EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY- Introduction
Education has always lived a tension between two functions. On the one hand education is a matter of assuring continuity, that is, passing on what is known. On the other, it is a matter of fostering creativity and change, that is, propelling learners into the unknown. Both of these functions relate equally to knowledge and attitudes, to understanding and behavior. They are simultaneously complementary and conflictive. They touch the essence of the teaching/learning process. We want creativity, but we want it to emerge from what is known and understood. We want continuity, but when the result is lack of ability to solve problems or devise ways to improve the human condition, we are dismayed. Since education has, fortunately, come to be considered as a human right, the main instrument of delivery of basic education is the school, and the right to education is, with exceptions, perceived as a right to schooling. So the tension between continuity and change is played out in an important way in the classroom. Thus it is extended to the need to simultaneously expand access, guarantee uniform quality, and leave room for diversity of results. In the educational process, people are central. The role of teachers is always crucial. But, in each of the elements described above, the human element has limits, and other interventions need to be brought to bear strongly into the process of delivery and transformation of knowledge, and verification of results. It is the potential and role of technologies in contributing to improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of this profoundly human exercise that this book addresses. One of the most universally recognizable and enduring human institutions is the school. Changes in schools over time have been mainly in the logistics: physical plants, materials, and comforts or conditions of teachers and learners. In many cases, technologies have been brought in to enhance an otherwise static process. The learners gather, the teachers communicate information, the learners reproduce what they have heard and seen, and they are evaluated on their accuracy. The relevance of this process to life has been questioned often but seldom modified substantially and never system-wide. 3 Over the past 200 years, we have tried to perfect the education services provided by schools. We have managed to evolve the education model from education for the few to education for the many; from education for limited objectives to education for expanded objectives; from the environment as the classroom to the classroom as the learning environment; from elitist endeavors to national education systems. We have succeeded in squeezing a multidimensional, multifaceted world into a flat text (with some audiovisual presentations) in a constrained classroom environment channeled through a teacher. Even technical schools have tried to replicate the workplace in the school. In this development, we were inspired and helped by the industrial age and its processes. Schools were to a large extent modeled on factories, where cohorts and student flow evoke assembly lines, time-on-task parallels working hours, exams are designed as a form of control of the uniformity of the product, and the production function of a school takes us back to the input/output model of factory production. Despite its shortcomings, the school system has been remarkable in its contribution to the fulfillment of basic learning needs, to skill formation, to scientific progress, to reproduction of the social order and the preservation and evolution of cultures. As we look back at the achievements of the last century, we marvel at the extraordinary advancements in science and technology—space exploration, unraveling of the atom, genetics, organ transplant, the car, radio, television, the fax machine, the computer chip, the Internet—to name only a few. We also marvel at the progress made in social and economic development, the humanities, and the arts. All of this was possible because of a set of unique human features: the capacity to acquire knowledge generated by others and build on it; the ability to record one’s knowledge and disseminate it to others in understandable terms; the desire to search, explore, and make sense of the universe; the urge to apply knowledge to solve day-to-day problems; and the faith that nothing is impossible or beyond the reach of the human mind. Educational institutions at all levels are the embodiment of these human features and have been at the center of human achievement in science, technology, social studies, and the humanities. They have been the arenas for the generation, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge; the training of human capital; and the engines of social and economic development. They have excited many minds, opened new doors into the mysteries of the universe, and dared many spirits to delve into the unknown. Many have served as strongholds for the pursuit of truth and values against The Dynamics of Technologies for Education Wadi D. Haddad, Ph.D., is President of Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., Editor of TechKnowLogia, and former Director and Deputy Corporate Secretary at the World Bank. Alexandra Draxler is Senior Program Specialist at the International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO) and former Secretary to the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. 4 Technologies for Education > global pressures for more education; and > changing patterns of trade and competition and technological innovation. Challenge 1: The Exponential Function Knowledge, both basic and applied, is being generated very quickly and is growing exponentially. More new information has been produced within the last three decades than in the last five millennia. We should be poised for dramatic technological advances and breakthroughs in the macro frontiers of the universe on the one hand, and microscopic secrets of the human body on the other hand—and everything in between. Not all generated knowledge is at sophisticated levels, however. Everyday living itself is becoming technologically more and more complex. In fact, all facets of society are becoming knowledge dependent. Moreover, participation in a modern technological world necessitates a significant level of scientific and technological understanding. This applies to all areas of everyday living, from agricultural practice to marketplace processes, banking, business transactions, health services, transportation, entertainment, utilities, and information exchange. Without the ability to find the essential knowledge and acquire the skills for a constantly changing world, people will find themselves—in a very