Chapter 3:Explaining Teacher Use of Machines in Classrooms

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• Teachers are viewed as being reluctant to use new technology in the classroom, so this chapter explores several of the arguments as to why teachers have limited the use of technology since the 1920’s

Argument: Accessibility of Hardware and Software

• Some reasons why teachers have been reluctant to use radio, film and television are due to inadequate or obsolete equipment, limited availability of a signal, and awkward scheduling of broadcasts.
• Also when equipment breaks down, it takes time to get it repaired.
• Teacher also had to make sure that they have the equipment during the same time that the program was scheduled, and that took a lot of maneuvering and was not always convenient. This is especially hard in a secondary school where you have only fifty minutes per period.
• A study of teachers using video lessons in West Virginia in 1977-1978 revealed these four reasons why teachers did not use instructional television more:

    *Broadcast time inconvenience 25%
    *No equipment or facilities 19.5%
    *No time 17%
    *Facilities inconvenience 16%

• For teachers, instructional television just failed to meet the classroom demands for a flexible and simple tool.
• Teachers were also deterred from using instructional television because assessing which program would fit what they were teaching took a lot of time

Argument: Implementation of the Innovation

• Top down approach in school districts assumes that teachers will follow through on orders to use a specific technology in the classroom, but that is not always the case.
• The decision to incorporate technology does not involve teachers in the experimentation process, so implementing the use of instructional technology is flawed

Argument: The Classroom and School as Work Settings

• He argues here how settings shape behavior- settings include how school space is physically arranged, how students are organized, how time is allocated and what rules govern students and adults.
• Teachers have multiple and sometimes conflicting tasks- to teach in a small space a large number of students, maintain control of the classroom, teach content to students that each has a different learning style and do all of this in a time constraint. Chalkboards and textbooks allow for the teacher to teach in these settings in an orderly fashion because of how simple and versatile they are, however he argues that the inflexibility of technology (ex. limited availability and program scheduling) does not fit the hectic rigor of the classroom.

Argument: The Nature of the Teaching Profession.

• This argument is centered on the culture of the teaching profession itself.
• The beliefs teachers hold and their conservative nature makes them more reluctant to change daily routines or practices.
• He talks about recruiting practices as one of the reasons in which schools tend to stick to old practices. Schools tend to select teacher candidates who are already rooted in certain beliefs, making it harder to get them to challenge the existing role of schools. For example, those who come to teaching acknowledge the limited financial reward, seek to work with children and appreciate the flexible working hours, so they like the stability they get and don’t seek to change the classroom climate.
• Even as student teachers, they are not nurtured to use newer forms of technology because they are placed with veteran teachers who do not use much technology.
• Television and radio are also typically viewed as entertainment media, therefore some teacher feel unprofessional if they were to use it in the classroom.
• Teachers also value interpersonal relationships with students, and since technology may interrupt this relationship they tend to stay away from it.
• He quotes Charles Hoban as saying “the current and historical role of the classroom teacher in highly ritualized.” Charles tried to gain teacher support for using radio and film in the classroom, but found that most teachers were resistant to change because it would reshape some of the core processes in the classroom.

Analyzing Teacher use of Machines

• In this section he talks about a study he conducted in 1984 on the history of classroom teaching since the turn of the century
• He found that there is a discrepancy in technology use between elementary and secondary classes, and this is due to several factors that he discusses.
• More change occurred in elementary schools than did in secondary schools- they shifted from whole-group instruction to small groups, and classrooms were more informal.
• There are also substantial structural differences between elementary and secondary classrooms which explain why elementary teachers use more technology.
• Elementary teachers spend 6 hours a day with one group, while secondary teachers have 55 minutes with several groups
• Elementary students have one or two teachers that they meet with at the most, so coherence in teaching is more possible. Secondary students meet with 6 or so teachers, all having different styles and different expectations.
• There are also more external demands on secondary teachers to prepare students for standardized tests or for college.
• All of those structural differences make it easier for elementary teachers to vary their pedagogy or practices since they have more flexibility than secondary teachers.
• He also makes a point that teachers ask different questions and have different concerns in regards to productivity, cost-benefit ratio and versatility of classroom technologies than the non-teachers who manufacture these technologies and send them to the classroom.
• For a teacher to consider using a technology such as radio or film in the classroom, it must make classroom instruction more efficient, interesting and worth the while. Often times, teachers don’t adopt the technology because instructional technology does not meet those expectations.
• Also, with the increased pressure to concentrate on math, reading and writing, there was not enough time to devote to watching film or listening to radio because of the time it took to get them working or scheduling conflicts.

Why some teachers are willing users

• There are some teachers who believe that movies enhance textbook readings and that it enhances motivation due to its visual appeal
• Film and radio are practical solutions to elementary teachers to help students regain the energy that they lose during the day. Secondary school teachers do not have that same privilege since they teach different groups throughout the day.
• In conclusion, teachers will only alter classroom behavior to the degree that technology helps them solve problems they define important such as teaching content and classroom management.