Appraisal of Technology

Technology Refusal and the Organizational Culture of Schools 2.0

Steven Hodas

Abstract:

Analyses of the deployment of technology in schools have tended to note its failure to affect the day-to-day values and practices of teachers, administrators, and students. This absence of trace is generally regarded as an implementation failure, or as resulting from some temperamental shortcoming on the part of teachers or technologists. Such a construction is predicated on the frequently tacit assumption that the refused technology is value-free and its implementation therefore not a field of struggle. This paper proposes that no technology is ever neutral: that its values and practices must always either support or subvert those of the organization into which it is placed; and that the failures of technology to alter the look-and-feel of schools frequently result from a mismatch between the values of school organization and those values that are embedded within the contested technology itself.

Education Policy Analysis Archives: Vol. 1 No. 10 Hodas \Technology Refusal\

Local Mirror of the document

From Technology Refusal to Technology Acceptance: A Reprise

by Jamie McKenzie

This article suggests ways for school districts to address the serious obstacles to change outlined in Steven Hodas' 1993 piece, "Technology Refusal and the Organizational Culture of Schools," one of the most illuminating essays I have encountered in recent years. It stands squarely with Larry Cuban's work in attempting to offer explanations for why it may be that new technologies have proven to be "full of sound and fury" but have actually made very little difference in the lives or classrooms of teachers and students. It is a "must read" for anyone working on technology planning for schools.

Url: http://fromnowon.org/may94fno.html

More papers about the use of computers in schools

"A Friend for the Language Arts" by Stephen Marcus was published in the January 1998 issue of Electronic School. It covers how technology can enrich reading and writing instruction.

"Computer Fluency: Teachers and the New Technology", a discussion paper by Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D. published December 7, 1997. The paper deals with the question, "What are the necessary factors for the acquisition of expertise in computer technology?"

"Technology Counts", a special report published December 1997 from Education Week on the Web  points out that there is little research to justify the billions of dollars schools spend on computers.

"The Web & The Plow" is a paper by Lowell Monke published in the October 1997 issue of Teacher Magazine on the Web. This article warns that like other new technologies, computers will have long term effects on education that we do not expect.

The report "Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom" was published in September 1997 by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The report makes recommendations about the integration of technology into teacher preparation programs. One of their case studies is Valley City State University, North Dakota, where all students are required to use a notebook computer.

"Laptop Computers in the High School" is a paper by Kent Bugg, Barry Reilly, and Steve Tippett written summer 1997. This paper is a student project from the Educational Policy Advocacy class at Illinois State University College of Education. Papers from earlier terms include ""Laptop Schools, A Paradigm Analysis" a paper written summer 1996 by Dan Bertrand, Jim Carter, Daryl Floit, and Pam Floit and The Paperless Classroom: A Paradigm Analysis", a paper written by students of that class in Summer 1995.

"Education and Computing" by Joe Serene of Georgetown University was published online July 15, 1997.  The paper gives their vision for computing and information systems at Georgetown.

"Report of a Laptop Program Pilot" (requires Microsoft Word for viewing) by Rockman et al published June, 1997. This is a summary report of an ongoing study being sponsored by Microsoft and Toshiba of the pilot projects in schools using laptop computers.

"Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools", a report published by the Educational Testing Service on May 28, 1997. The study looks at how much technology is used in schools, how is it used and is access equitable.

"Training Teachers for a New Technology", a paper published April 1997 by Jeff Zwier sponsored by Microsoft on moving from the Macintosh to Windows 95 environment.

A paper titled "Management of Information Technology Education and training of staff at Kilvington" by Mr Jenk Akyalcin that describes the training and education of the full-time teaching staff at Kilvington Baptist Girls' Grammar School in Victoria, Australia in the use of their laptop computers was published October 1996.

"School Technology Kit" is a hypertext paper published October 1996 by Janice Gordon and Bram Moreinis at the Teacher Policy Institute. This paper covers issues about curriculum changes brought about by the introduction of technology in the classroom. Janice Gordon is a 4th grade teacher at Mott Hall, a school in Harlem, New York. Her class is using laptop computers as part of the Learning with Laptops program.

"Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century" published June 1996. The paper is "A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education" from The United States Department of Education.

"The School Design Model at Brewster Academy: Technology Serving Teaching & Learning", published May 1996 in Technological Horizons in Education Journal by Dr. Alan Bain, Assistant Headmaster, Brewster Academy Wolfeboro, N.H. This article describes their plan for using Macintosh PowerBooks in grades 9 though 12.

"Notebooks in the Classroom, From Toys to Tools", a paper by Patricia Thornhill presented at the Australian Computers in Education Conference, April 1996. She says, "The notebook computer can give students greater facility in writing, reading and access to information but they need a learning environment which helps them understand and recognize quality work and which trains them to critically analyze the information available." In the paper she describes how seventeen notebook computers are used as a mobile laboratory in grades three through six.

"Fostering the Use of Educational Technology: Elements of a National Strategy" by Thomas K. Glennan, Arthur Melmed, a report published 1996 by Rand, a nonprofit institution headquartered in California, is available both online and in printed form.

"Young Children Talking about Computers in their Homes", a study on children's use of electronic technologies in the home was conducted by Toni Downes, the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Western Sydney Macarthur. This paper was published for the Australian Computers in Education Conference, 1996.

While the article is not available online, an abstract of "Notebooks For Learning" by David Hoffman is available. We can help you locate a copy of the original article from Technology & Learning, February, 1995.

Project PULSE (Pupils Using Laptops for Science and English) sponsored by the Center for Technology in Education is described online at the National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education Through Technology, Media and Materials. Project Pulse is one of four laptop programs described in the article published in 1995.

While not specifically about the use of laptop computers, the U.S. Department of Education has sponsored research about the general use of computers in the classroom. The article, "Challenges and Strategies in Using Technology to Promote Education Reform", is one of the articles published from that research.

Original file http://www.notebooksystems.com/LinkSite/linkpapr.htm