short time—“disadvantaged.” As rapidly as knowledge is being generated, there are growing means by which to disseminate that knowledge through print, audio, video, and electronic media. Unfortunately, though, most developing countries are behind on both counts. Challenge 2: The Virtuous Domain There is a growing consciousness all over the world about such issues as democracy, citizen empowerment, freedom of communication, culture, civic participation, gender equity, human rights, civil justice, peace, and general quality of life. Likewise, development goals are no more restricted to economic growth. The International Development Goals (IDGs)1 of 2000 target “a world free of poverty and free of the misery that poverty breeds.” The goals are set in terms of reducing poverty, improving health and education, and protecting the environment. They have been adopted by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and many other agencies. They found a new expression in the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2000. prevailing beliefs, prejudices, and intellectual and political tyrannies. This cannot be said of all institutions, however; many have copied the body but failed to capture the spirit. Despite the relative success of the education enterprise, the new century brings a fresh set of challenges and pressures for which educational institutions, in their present form, are not prepared. Even the best of them have served a different set of demands for a different age. These challenges in the context of the Information Age have put schools and school systems across the world under tremendous pressure to provide every classroom (if not every student) with information and communication technologies (ICTs), including computers and their accessories and connectivity to the Internet. The pressures are coming from vendors, parents, businesses, and technology advocates. Decision makers are faced with two myths: a macro and a micro. The macro myth is that merely providing ICTs to schools transforms the learning process, and merely connecting to the Internet changes the learner’s world. The micro myth is that providing technologies means acquiring computers and securing a connection to the Internet. Experience shows that effectively integrating technology into learning systems is much more complicated. It involves a rigorous analysis of educational objectives and changes, a realistic understanding of the potential of technologies, a purposeful consideration of the pre- and co-requisites of effectiveness of ICTs for education, and the prospects of this process within the dynamics of educational change and reform. In fact, experience is proving, to our surprise, that acquiring the technologies themselves, no matter how hard and expensive, may be the easiest and cheapest element in a series of elements that ultimately could make these technologies sustainable or beneficial. This book (and this chapter) is an attempt to frame the issue of ICTs for education in the context of the educational enterprise’s struggle to be relevant, responsive, and effective in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. To this end, the book draws on worldwide knowledge and experience to delineate the potentials of ICTs for education, the parameters for turning this potential into effectiveness, and the prospects of applying these capacities in different environments
Education has always lived a tension between two functions. On the one hand education is a matter of assuring continuity, that is, passing on what is known. On the other, it is a matter of fostering creativity and change, that is, propelling learners into the unknown. Both of these functions relate equally to knowledge and attitudes, to understanding and behavior. They are simultaneously complementary and conflictive. They touch the essence of the teaching/learning process. We want creativity, but we want it to emerge from what is known and understood. We want continuity, but when the result is lack of ability to solve problems or devise ways to improve the human condition, we are dismayed. Since education has, fortunately, come to be considered as a human right, the main instrument of delivery of basic education is the school, and the right to education is, with exceptions, perceived as a right to schooling. So the tension between continuity and change is played out in an important way in the classroom. Thus it is extended to the need to simultaneously expand access, guarantee uniform quality, and leave room for diversity of results. In the educational process, people are central. The role of teachers is always crucial. But, in each of the elements described above, the human element has limits, and other interventions need to be brought to bear strongly into the process of delivery and transformation of knowledge, and verification of results. It is the potential and role of technologies in contributing to improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of this profoundly human exercise that this book addresses. One of the most universally recognizable and enduring human institutions is the school. Changes in schools over time have been mainly in the logistics: physical plants, materials, and comforts or conditions of teachers and learners. In many cases, technologies have been brought in to enhance an otherwise static process. The learners gather, the teachers communicate information, the learners reproduce what they have heard and seen, and they are evaluated on their accuracy. The relevance of this process to life has been questioned often but seldom modified substantially and never system-wide. 3 Over the past 200 years, we have tried to perfect the education services provided by schools. We have managed to evolve the education model from education for the few to education for the many; from education for limited objectives to education for expanded objectives; from the environment as the classroom to the classroom as the learning environment; from elitist endeavors to national education systems. We have succeeded in squeezing a multidimensional, multifaceted world into a flat text (with some audiovisual presentations) in a constrained classroom environment channeled through a teacher. Even technical schools have tried to replicate the workplace in the school. In this development, we were inspired and helped by the industrial age and its processes. Schools were to a large extent modeled on factories, where cohorts and student flow evoke assembly lines, time-on-task parallels working hours, exams are designed as a form of control of the uniformity of the product, and the production function of a school takes us back to the input/output model of factory production. Despite its shortcomings, the school system has been remarkable