Teaching with Technology

Simon Hooper
College of Education
University of Minnesota
and
Lloyd P. Rieber
Department of Instructional Technology
The University of Georgia

Classroom teaching is a demanding job. Most people outside education probably think
teachers spend most of their time teaching, but teachers are responsible for many tasks
that have little to do with classroom instruction. Beyond planning and implementing
instruction, teachers are also expected to be managers, psychologists, counselors,
custodians, and community "ambassadors," not to mention entertainers. If teaching
sounds like an unreasonable, almost impossible, job, perhaps it is.
It is easy to understand how a teacher might become frustrated and disillusioned. Most
teachers enter the profession expecting to spark the joy of learning in their students.
Unfortunately, the other demands of the classroom are very distracting and consuming.
We envision technology as a teacher's liberator to help reestablish the role and value of
the individual classroom teacher. To do so, two things must happen. First the
perspective of the classroom must change to become learner centered. Second,
students and teachers must enter into a collaboration or partnership with technology in
order to create a "community" that nurtures, encourages, and supports the learning
process (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1992).
It is important to note that the focus in this chapter is on educational technology as
compared to technology in education. There is a difference. Technology in education is
often perceived in terms of how many computers or videocassette recorders are in a
classroom and how they might be used to support traditional classroom activities, but
this is a misleading and potentially dangerous interpretation. It not only places an
inappropriate focus on hardware, but fails to consider other potentially useful "idea"
technologies resulting from the application of one or more knowledge bases, such as
learning theory. Educational technology involves applying ideas from various sources to
create the best learning environments possible for students. Educational technologists
also ask questions such as how a classroom might change or adapt when a computer is
integrated into the curriculum. This integration means that the curriculum and setting
may also need to change to meet the opportunities that the technology may offer.
There are four purposes to this chapter. First, we will examine several different stages of
technology adoption. Second, we will review traditional roles that technology has
served in the classroom. Third, we will examine what a classroom might be like when
attention is given to educational technology. Fourth, we will provide some specific
examples that incorporate contemporary educational principles. This chapter will try to
present ways in which educational technology may be useful to teachers given current
classroom conditions as well as how it might influence the course that many schools
may chart in the future.

A Model of Technology Adoption in the Classroom

Educational technology is often considered, erroneously, as synonymous with
instructional innovation. Technology, by definition, applies current knowledge for some
useful purpose. Therefore, technology uses evolving knowledge (whether about a
kitchen or a classroom) to adapt and improve the system to which the knowledge
applies (such as a kitchen's microwave oven or educational computing). In contrast,
innovations represent only change for change sake. Given this distinction, it is easy to
argue that educators are correct to resist mere innovation, but they should welcome
educational technology. Unfortunately, the history of educational technology does not
support this hypothesis (Saettler, 1990).
Although education has witnessed a multitude of both technology and innovation over
the past 50 years (Reiser, 1987), the educational system has scarcely changed during
that time. Few would argue that doctors and dentists of 50 years ago would be
competent and capable enough to practice with the technology of today. Yet, a teacher
from 50 years ago would probably feel right at home in most of today's classrooms as
most technologies and innovations introduced during this time have been discarded. It
is difficult to account for the rapid abandonment of technologies and innovations in
education over the past 50 years. Has the educational system reached the point of
development where no further improvement can be expected from current educational
technology? Have all educational technologies really just been fads of innovation that
educators have correctly denounced as irrelevant and unnecessary? We think not in
both cases. It seems appropriate to consider these questions as a way to understand
both traditional and contemporary roles of educational technology. We will use a simple
model as a tool to help explain the patterns of adoption by teachers after they are first
introduced to educational technology. Understanding these adoption patterns of the
past may give us insights to which technologies may be adopted or discarded in the
future.
There have been many attempts to understand patterns of adoption in education
(Dalton, 1989; Dwyer, Ringstaff, & Sandholtz, 1991). In this section, we present one such
model in simplified form in order to better understand both traditional and
contemporary applications of technology in education. The model, as illustrated in
Figure 1, has five steps or phases: Familiarization, Utilization, Integration, Reorientation,
and Evolution. The full potential of any educational technology can only be realized
when educators progress through all five phases, otherwise, the technology will likely be
misused or discarded (Rieber & Welliver, 1989; Marcinkiewicz, in press, 1991).
The traditional role of technology in education is necessarily limited to the first three
phases, whereas contemporary views hold the promise to reach the Evolution phase.

