The first text we looked at was “The Growth of Enterprise Pedagogy: How ICT policy is infected by neo-liberalism.” by Mark Brown (2005). This text was very eye opening as it contained many views for and against the increased technological use in school settings. Brown offers a critical perspective by questioning some of the basic assumptions about why ICT is so important in our classrooms.

Armstrong & Casement (1998) as cited by Brown (2005) claim that it is ’scandalous’ that so much money has been allocated for computers and internet access with so little evaulation. This comment brings about the steady rise in the number of people questioning te wisdom of the substansial investment in new technologies. ButI dont agree, i feel that investing so much into new technology can only beefit the education system as it allows access to so much more. Students can now have the opportunit to learn the beliefs and views of people all around the world; they have access to various forms of information that without the internet the would never get to use. Therefore, tecnology is a useful investment in moving our students forward,

Oppenhiemer (1997, p.45) then argues that there is no good evidence that most uses of computers significantly improve teaching and learning. However, what he fails to acknowledge  is that such pedagogical enhancements would often be impossible without the capabilities of new technology (Reeves, 1998, p.52). Without technology how would our students be able to play a game that lets them experience the lifestlye that the miners experienced in Ballarat all those years ago, they wouldn’t. Therefore his infamous attitude on computer usage in schools contains some serious flaws.

One statement I found obsurd was by Stoll (1999) who argues ” THAT COMPUTERS SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE BY MAKING LEARNING APPEAR COLOURFUL AND FUN WHEN IT ACTUALLY REQUIRES HARD WORK AND DISCIPLINE.” In the 21st century we find that a more constructivist view of learning is more benefical to childrens education. They need to play in order to learn! Ofcourse you do not want children to go off track and look at irrelavant things but that is the duty of the teacher to keep the children focused. ICT should be used to develop a new kind of digital curriculum where students learn how to be critical thinkers, critical consumers and critical citizens.

The Schools Advisory Group (2000, p.3) has constructed a framework called Learning in an online world, and it states: All students will leave school as a ‘confident, creative and productive user of new technologies, including information and communication technologies, and understand the impact of those technologies on society.’

The second text, “Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technological integration?” by Peggy Ertmer (2005), doesn’t look at societies views like Browns’ text does, it focuses more on the teacers views of using technology in the classroom and whether or not their values can impact the new intergration. According to Becker (2000, p.29), computers serve as a “valuable and well-functioning instructional-tool.”

Some statistics related to technology in schools and teachers (from the US):

• 98% of schools are connected to the internet

• 81% of teachers have either moderate or high levels of access to instructional computers.

• 37% of teachers expressed interest in learning basic computer skills

• while over 80% expressed interest in learning how to inegrate computer technology into the curricular area.

“Technology is now considered by most educators and parents to be an intergral part of providing a high-quality education” (U.S. DOE, 2003, p.3)

And why wouldn’t it be, everywhere we look there is some form of technology staring us in the face, whether it be mobile phones, computers, ipods, satelite navigation or even finger print scanners for access into your home. If we cannot take advantage of technology then the new generation of students will fall behind, instead of keeping up and expanding the world.

Ertmer (2005) said that it is not a struggle of resources but a struggle of core values. This means that teachers are aware of the resources, but are scared that if they attempt to use this new technology in their classroom they will be stepping into unknown territory and for many teachers that is a no go zone. Teachers need opportunities to test their ideas without worrying about jeopardizing their student’s results or making any mistakes. Thye nedd to be able to pilot their technological resources on their fellow collegues, family or even friends so that when it is introduced to the classroom for the first time it is not such a duanting process. Teachers should incorporate technology into their learning engagements to support and offer meaningful methodologies in learning, rather than feel timid or threatened by the notion of it, as students today effectively engage and respond to information presented in this form.

 High level uses of technology are more associated with student centered practices, which should be the aim of a constructivist classroom, where the students have more autonomy and construct ‘own their learning’. This is how most 21st century classroom should be, especially if the teacher feels that he/she believes in te constructivist method of learning. By implementing technology into the classroom a teacher can cater for the many learning styles by intergrating various forms of media, using an interactive whiteboard  for all the children to see the manipulation of a text or even a soundfile to recite a new poem.  

References

Brown, M. (2005). The growth of enterprise pedagogy: How ICT policy is infected by neo-liberalism. Australia Educational Computing, 20(2), 16-22.

Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research & Development, 53(4), 25-39.