The Danger of Technology

Last month one of the posts in the Carnival of Education was from Mr. Pullen’s website, “The Definitive Guide to School 2.0”. He’s clearly in tune with what Web 2.0 means and how that will change the classroom, but I think he goes a step too far in some of his recommendations. For example (emphasis mine),

Go faster. Most teachers talk too much, repeat themselves a great deal, and go over things far too slowly. Do you feel like you have to say things two or three times because your students don’t listen well? Start by saying everything once and they’ll listen better.

Oh, God, no.

Understand that one of my primary assignments as a first grade teacher is to get the kids to read; further, I do a lot of work with our remedial students to try and get them to where they need to be. I think it’s a dangerous, dangerous path that the author goes down here with his “say it once!” idea.

It’s also not backed up by research. See what's been written about the spacing effect, for example, or the work that Fred Jones has done with say, see, do teaching. Think of an analogy to coaching--it would be a very poor experience indeed if you practiced the play once and assumed mastery.

Fundamentally, any reading teacher trying to not repeat themselves is doing a horrible disservice to their students, particularly those who struggle with language.

Later on into the post he gets into some ways teachers can use Web 2.0 technology in the classroom, including on-line publishing, classroom blogs, and podcasting. It’s an interesting perspective; those more technologically inclined than I should definitely give it a look.