Familiarization
The Familiarization phase is concerned with one's initial exposure to and experience
with a technology. A typical example of familiarization is a teacher participating in an in-
service workshop covering the "how to's" of a technology, such as word processing,
spreadsheets, assertive discipline, cooperative learning, motivational strategies, etc. In
this phase, the teacher simply becomes acquainted with a technology. Once the
workshop ends, so too does the teacher's experience and growth with the technology.
All that remains is a memory of the experience. The teacher may discuss the experience
and the ideas represented in the experience, even with some degree of authority, but
no further action takes place. A great deal of instructional innovation begins and ends
with this phase.
Utilization
The Utilization phase, in contrast, occurs when the teacher tries out the technology or
innovation in the classroom. An example is a social studies teacher who uses role-
playing simulations learned in a workshop or graduate course. Obviously, teachers who
reach this phase have progressed further than Familiarization, but there is the inherent
danger that a teacher will become prematurely satisfied with their limited use of the
technology. The attitude of "At least I gave it a try" will likely interfere with any enduring
and long-term adoption of the technology. Teachers who progress only to this phase will
probably discard the technology at the first sign of trouble because they have made no
commitment to it. This is probably the highest phase of adoption reached by most
teachers who use contemporary educational media, including the computer. If the
technology were taken away on Monday, hardly anyone would notice on Tuesday.
Integration
Integration represents the "break through" phase. This occurs when a teacher
consciously decides to designate certain tasks and responsibilities to the technology, so,
if the technology is suddenly removed or is unavailable, the teacher cannot proceed
with the instruction as planned. The most obvious technology that has reached this
phase of adoption in education is the book and its derivatives, such as worksheets and
other handouts. Most teachers could not function without the support of such print-
based technologies. Another example, though perhaps amusing to some, is the
chalkboard. Most teachers would find it extremely difficult to teach without it. Hence,
the "expendability" of the technology is the most critical attribute or characteristic of
this phase (Marcinkiewicz, in press, 1991). Although Integration is the end of the
adoption model for many, it really only represents the beginning of understanding
educational technology. For some teachers, the Integration phase marks the beginning
of a professional "metamorphosis," but only if they progress even further in their
adoption pattern.
Reorientation
The Reorientation phase requires that educators reconsider and reconceptualize the
purpose and function of the classroom. It is marked by many characteristics, probably
the most important of which is that the focus of the classroom is now centered on a
student's learning, as opposed to the teacher's instruction. A teacher who has reached
the Reorientation phase does not view good teaching as the delivery of content (i.e. the
teaching "acts" of explaining, managing, or motivating). Instead, the teacher's role is to
establish a learning environment that supports and facilitates students as they construct
and shape their own knowledge. In this phase, the learner becomes the subject rather
than the object of education.
Teachers in the Reorientation phase are open to technologies that enable this
knowledge construction process and are not threatened by being "replaced" by
technology. In fact, these teachers will probably include technology in their classrooms
without necessarily feeling the need to be an "expert" themselves. Their interest is on
how technology allows their students to engage the subject matter. It would not be
unusual for the students to be more competent than their teachers with the technology.
For example, consider a history teacher who discovers that students prefer to create
HyperCard stacks that replace a traditional term paper assignment (Hoffmeister, 1990).
If the teacher has a reoriented view of education that is student-centered, the teacher
will focus on how intensely the student has engaged the content, not on how well the
stack is "programmed." The teacher will emphasize (and evaluate) how well the student
has become both a researcher and explorer due to the availability of the computing
tool. Whether the teacher possesses more or less technical skill with HyperCard than
the student is inconsequential. In addition, the teacher learns about history and
HyperCard along with the student. Of course, the teacher's greater experience is an
indispensable resource and guide to the student. Rather than view a technology as
something that must be mastered beforehand and presented to students in a controlled
and systematic way, a teacher at the Reorientation phase would encourage and expect
students to appropriate the technology in ways that could not be anticipated.
Evolution
The final phase, Evolution, serves as a reminder that the educational system must
continue to evolve and adapt to remain effective. There will never be a final solution or
conclusion and to be searching for one means that one is missing the point. The
classroom learning environment should constantly change to meet the challenge and
potential provided by new understandings of how people learn. As previously discussed,
this appropriate application of basic knowledge for some useful purpose is what defines
educational technology and living up to this definition is the hallmark of the Evolution
phase.
