Assignment #3
Critical
review of Teachers and Machines:
The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920
From the list of books that dealt
with science education and technology, I chose to read Larry Cuban’s Teachers and Machines. Although this book was published in the
mid-1980s and may seem primitive, it was very insightful. Numerous trends that Cuban discusses in this
book still apply to current trends that take place in the high school classroom
setting. In this paper, I will discuss
the following: (1) the goals of the book, (2) strengths/weaknesses of the book,
(3) implications for science education and (4) application of technology in my
science classroom.
Larry Cuban’s main goal in this book
was to discuss the minimal impact digital technology had for changing the way
students learned. Thus, students sitting
in today’s classrooms might still be learning in ways similar to the
1920s. No matter what technology was
invented and introduced to the classroom, the use of such technologies by
educators was minimally applied to lessons; their presence was also short lived. The introduction of each newer and better
technology he mentioned, starting with radio, television and then computers was
similar to a child who opens a toy on Christmas day. In the first few days of experiencing the new
toy, there was a complete excitement for it.
Then, however, there was an immediate indifference towards the toy
shortly after. I have to completely
agree with this because I still use direct instruction with textbooks and
classroom discussion, despite the technology that I could use with my students
in my school building. When my school
turned our outdated library in computer research laboratory in 2010, there was
an immediate hype for many teachers to use it.
It was pretty expensive to reconstruct this library into a lab with the
latest digital technology. At first, it
was widely used but currently, a handful of teachers may still use it for
instruction.
There are several strengths in Teachers and Machines. Larry Cuban, who was a practitioner for 25
years in the public school setting, mentioned how reformers and policy makers
think it’s quite simple to use digital technology effectively in
classrooms. This is easier said than
done. I have to completely agree with
him here; it is quite difficult to incorporate digital technologies into the classroom. Larry Cuban knows because he was in the field
for quite some time; this is a major strength. Reformers expect educators to completely
infuse digital technology that is funded into school buildings as an
alternative. I strongly agree with this
statement that Cuban made: “Collateral learning may be more significant in
children’s lives than formal lessons completely taught by machines.” (Cuban,
1986, p. 92) In other words, it might be
better to use direct instruction in conjunction with digital technology when
teaching students. Since many teachers
are hesitant to use such technology in their classrooms, they are the culprits
for minimal student learning and thus poor student achievement. Educators may also feel pressured from
administrators and/or reformers to use these expensive machines. This is because citizen’s tax dollars paid
for this technology. Technology,
nonetheless, is not always effective for student learning.
Another strength of this book is the
following: educators are stubborn or hesitant to change their comfortable ways
of teaching children. “Lecturing,
recitation, seatwork and homework… are direct, uncomplicated ways of
transmitting knowledge.” (Cuban, 1986, p. 57)
I like how Cuban showed in percentage the amount of time per week
educators use digital technology in the classroom with students. It really gave me a better understanding of
how little educators use technology.
This can definitely apply to the
school I teach. There are older teachers
who are out of the loop with current technology. Because they resist using digital teaching methods,
this also might mean that they lack the skills to even operate machines. For example, all of our classrooms contain
SMART board technology. There are at
least 5 to 10 teachers in my school who completely do NOT use this technology
at all. It either has to do with
intimidation to using this technology or the resistance to implementing SMART
boards into instruction. They may feel
that they have all their lessons plans already planned out and feel no need to
change them. This is how some of
educators felt who shared their thoughts/experiences in Larry Cuban’s
book.
However, this is not always the
case. There are a lot of pressures/constraints
that educators must face, especially in terms of keeping up with the curriculum
they must get through before the academic year ends. As the book said, policy makers did not
factor in additional instructional time needed to use digital technology such
as television documentaries. I would
love to show documentaries on topics such as human anatomy, evolution and
fossils to my students. If, however,
digital technology was constantly used, as reformers desire, I do not think I
would be able to get through the whole science curriculum by June.
A final strength worthy of
mentioning is the idea of using digital technology as “…filler material” and a
way to give the instructor “…a break” from teaching. (Cuban, 1986, p.61) This is, more or less, what I regularly do in
my classroom. I will use digital videos
from YouTube or TeacherTube to fill in gaps or to slow down how much is being
learned in one class. This is because my
other class may be a little behind do to scheduling changes that occur
throughout the year.
There were also some weaknesses in
Larry Cuban’s book that should be mentioned.
The book only discusses use of technology in the United States; it does
not mention the use of digital technology in other countries. There may be differences in application of
such technologies by educators in different parts of the world. It would be interesting to see how educators
in Europe, per say, use technology in the classroom setting. This is not to say I would move to a
different part of the world because technology is used more efficiently
there. However, I would possibly adopt a
useful strategy learned if it is effective with high school students.
