Thinking about Educational Technology

How you use technology in education is more important than if you use it at all*

                   --David D. Thornburg

This weekend I was doing some reading and research.  Specifically, I was looking for insightful and thought-provoking sources on digital citizenship, particularly for high school students.  Along the way I stumbled onto several intriguing and very challenging papers by David Thornburg - futurist, thinker, consultant.  And this quote in particular, from an academic paper published for the US Dept of Ed, got me thinking about the intersection of technology and pedagogy.  It's simple to say that we want to use technology to reform or transform education for the 21st Century, but how do we know what is truly effective and transformative when we are in the moment?  How much can technology really drive this transformation in education and how much is driven by other forces, where technology is simply a participant?

In discussing the traditional lecture mode of teaching, Thornburg refers to a painting of a classroom by Laurentius de Voltolina from 1350 that shows it not working. Students are talking to each other or falling asleep while the teacher drones on.





In a separate article about Thornburg's latest book, From the Campfire to the Holodeck, he talks about four learning models: the traditional “campfire,” or lecture-based design; the “watering hole,” or social learning; the “cave,” a place to quietly reflect; and “life”—where ideas are tested.  What struck me as interesting was how there are facets of digital technology (apps) which can address each of these, many cross the 'boundaries'.

 *Thornburg, David D., Technology in K-12 Education: Envisioning a New Future, Dec. 1999, US Ed, ERIC ID 452843