Traditional Role of Technology in Education
There have been two main types of technology in education that we choose to label as
"product technologies" and "idea technologies." Product technologies include: 1)
hardware, or machine-oriented, technologies that people most often associate with
educational technology, such as the range of audio-visual equipment, both traditional
(i.e. film strips, movies, audiocassette players/recorders) and contemporary (i.e.
videocassette players/recorders, laserdiscs, computers, CD-ROM) and; 2) software
technologies, such as print-based material (i.e. books, worksheets, overhead
transparencies) and computer software (i.e. computer-assisted instruction). In contrast,
idea technologies do not have such tangible forms.
Of course, idea technologies are usually represented in or through some product
technology. For example, simulations are, by and large, idea technologies. Simulations
try to give people experiences with events and concepts not generally possible (e.g.
travel back in time), probable (e.g. ride aboard the space shuttle), or desirable (e.g. the
green house effect) under normal conditions. The idea of a simulation must be realized
through some product, such as computer software. In this way, the idea is supported or
made possible by the product. A classic example of the distinction between product and
idea technologies is Henry Ford's assembly line. The concept of the assembly line is an
idea technology that transformed industry in the United States. However, the conveyor
belts, work stations, and factories that one sees in old photographs show the product
technologies that were used to support the original idea.
The distinction between product technologies and idea technologies is important
because most of the historical attempts to use technology in education have focused on
product technologies, such as teaching machines, educational television and films, and,
most currently, computers (Reiser, 1987). Consequently, the role and value of these
product technologies were how they supported the established beliefs and practices of
classroom teachers. These established practices were largely based on behavioral
models which emphasized the transmission and delivery of predetermined content.
These approaches exemplify the "student as bucket" metaphor where the emphasis is
on "pouring knowledge" into student's minds by designing and delivering well- planned
and controlled instruction. Learning is viewed as a consequence of receiving the
information. We believe that contemporary notions of educational technology must go
well beyond this philosophy of learning and education. Teachers who adopt
technologies without considering the belief structure into which these products and
ideas are introduced are necessarily limited to the third phase of integration, though, as
previously mentioned, few progress that far.
Consider an example of a product technology reaching the integration phase of
adoption -- the hand-held graphing calculator. Many high school math teachers use
graphing calculators in their teaching. In fact, there are several brands on the market
that use a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) so that the calculator can be placed on
an overhead projector. The use of these calculators easily passes the expendability test
for many teachers: Their teaching would be seriously disrupted if the calculators were
removed. They would be unable to convey the same information given a quick and
sudden return to the static medium of the overhead or chalkboard.
However, the degree to which the teacher's instruction has been altered because of the
graphing calculator is critical to determining if the teacher is on the verge of entering
the Reorientation phase. If the calculator allows the teacher to focus on student's
conceptual understanding of the mathematical function, perhaps because of the
calculator's ability to draw a graph using real-time animation, then the teacher has
begun to rethink and reflect on the partnership between how product and idea
technologies can help a student's learning. The teacher will derive satisfaction from how
the technology was harnessed to enable and empower students to understand and
apply the mathematical ideas. This teacher is on the brink of entering into the
Reorientation phase. Such a teacher will probably seek to turn the technology (i.e. the
calculator) over to the students for them to begin constructing mathematics.
On the other hand, if the instructional strategies employed by the teacher are virtually
the same as those used before the graphing calculator was introduced, then it is very
likely that the teacher's adoption of the technology will end with integration since
nothing has changed or improved other than the mode of delivery. In this case, although
the product technology of the calculator has been integrated, the underlying idea
technology of "present, practice, and test" remains unchanged and unchallenged.
The distinction between educators who enter and stall at the Integration phase versus
those who are "transformed" and enter the Reorientation phase is best characterized as
a magical line on an "instruction/construction" continuum, as illustrated in Figure 2. The
utilization and integration of any one technology can be defined by this continuum. The
technology of a computer spreadsheet, for example, when used only by a teacher for
grade management or as part of an instructional presentation of, say, the principle of
averages in a math class, is integrating only the product technology without changing
the underlying philosophical base in which it is applied. The philosophical base, in this
example, would be an instruction-centered classroom where a teacher manages the
presentation and practice of predetermined and preselected content.