Efficiency of the learning task
As an example, we have always found it somewhat ironic that science laboratory experiences are nearly ubiquitous experiential educational activities and seem ignored in discussions of whether experiential activities are worthwhile. Science labs make a good example of the challenge of task efficiency. If a college student is taking a science course it is often the case that the time spent in the laboratory may count only half as many credits (two hours for one credit) as time spent in lecture/discussion. However, the time required is only part of the issue. How much is really learned during this "hands on" time? The time to setup and complete experiments is often extensive in contrast to the time spent reflecting on what the experiment may demonstrate. The focus can be on completing the task and producing the expected result rather than thinking through the processes or attempting to understand what can be observed.
We see this distinction between "the experience" and "thinking about the experience" in many educational activities and note that the "thinking about the experience" component is often sacrificed to save time. For a second example, you may have recognized that educators react to the potential of a field trip in different ways. Some prepare their students for the opportunity through discussion and reading activities and follow-up with more discussion and writing activities. Other educators appear to assume the field trip itself will be educational. There are obvious differences here in the investment in the "thinking about the experience" component.
We have included the science laboratory and field trip examples to encourage your thinking about class time, learning activities, and learning. There are at least a couple of useful insights. First, the pressure to make efficient use of time may limit the use of follow-up activities reducing the potential benefit of time already spent. In planning the best general strategy for a group of students, it would likely be better to reduce the number of tasks so that sufficient time can be spent on priority activities. Second, it may be useful to analyze learning activities to consider whether students are likely engaged in the cognitive activities necessary for meaningful learning. It is possible that such cognitive activity has not been encouraged. It is also possible that the activities differ in the efficiency with which cognitive activity is encouraged.
Efficiency of the learning tool
The mantra for those of us promoting classroom use of technology has long been "it is not about the technology, it is about the learning". When we and others first began using the phrase "integrating technology", this was really the intended message. Of course, some technology skills are worth learning because the skills are central to vocational opportunities (e.g., video editing, programming) or what some might describe as daily life (e.g., setting up the TIVO to record television programs for later viewing, searching for information on the Internet). In contrast, we emphasize the necessary development of student skill in the use of technology because the technology then offers students benefits in traditional academic tasks. For example, it is likely worth developing keyboarding skills and learning how one or more word processing programs operate because writing is such a common academic activity. In this situation, there is an investment of time to become proficient with the technology, but there is also return on this investment in accomplishing content area tasks.
We assume that most teachers would find student use of a word processing program useful. However, what we have encountered in interacting with teachers are drastic differences of opinion regarding how much of the potential of a word processing program should students be expected to know and hence differences of opinion regarding how much time should be devoted to helping students acquire this knowledge. At least part of this variability stems from different opinions regarding efficiency. Does taking the time to learn a skill generate a reasonable return on investment? Since you likely make use of a word processing program, you might ask yourself similar questions about your depth of knowledge in using this tool. For example, have you invested the time to learn how to create a style sheet suited to the types of papers you have to write? Have you learned how to create a "hanging indent" so that references are properly formatted (APA style)? Do you know how to take advantage of a citation manager to store and then insert citations in documents you prepare? We selected these examples because we anticipate your answers would be "no" and because we would not necessarily encourage you to look for the manuals or search online in order to master these techniques. Our point is that as a teacher we are typically encouraging you to consider various types of technology tools or services as tools that enable learning or facilitate learning tasks, but we are asking that you think carefully about which version of a certain category of tools you expect students to learn to use (e.g., different tools for creating web pages) and how many of the features of a given tool students are expected to master (e.g., which of the capabilities of sophisticated word processing programs).
We hesitate to focus too much on specific tasks or tools because situations can vary so greatly. What we can do is to identify issues we think are important to consider in making decisions.
So, we are asking you to consider the investment required to make use of the technology involved in a specific educational setting.
- How difficult does it seem learning the tool will be for students at the level you teach?
We are also asking that you consider issues that will determine the impact of this investment.
- How many times will students use the tool? Is this a one-time project or task or will students like make frequent use of what they learn in your class and in other classes?
- How flexible/flexible is the tool? Will use of the tool be suited to a variety of projects or activities?
- Is mastery of the tool itself useful as life or vocational skill?