Both Chickering & Gamsons’ (1987) and Bates & Pooles’ (2003) ideas spoke to me. I think it was because of their simplicity that I find them so appealing. They do not overcomplicate the solution, but layout the techniques, values, and principles that they feel would improve the learning experience of our students.
I come to this reflection from the context of science and math education in the Jr high school years. One of the principles that sprang to my attention was the need to ‘develop reciprocity and cooperation among students.’ I believe the essence of this principle is too often lost in our race as educators to rank, sort and judge our students. The goal of our system is to promote learning, and this is best accomplished through a collaborative approach where everyone is pulling in the same direction. The cooperation should not end between students, but should extend throughout the entire community. Teachers, parents, administrators, and students should share and act with the same goal in mind, to cooperate to attain the success of every student.
Establishing this principle in my own practice brings several challenges. I often feel pressured to rank students and adjust my summative assessments to achieve an acceptable average. This pressure comes from within; I impose this on myself and in turn subject my students to the unfortunate effects. I can preach cooperation and the need for students to work together, but my own actions need to change before I can expect the same from my students.
There is general agreement that the use of technology can bring positive benefits to learning in the classroom. In the actual practice of this philosophy, there is a dilemma that arises with the concept of money. Cost, as identified with Bates and Poole, is a hurdle for educators that must be overcome. The decision to bring technology to a learning community seems easy enough; the cost of netbooks is below $300. There are however many potential hazards along the course, many of which are below the view of most observers (including myself). Acquiring the technology is one step, but maintaining it, training employees, and repairing mishaps are all cost factors that must be considered.
There are various ways to bring in and manage technological equipment. Equipment can be leased, purchased and managed by central district, purchased and managed by individual school, or student purchased and managed. I feel the needs of individual communities can be addressed the best when individual schools and families develop solutions together.
An example of such a system may have each student purchase a netbook with a subsidy from the school. Initial purchasing costs could be developed so to accommodate individual area needs in an equitable fashion; students in less affluent areas could have computers further subsidized through district or government funding.
Having students purchase their own computers, or part of their computers, could help bring down initial costs for a district. More importantly, it would give students access and ownership over their device promoting inquiry, creativity, and responsibility. Students would be responsible to protecting their computer from damage, maintaining a working system, and bringing it to school to be used in the classroom. Currently at our school we have an issue with shared laptops being damaged, part of the reason I believe is a lack of connection students feel with the devices (keys go missing etc). It is my hope that if the students had ownership over their own equipment, they would treat it with more respect and therefore reduce repair and replacement costs while increasing the availability of technology for learning.
The idea is a work in progress and I know there are several hurdles to implementation. Let me know what you think.