Another weakness is the following: there
was not much statistical data on research case studies mentioned in the book in
terms of academic achievement. Yes, Larry
Cuban does makes it clear that technology is not used that much. He does this by laying out statistics that
pertains to duration or use of technology in classrooms by educators. However, it would have been nice to see how application
of technology, such as a radio broadcast or a television lesson, impacted
student achievement versus students who did not use the technology. If Larry Cuban mentioned some studies where
use of digital technology was not really significant, this would have further
supported his thoughts on technology having minimal impact on student learning. On the other hand, he may have included
studies where digital technology significantly impacted academic achievement. This
could have supported the idea that machines can assist students to achieve and
this may cause educators who read this book to use digital technology in their
classroom more frequently.
After reading this book, there are
some implications that could be made for education in general and for science
education. It could be said that even
with the birth of newer and better technology, it will probably not impact students
sitting in classrooms that much. Even
though such neat technology is available to them, it will most likely not be
utilized by the educator in their instructional lessons. It could also be implied that simple textbook
readings and classroom discussions can still be very impacting in terms of
student learning. In the epilogue of the
book, Cuban says the following: “Scientists who study humans … understand that
decades, centuries, and even millenia need to pass before some changes become
noticeable.” (Cuban, 1986, p. 106) I have to strongly agree with this. Just because newer generations are exposed to
the latest digital technology, such as smart devices and tablets, does not mean
they can only using these things to learn.
Since the 1920s, there have not been any sudden genetic changes that
impede students from learning using traditional methods of textbook learning
and lecturing etc. So, it should be
implied using simple methods of learning is sometimes better for student
learning. Digital technology cannot
solve all the issues of minimal student learning in the US.
However, educators should be encouraged
to implement digital technology into lessons where possible. This, I feel, does two things: (1) learning
can become more student-centered and (2) students can become more motivated to
learn. It is crucial that students
recognize that they can learn for themselves; educators are there to facilitate
in the process of learning. Even if
using digital technology does not substantially increase academic achievement,
it will give them the intrinsic motivation to learn science or other
subjects. These students are a part of
the N-generation, or are called digital natives (Spires, 2008). Students born currently are being surrounded
by a world of advanced digital technology such as computers, laptops, video
game consoles and smart devices. They
can even learn more easily since they know how to maneuver and use these
technologies efficiently.
There are some things that I have
learned from this book when it comes to technology that I could use in my
pedagogical strategies. I will now be
aware of how digital technology should be used.
It should not be used to fill in time as fellow educators would
say. With the power of the web, videos
and Web 2.0 tools, they can be used as a supplement for mastery learning in
abstract topics. It can also guide
students to develop better critical thinking and problem solving skills. With the research I am doing in my thesis, I
found some studies that used software tools that helped to boost student
achievement.
I will learn to use technology more
effectively into more topics in chemistry and biology. I will not lie; I sometimes decide not to use
technology because I am more comfortable just using a simple textbook reading
or a discussion. It takes countless
hours of planning to incorporate digital technology into lessons
effectively. If not, this leads to
student distractions and can actually hurt or impede student learning and thus
achievement. As Cuban said, it is better
to use technology in conjunction with digital technology. To completely substitute digital technology
into a lesson may not work optimally.
This book made me realize that the
digital technology sits right in front of me and most of the time, I do not use
it. However, it could be like owning a
guitar. It is nice to own it, but if it
is not played frequently, there is no way that instrument playing could be
mastered. This can also apply to the use
of digital technology in my classroom.
The more I incorporate digital machines into the classroom, the more
confident I will become that technology can make a difference for students. I would like to start to bring my biology and
chemistry students down to computer research laboratory more frequently so that
they can use games to learn and/or review material recently discussed in class. Students would become less bored, I
feel. This is because if they use the
computer lab every once in a while, it breaks the constant monotony of going
into the classroom to take notes on presentations.
Larry Cuban’s Teacher and Machines was a book that discussed the use of digital
machines in the classroom from the 1920s to the 1980s. Despite its publication approximately 20
years ago, I was amazed that I can relate to so many trends that Cuban mentions
to trends I follow in my classroom today.
This paper discussed the goals and strengths/weaknesses of the
book. Major implications on science
education were also discussed. Finally,
my application of digital technology in the clafile:///F:/Grad%20School%20USB/SEYS%20778/Excel%20Data%20Tablesssroom was mentioned. It was an insightful book to read and I would
like to pass it on to fellow co-workers of mine who are educators as well. In a world where digital technology is
becoming better and refined, there has to be a better attitude towards using
these machines in the US classroom.
1920.
New York: Teacher College Press.