Occasionally I struggle with how to answer the question: Why do we need the technology? Someone will say to me some version of “you can teach without technology” or “my students have been learning for weeks, months, decades, … without technology.” Since I have been a learner myself for several decades, I can agree with that statement. I learn every day by listening and observing using only my sense. However, when any basic technology is introduced, such as books, chalkboards, paper, writing tools, I believe I learn more.
Perhaps this study has been done? Take a teacher with two classes of students and cover one reasonably complex learning objective with no technology at all, just the teacher, the students, and their inborn abilities; speaking, listening, dancing, singing, acting; but no technologies, no paper, no writing, no books, no calculators, no microscopes, nothing invented or created with a machine. Of course, you can use any teaching approach that fits your tech-free lesson. You see where I am going? With the other class, you can use any technology you feel is appropriate for the lesson and the teaching approach you selected. What kinds of things do you need to measure in your study? How much each class learned? How quickly? Whether one class had more prior knowledge or ability or interest? Whether the instructor enjoyed one lesson more than the other? Whether students with specific disabilities learned more in one class or the other? Whether boys learned more in one environment or the other? How about girls? Like any research study, you could look at innumerable variables and reasons for differences in the results.
My gut tells me that all other things being equal, in aggregate, the class that uses some technology, not necessarily new technology, but practically any technology at all, in most subjects, will learn more in a shorter amount of time. After all, if books, paper, pens, chalkboards, overheads, videos, and calculators did not help student learn; I think we would still be using storytelling, lecture, verbal recall, and conversation to teach and most ineffective technologies would have been eliminated years ago.
For me, it’s a good first step to acknowledge that technology has been used in teaching for hundreds of years because we know it works. So, I feel better. After all, it’s my job to help instructors teach with technology and I feel good when I can justify my existence even if I keep it to myself.
Filed under: Teaching with Technology
