Summary:
Washington Post’s Patrick Welsh writes about what he saw T.C. Williams High School in North Virginia (February 10, 2008): LCD screen projector screens, students with laptops, School-pads, Smart-Boards, and school administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors peering into monitors instead of interacting with students. He interviewed teachers who frowned on the idea of integrating [too much] technology inside their classrooms. There is mention of how technology is a hindrance rather than being supportive to the students’ academic welfare. As teachers are glued to their screens, students take advantage by playing games on their laptops rather than staying on task with their instructors – a common occurrence in T.C. High. (2008)
In a most recent article related to T.C. Williams High School’s highly innovative technology, another writer from the Washington Post, Michael Alison Chandler (March 12, 2010) described that the $96 million school did not meet the state’s academic standards as per the No Child Left Behind Act. Therefore, in a desperate effort to save the school, the state provided funds to help increase their standards, which fell below the national average prior to 2008. The belief was that technology paralleled academic success. After funding, T.C Williams High School did not make a significant difference in comparison to schools nationwide who do not have most of the technology. As a result, the Obama Administration decided to intervene by:
“…closing the school and sending its students elsewhere; reopening it as a charter school; firing the principal and at least half the faculty; or submitting to a host of instructional changes that include lengthening the school day or year and expanding professional development…” (March, 2010)
My Opinion:
“There are gadgets and gizmos a plenty…” Those are lyrics from Disney’s The Little Mermaid’s, “Part of Your World,” when Ariel sang about the secret stash she finds afloat on the ocean and keeps them in her hide-away cave under the ocean. While I read the article, the tune played in my head and found it quite amusing as I envisioned myself going through T.C. High School’s hallway. The “gizmos” and “gadgets” in this case are the tremendous amount of techno-devices in the most expensive high school in the nation (as is dubbed by Bernie McCain’s article, ““T.C. Williams High School Singled Out For Poor Performance”.)
The author, a teacher himself, passionately talks about the negative impact technology has on teachers at T.C. William High School in North Virginia. I sensed that Patrick Welsh was a bit shocked as he – a professional educator as well – walked through the halls and found himself in a sea of large screens and hand-held computer devices.
He found that the majority of T.C. teachers – after seeing technology on a daily basis - frown on the idea of the vast amount of computers, laptops, LCD screen projectors, 126 security cameras (in my opinion – a good thing), and innovative smart boards/school pads found everywhere within the school. The way I picture it, it’s almost something you’d see on the Sci-Fi channel, and all that’s missing are holographic computerized images and a time machine. They boast the $96 million project to aid those who do not have accessible technology, hence, the individual laptops EACH student have in every classroom.
What he found – through the instructors -- was that the technology used inside the classrooms seem to take too much out of real teaching time due to problems such as loading times (uploads, downloads, etc.), frozen screens, or waiting for IT to fix the problems. It is very time-consuming. It also seems that the student of T.C. HS, are feeling the effects as well. TS High school, with its innovative and most updated computer technology tops any school in the USA. Another article I found served as a tie-in to Welsh’s article. After a couple of years of research, there was no difference in what technology did for the students.
I do agree with the articles’ research and opinions. Although I am a high believer in bringing in technology inside a classroom, sometimes too much can be overwhelming. I was quite astonished to find that every student has a laptop in each classroom. Although the funds served a low-income school, state administrators failed to see that allowing each (teenage) child waste important learning time (by playing games, etc.) behind their instructor’s back by playing on their laptops. In my opinion, students do not need laptops at their desks.
The tone on both articles negate the hefty amount of computers and “gizmos” inside T.C. High School. Onto looking on the other end of the spectrum, I think that more observations and research needs to be done to give an opinion about “too much” technology inside our public schools; however, because T.C. High School is the only school in the nation that exist with such, there can be no other conclusions to be made. The articles are indeed one-sided and further research might be necessary.
--------------------
Chandler, Michael Alison (2010, March 12). Alexandria's T.C. Williams High Called Poor Performer. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/11/AR2010031102389_2.html?sid=ST2010031103285
Welsh, Patrick (2008, February 10). TECHNOLUST: A School That's Too High on Gizmos. Washington Post. Retrieved August 01, 2010 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803271.html
No comments:
Post a Comment