Cathleen Norris

Handheld Devices are Ready-At-Hand

Given the significant costs involved in putting technology into schools and given the potential to harm young children, one prominent report calls for “An immediate moratorium on the further introduction of computers in ... elementary education” [3]. Rather than getting defensive, gesticulating wildly, and dragging out that favorite story about how one child we personally know accomplished an amazing thing with a computer, it’s time to come out of the closet: children simply aren’t using computers in K–12 schools and that’s why there isn’t substantial data on the impact of computers in K–12 education. Let’s look at some basic statistics about availability and use of computers in K–12:

No Access, No Use, No Impact: Snapshot Surveys of Educational Technology In K-12

Abstract There is general agreement that computing technologies have not had a significant impact on teaching and learning in K–12 in the U.S., even though billions of dollars have been spent in purchasing, equipping, and supporting the technology. Some critics of school technology use this situation to push their position that technology is not appropriate for children. Others put the failure on the backs of classroom teachers. However, based on the data we collected administering the Snapshot Survey in districts large and small around the country to approximately 4,000 K–12 classroom teachers, the reason that technology has not had an impact on teaching and learning is that students have, for all intents and purposes, not actually used the technology. Furthermore, the reason for this non-use lies not at the feet of the teachers, but rather in the very real lack of access to the technology. Having one computer in the classroom is not access, nor will it lead to significant student use. Frankly, technology can’t have an impact if children have not had the opportunity to access and use the technology.

Envisioning the Handheld-Centric Classroom

While appropriate as an initial focus, it is time that the educational community move beyond an emphasis on 1:1 computing (each child having his/her own personal computer) to a vision of a handheld-centric classroom, where each child not only has his/her own personal, handheld computer, but also has access to networked PCs, probeware, digital cameras, etc. Such a classroom digital infrastructure, we argue, uniquely supports project-based learning, where children can engage in multi-week, multi-media, multi-subject, collaborative efforts. With the rapid emergence of low-cost handheld devices, the realization of this vision—and its associated educational affordances—is literally possible tomorrow in our childrens classrooms. Thus, it is imperative that the educational community engages in extended conversations, now, about the range of teaching and learning opportunities that the handheld-centric classroom makes possible. Our article is a contribution to that discussion.

Log on education: K-12 and the Internet

BE A TA S ZP U R A Learning is promoted when information resources and discourse around artifacts and ideas are readily and routinely available to teachers and students. But classrooms are islands in their schools and in their communities. From the brick-and-mortar by which our schools are built, through concerns for child safety, our classrooms have come to be surrounded by a nonpermeable membrane that blocks the entry of ideas, events, people, and artifacts. For all this membrane’s strength, a thin phone line is breaking through, connecting classrooms to the outside world. While there is considerable debate over the value of the Internet in U.S. elementary education—K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade, which starts at about five years old and finishes at around 17 years old), the naysayers can only slow down the process; the Internet is coming to each and every school and classroom. In this column, we explore the ways in which the Internet uniquely supports learning. First, we argue why students need access to information resources. We then describe two projects that link children with Internet-based resources. Next, we argue why discourse is

Proposed curriculum for programs leading to teacher certification in computer science

Would a school system allow a person with only an eight-grade education to become an English teacher? Would a self-taught math teacher be given full responsibility for the high school math program? The answers to these questions are obvious to everyone: to become a subject-matter specialist school teacher, one must demonstrate competency by fulfilling state certification requirements. Yet these same school systems, which have well-defined qualification standards for English teachers and math teachers, today often assign full responsibility for the computer studies/computer science program to teachers who are self-taught or whose formal training is equivalent to an eight-grade education in the subject.

Log on education: teachers and technology: easing the way

M IC H A EL S C H R Ö TE R Asking K–12 teachers to integrate networked computers into the classroom is the biggest challenge we have given them in the last 200 years. Stridently admonishing them to change in the media isn’t the way to help them make the transition. It is our responsibility to create the workplace conditions that enable, complement, and support teachers. Technology’s disruptiveness is not unique to education; it has caused all manner of stress in professionals from accountants to zoologists. But non-teaching professions have generally been interacting with technology for upwards of 20 years, first automating, and now infomating their activities. They have had time to amortize the pain of adjusting their work practices to take advantage of technological advances. It is only now that teachers are

The Effect of Computer Science Instruction on Critical Thinking Skills and Mental Alertness

AbstractProblem-solving ability is a necessary precursor to success in most professions, as well as in everyday living. Many research studies dealing with programs aimed at teaching critical thinking skills indicate that while there is some success when critical thinking skills are taught directly, there is little transfer of the problem-solving skills learned in one discipline to problem solving in another discipline. This study examines the effect of completion of an introductory level computer programming course on students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Using technology to address old problems in new ways

A fter attending a school board meeting, you find yourself walking to the parking lot with the school’s superintendent. She knows you are involved in technology and turns to ask: “So, what is the value of computers in education?” This is what’s called an opportunity; your next sentence better be interesting. If it is, then she’ll ask more questions, and by the time both of you get to your cars, the superintendent may well have learned something very important; the everyday experiences of children in your district may well be impacted. Some potential one-liners:

Learner-centered design: developing software that scaffolds learning

Learner-centered design (LCD) is an evolving design approach for designing tools that support learners trying to engage in and understand complex work practices in which they are novices. Learner-centered design focuses on developing tools that incorporate support (or “scaffolding”) to support the novice in seeing and doing complex, unknown work so that the learner can begin developing an understanding of that work in a “learning by doing” fashion. In this tutorial, we will give participants a more in-depth treatment of learnercentered design by describing a definition for LCD, theoretical background, and the LCD process and methods to give participants experience with the mindset needed for the LCD approach.

Log on education: the three Ts of elementary education

ER IC H A N SO N Currently, the U.S. is enjoying the best economic period— ever. Now is the time, then, to address the substantive challenges in elementary (K–12) education; if we can’t now remedy the problems with all our resources, the alternative is simply unthinkable. And who better to spearhead the federal government’s initiative than Astronaut-extraordinaire, John Glenn (Rep.-Oh). Glenn’s unimpeachable integrity will enable him to build bipartisan consensus for the biggest change in public education in 200 years. Glenn will go down in the history books as the man who fixed K–12 education in the U.S. Quite a set of expectations to lay on someone. If anyone can do it, it’s Glenn. At President Clinton’s request, Glenn formed The National Commission on K–12 Science and Math Education (www.ed.gov/americacounts/glenn/toc.html), with luminaries such as President of Intel Craig Barrett and Senator Ted Kennedy. The Commission is holding public hearings around the country and listening to what folks think needs to be done about public education in the U.S.