EdTechLive provides the audio of interviews with prominent individuals in the field. A recent addition is a session with Larry Cuban (author of Oversold and Underused – the PDF of which is also available from the site) and this conversation has generated some buzz in the blogs I follow. For those who have followed some of the core issues, most of the arguments in the interview are pretty much a rehash of themes from previous publications. Cuban’s 2001 book investigated a wide variety of issues concerning the use of technology in schools. Two of the major themes are apparent from the title – schools are pressued to purchase technology and the amount of time students spend using technology is very limited. The lack of reliable evidence that technology has a meaningful impact on achievement, limited opportunities for students to use the resources that are purchased, and the cost of the purchases are blended into a rather pessimistic picture. While pessimistic, this book and a journal article (much shorter – American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 813–834) should be read by those interested in this field. The interview provides a nice overview and may generate in some the motivation necessary to locate the book in the library or online.
Some of these same issues have been raised again by the recent Wall Street Journal article criticizing 1:1 laptop initiatives (accessible without cost from other services). This topic comes up in the interview.
Addressing and interpreting all of the concerns raised in the Cuban documents would require another book. Many of the observations (e.g., students spend little time with technology, teachers with adequate personal technology skills fail to avail their students of the same tool opportunities) have been made by others and the causes and related recommendations vary. The issue of “proof” in education is troublesome to all of us attempting to make good decisions about the field and also attempting to keep our personal interests from clouding the practices we advocate.
I would suggest that a careful reading of the research literature would bring into question several “costly” and time consuming educational practices (one of which Dr. Cuban seemed to mention in a positive way in this interview – general liberal arts education). One of may favorite examples (perhaps because of my personal academic training) is the science laboratory. The cost of laboratory experiences in introductory chemistry is extremely expensive (partly because the safety requirements that are imposed) and the demonstrated contribution to the understanding of the content taught in such courses would be hard to justify based on the literature I have read. I think some of the same factors that Cuban mentions in his book apply to the way we think about science laboratories. Instead of pressures exerted by parents to involve their children with computers and the promotions of companies interested in selling technology to schools, pressure comes from other directions. The assumptions regarding what constitutes sound scientific training promoted by organizations such as the NSF and the politics asssuming that general math and science preparation are somehow essential to international competitiveness prompt schools to spend money in certain ways. I am not against spending the money – my point is that finding costly academic ventures that lack a strong empirical basis is not that difficult.
Listen to the interview, parse the various arguments, and determine for yourself how you would interpret many of the observations that are provided.
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