in its contribution to the fulfillment of basic learning needs, to skill formation, to scientific progress, to reproduction of the social order and the preservation and evolution of cultures. As we look back at the achievements of the last century, we marvel at the extraordinary advancements in science and technology—space exploration, unraveling of the atom, genetics, organ transplant, the car, radio, television, the fax machine, the computer chip, the Internet—to name only a few. We also marvel at the progress made in social and economic development, the humanities, and the arts. All of this was possible because of a set of unique human features: the capacity to acquire knowledge generated by others and build on it; the ability to record one’s knowledge and disseminate it to others in understandable terms; the desire to search, explore, and make sense of the universe; the urge to apply knowledge to solve day-to-day problems; and the faith that nothing is impossible or beyond the reach of the human mind. Educational institutions at all levels are the embodiment of these human features and have been at the center of human achievement in science, technology, social studies, and the humanities. They have been the arenas for the generation, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge; the training of human capital; and the engines of social and economic development. They have excited many minds, opened new doors into the mysteries of the universe, and dared many spirits to delve into the unknown. Many have served as strongholds for the pursuit of truth and values against The Dynamics of Technologies for Education Wadi D. Haddad, Ph.D., is President of Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., Editor of TechKnowLogia, and former Director and Deputy Corporate Secretary at the World Bank. Alexandra Draxler is Senior Program Specialist at the International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO) and former Secretary to the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. 4 Technologies for Education > global pressures for more education; and > changing patterns of trade and competition and technological innovation. Challenge 1: The Exponential Function Knowledge, both basic and applied, is being generated very quickly and is growing exponentially. More new information has been produced within the last three decades than in the last five millennia. We should be poised for dramatic technological advances and breakthroughs in the macro frontiers of the universe on the one hand, and microscopic secrets of the human body on the other hand—and everything in between. Not all generated knowledge is at sophisticated levels, however. Everyday living itself is becoming technologically more and more complex. In fact, all facets of society are becoming knowledge dependent. Moreover, participation in a modern technological world necessitates a significant level of scientific and technological understanding. This applies to all areas of everyday living, from agricultural practice to marketplace processes, banking, business transactions, health services, transportation, entertainment, utilities, and information exchange. Without the ability to find the essential knowledge and acquire the skills for a constantly changing world, people will find themselves—in a very short time—“disadvantaged.” As rapidly as knowledge is being generated, there are growing means by which to disseminate that knowledge through print, audio, video, and electronic media. Unfortunately, though, most developing countries are behind on both counts. Challenge 2: The Virtuous Domain There is a growing consciousness all over the world about such issues as democracy, citizen empowerment, freedom of communication, culture, civic participation, gender equity, human rights, civil justice, peace, and general quality of life. Likewise, development goals are no more restricted to economic growth. The International Development Goals (IDGs)1 of 2000 target “a world free of poverty and free of the misery that poverty breeds.” The goals are set in terms of reducing poverty, improving health and education, and protecting the environment. They have been adopted by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and many other agencies. They found a new expression in the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2000. prevailing beliefs, prejudices, and intellectual and political tyrannies. This cannot be said of all institutions, however; many have copied the body but failed to capture the spirit. Despite the relative success of the education enterprise, the new century brings a fresh set of challenges and pressures for which educational institutions, in their present form, are not prepared. Even the best of them have served a different set of demands for a different age. These challenges in the context of the Information Age have put schools and school systems across the world under tremendous pressure to provide every classroom (if not every student) with information and communication technologies (ICTs), including computers and their accessories and connectivity to the Internet. The pressures are coming from vendors, parents, businesses, and technology advocates. Decision makers are faced with two myths: a macro and a micro. The macro myth is that merely providing ICTs to schools transforms the learning process, and merely connecting to the Internet changes the learner’s world. The micro myth is that providing technologies means acquiring computers and securing a connection to the Internet. Experience shows that effectively integrating technology into learning systems is much more complicated. It involves a rigorous analysis of educational objectives and changes, a realistic understanding of the potential of technologies, a purposeful consideration of the pre- and co-requisites of effectiveness of ICTs for education, and the prospects of this process within the dynamics of educational change and reform. In fact, experience is proving, to our surprise, that acquiring the technologies themselves, no matter how hard and expensive, may be the easiest and cheapest element in a series of elements that ultimately could make these technologies sustainable or beneficial. This book (and this chapter) is an attempt to frame the issue of ICTs for education in the context of the educational enterprise’s struggle to be relevant, responsive, and effective in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. To this end, the book draws on worldwide knowledge and experience to delineate the potentials of ICTs for education, the parameters for turning this potential into effectiveness, and the prospects of applying these capacities in different environments
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