Using Technology as Our Teacher

Whiteboards are a great compliment to a class session. However, real student creation and learning comes when students are learning and teachers act as facilitators. The interactive whiteboard still lets the teacher remain the giver of knowledge.

Public School Teacher of NJ 1:26PM September 12, 2009

Mr Zuckerman is missing the main problem. No matter what great techniques we come up with for education, nothing will work if the student is not in class. Nothing will succeed without personal resposiblility. We cannot hold education responsible for society's problems. Thanks, Don Parkin

Don Parkin of WY 7:26PM September 03, 2009

As mentioned in the post above..."; the monitor would be connected to a school server that contains virtually all of the lessons for every subject taught in the school, from kindergarten through 12th grade."

This was the reasoning behind EPEE Software for Teachers. Schools and or Districts can use EPEE to become their own Curriculum Providers in place of paying IT expenses and annual fees to outside sources.

What is to be gained from outside expensive curriculum systems that claim their analytical systems justify the expense? I think it is obvious. No school or school district will be able to justify the hiring of several people to sit in a room all year doing nothing until the student assessment testing is complete. Without the assessment data, there is nothing to analyze. Also, not many people would want a job that lasts one week at the most and you cannot start a business on that. But if you can convince your customers that day to day data collection and monitoring is absolutely necessary, now you have a business.

You will need to convince educators only as the public will follow. I think throwing around words such as; accountability, assessments and a few new ones like mapping should do it. Don’t be silly, that will not do it. The business model here would require the following. 1. Get the pubic to want it. 2. Get the teachers to want it. 3. Add a component that brings in the money. 4. Make it a subscription so the money comes in forever.

How to get the public to want it? Really you only need the teachers to accept it and the public will follow. How do you hook the teachers? Provide the curriculum. Up until now, teachers had to write their own lesson plans, develop and maintain their own curriculum. How many teachers will prefer to do it the old way? Once you have the teachers, just throw around that “accountability” word and the public will follow. “Mapping” is a good one, but no one really knows exactly what that is and certainly no mathematician will put his or her reputation on the line to validate the effectiveness of the idea as it relates to student achievement. Nevertheless “mapping/data analysis” is number three as listed above; the component that brings in the money. Number four is what it is. I keep everything on my web based system and when you stop paying, I flip the switch off.

So how much will all this cost. The taxpayer will never really know but if you want a logical approach to the cost, follow this thought. IT accounts for 70% of the expenses in businesses today. You are not really getting anything more than you had when we started. You had teachers, curriculum and a system to help identify why students were not meeting academic goals. Take the cost of that, which is what you have been paying for with your taxes, and add 70%.

Anthony of PA 1:52AM September 02, 2009

I applaud Obama for providing millions in funding for education. His effort is unprecedented and welcome in tough times, although the strings attached are misguided. As a teacher with 25 years experience, I agree that good teachers are key in providing good education. I also believe online resources can eventually help teachers share some of the burden of preparation and that is actually happening already.

Mort asks two questions that he doesn't answer (but perhaps the book does?). How do we identify good teachers and how do we improve less accomplished teachers? He also makes some assumptions that many business-oriented people make.

In the business world, teleconferencing is a wonderful tool that saves time and money by connecting fresh ideas across distances without travel costs. These employees are highly motivated to participate or they would not be in the conference. This is not the case in classrooms. Joe's point about teachers and students being individuals is important. Good teachers connect strongly with students, and while that can happen in online classes, it is not in every good teacher's skill set to do so. Students working online need tremendous self-motivation to keep with it and not wander off into internet distractions.

It's a beautiful businessman's dream that education becomes efficient, productive, and employability-focused at little or no cost to taxpayers. Unfortunately, educating kids is a sloppy business where the best teachers do not reach every kid every time and the best kids do not give great efforts every time. The funding is critical, deserved, and welcome, but the strings government and business want to attach are not research-based or well-considered.

Educator preparation programs across the country are committed to training teachers in innovative curricula and instructional methodologies integrating technology. Fund educator prep programs. State education departments and local districts are working to provide technology and training critical to Mort's vision. Fund thos entities in this quest. Fund education because we do know what we are doing. The systems for accountability (accreditation for schools, certification and evaluation for teachers, student assessments) are already in place. The systems for accrediting public k-12 schools are the weakest link in this chain. Focus reform on fine-tuning these systems and the metrics by which they are measured and stop blaming individual teacher and student performances for systemic lapses.

Tim Kopp of WA 3:08PM August 25, 2009