A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Using Technology to Support Education Reform -- September 1993

How Technology and Reform Fit Together: Contents of This Review

Technology and reform do not necessarily go hand in hand. Broad demonstrations of this fact are offered by all of the technologies that were going to revolutionize the classroom--television in the 1960s, computers in the 1970s, videodisc and artificial intelligence in the 1980s--but didn't. More selective demonstrations of this fact are provided by studies of specific sites that invested in technology with the idea of changing the school or the classroom, only to find that the equipment sat in a closet or that teachers used the technology to do the same things they had always done (Oakes & Schneider 1984). At the same time, the majority of school reform efforts are proceeding without any appreciable contribution from technology (Ray 1991).

Nevertheless, studies of instructional uses of technology over the past decade have taken a new turn, showing not just whether a technology can teach or how it compares with conventional instruction (the focus of the earlier research literature) but the effects that technology has on what is learned and the teaching and learning roles within the classroom. What this literature shows, in brief, is that when used in ways that are compatible with the student learning model shown as the second column of Table I-1, technology supports exactly the kinds of changes in content, roles, organizational climate, and affect that are at the heart of the reform movement.

After reviewing the range of educational technologies used in education in Chapter II, we will turn to a description of how technology can support the kinds of student learning activities depicted in our model in Table I-1. In an area as multifaceted and fast changing as instructional technologies, an exhaustive review is not possible. Rather, we have attempted to convey a sense of the range of applications along with a more detailed description of selected programs that illustrate key points. Chapter III describes ways in which technology can support the kind of student learning activities called for by education reformers. Chapter IV describes ways in which technology can support the teacher activities needed to promote this kind of student learning. A discussion of the research literature on the effects of technology on student learning outcomes is presented in Chapter V. The final chapter deals with issues of implementation for projects attempting education reform supported by technology.
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[Elements of School Reform] [Table of Contents] [Chapter II: Educational Technologies]

This page was last updated December 18, 2001 (jca)