Putting Ed Tech in Perspective (cont.)

Last winter, I had the opportunity to speak at the annual NJAIS conference for trustees. My presentation gave those in attendance an overview of how technology has shaped our schools. The presentation centered around several distinct themes.

During the course of this year, I'm using this space to re-visit some of those themes. The October 10th post reviewed how complicated the decision making process in schools is when confronted with technology questions.  In this post, I'll briefly examine another theme. It involves the fact that technological change in schools is intimidating to many, and for good reason.

There's this handy way of looking at technology users that has gained traction over the years. Users are either digital natives or digital immigrants. Marc Prensky coined the terms in his 2001 article, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants." This division refers to the fact that people born after 1980 entered a digital world. Others, alive and beyond childhood before 1980, are immigrants to this new digital world. Now one can argue about precise dates and relative definitions of a "digital world," but Prensky's basic point has many adherents.  There's a difference between those raised in a digital world, surrounded by hardware and software and those raised earlier in an analog world. The difference finds a neat parallel in language; it's the difference between one brought up speaking English and one who has learned English as a second language.
          This division between digital natives and immigrants is certainly not a school-specific issue, but Prensky himself, in that 2001 article, identified “Education” as the single biggest challenge facing the digital world.  Prensky understood the central place education holds in our society and he also saw a full generation of schooling defined by students who were digital natives and adults who were digital immigrants.  We're still in this challenging time, and may yet be in it for another 10-20 years.

I wrote an article in 2013 that was published online in T.H.E. Journal. The article was called "The Digital Resistors." It talked about why faculty in schools are resistant to technology changes.  The article relates some quotes I've heard from faculty: "I'm really not interested in learning much about my computer. Really, I just need it for e-mail and maybe to write something."  "I can't keep a grade book online. I'm more of a tactile person." "These passwords are driving me crazy. I'm just not doing anything that requires another password." "I'm not using my class Web page. I think writing the homework on the board and having students write it in their planners is still the best way to learn organization skills." 
           These quotes represent a faculty segment that exists in every school.  And please don't assume these teachers are not effective members of your faculty.  It's not necessarily the case. But they do create some serious disruptions because they often create more work for other people.  What's behind their lack of enthusiasm for technology-driven solutions? Generally, they're nervous about what they don't know. Just consider the language of technology. Gigabyte. External Hard Drive. RAM memory. Internet browser. 802.11 ac wireless protocol. CAT 5 fiber. Virtual desktop. Cloud-based integration across multiple OS platforms. For “non-techies,” it can seem like gibberish. 
        Teachers generally like being in control. It's a basic part of the skill set any teacher brings to the job. Over the last 20 years or so, many teachers have felt less in control. And to add to the anxiety, the rate of change seems to be accelerating. The theme we've arrived at: It's Intimidating.  For a great many faculty members, every technology change becomes one more thing to learn on top of the job they've always had to do.

Hour of Code

   For the past several years, Gill St. Bernard's School has been an active participant in the Hour of Code program. (It's a key part of Computer Science Education Week, December 9-15 this year.) The program is huge, and growing. Tens of millions of students in dozens of countries participate. And each year, participation grows by leaps and bounds. What's the attraction? Why are so many schools promoting the program?
   Computer Science as a fundamental academic course of study is late to the curricular canon. About a century ago, the Carnegie Foundation funded a prominent study that articulated the structure of the modern curriculum. English, History, Math, Science and Language were to be the key components. Computer Science, of course, was yet to be developed as an area of study. That would wait until computers were developed.
   Over the last decade or two, Computer Science has increasingly become part of students' studies though it often is not part of a graduation requirement for high school students. So conceivably, for a great many students, they might go through their schooling with no exposure to the computer programming that drives software. Given an awareness that computers are inextricably linked to virtually all areas of modern life, and given the fact that a great many jobs depend on computer literacy, the Hour of Code program was developed to insure that increasing numbers of students have at least minimal exposure to computer coding and the ways in which it powers computer behaviors.  The assumption is that through exposure, some will be inspired to learn more.

A certificate can be earned by completing an activity.

    To access the Hour of Code tutorials that teach students about coding, one begins at code.org. At the site, there are coding tutorials for students as young as kindergarteners.  Many of the tutorials are in object-oriented code programs like blockly which simply involve moving blocks that represent commands into a certain order to control movement.  A blockly editor would look like this:

The rectangular blocks on the right that say "move right," "move left," etc. will control the movement of BB-8 droid.

   Older students might use Hour of Code to get introduced to JavaScript, a coding language that looks more familiar to many observers. With JavaScript, coders write lines of code to command the actions of computer software. The Hour of Code site partnered with Khan Academy to offer the JavaScript tutorials.  Khan Academy also produced a short video to introduce learners to the exercise. It provides an excellent explanation as to why coding matters.

    During our Hour of Code week at GSB, students from all three divisions participated.  Jill Fedon ran the program for all lower school students K - 4 in the Cox computer lab.  Carrie Petkiewich did the same for middle school students in the Conover computer lab. In the upper school, a variety of approaches help insure widespread participation. Ninth grade students participated through their seminar classes. The library held an open Hour of Code session during meeting time. Computer Science, Statistics and other classes offered Hour of Code sessions during class times.  In short, GSB student participation in Hour of Code activities was widespread and well received.

    This year, for the first time, upper class Tech Team students volunteered to be peer assistants in the lower school Hour of Code sessions. During available times, upper school students would help Jill in answering questions and offering pointers to students K - 4.  Because of the Tech Team connection and because young children are always entertaining, I visited the Hour of Code classes for the lower school. Below, a gallery of photos from the week.