm excited. But I can't help but notice that I haven't seen any kind of training plan for using any of it. I fear that a lot of this costly equipment will go unused. I also fear that this equipment will be used ineffectively. These are two big ideas from the first third of Oppenheimer's book: the technology is not cost effective and that sometimes it is used for it's own sake. Unwillingly, I find myself agreeing with him. Until teachers are taught how to use these tools in pedagogically sound ways, are we getting the most bang for our buck? Perhaps not.