If spending figures are an indicator, there is no doubt that American schools are embracing technology. Figures from Market Data Retrieval show that $5.67 billion, or $121.37 per student, was spent on technology in the 1999-2000 school year (p. xvii). Alan November asks readers to look beyond this statistic and ask, "Are students using technology to learn? Is technology making a difference in the learning process?"
November, a Harvard graduate and veteran in the area of technology integration, sees both positive and negative responses to these questions and uses his book, "Empowering Students with Technology", to show teachers, administrators, parents and students how to embrace technology as a learning tool.
According to November, for technology to really impact the learning process, a major shift in thinking and practice must take place. He uses his introduction to talk about this shift. Too many organizations, he notes, automate with technology; that is, they use technology to perform the same tasks with more efficiency.
The real test of technological integration, he believes, is informating. Informating changes the flow and control of information. To demonstrate this contrast, he shares the example of a school that purchases a $2,000 computer and then uses it like pencil and paper to record grades or to have students write an essay, examples of automating. Informating, on the other hand, would involve students, from a variety of locations, to use their computers to collaborate with other students to write a story and then publish their work on the net for a global audience.
What November describes in these five chapters amounts to a revolution in teaching. "The real revolution in learning is not about adding technology on top of the current structure of school. Instead, the real revolution is about a transformational shift of control from the school system to the learner." (p. xv-xvi)
Chapter one, "Teaching and Learning the Structure of Information", stresses the need for students to know how to evaluate information, to think critically about the information they find on the Internet. Chapter two, "Empowering Learning By Expanding Relationships," looks at the need for collaboration in education between students, teachers and parents, both locally and around the world. Chapter three, "Emerging Roles with in the Knowledge Community," examines how the role of teacher changes when students are empowered.
In Chapter four, "Accessing Primary Sources to Enhance Critical Thinking," November highlights the resources available through sites such as the National Archives and includes examples of assignments that can be used to enhance students' critical thinking skills. Finally, in Chapter five, "Building Knowledge without Boundaries: Online Learning," November discusses the growing trend toward online learning, using the examples of three pioneering online school programs.
Very visual in its presentation, this book includes photographs, cartoons, sidebars, charts and graphs, giving it a web site appearance and feel. It includes an excellent appendix of websites along with a helpful bibliography and useable index. Each chapter contains sample assignments called E-Ventures and a set of questions for reflection.
Recommended for anyone interested in technological innovation in the classroom.
Pages: 101
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 1-57517-372-7
Reviewed by Stephanie Davis, Spring Arbor University
