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Open Letter to the Teacher Who Said ''I Hate Technology.''

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Dear Teacher who said "I hate technology,"

First of all, I want to thank you for your candor and your willingness to openly share your opinion regarding the use of tools for learning. I am a firm believer that we should all have an open forum for expressing our opinions about our profession and the factors that influence it. That is why I am writing here.

Rather than do what most readers of this letter are expecting me to do and refute your claims, I have to admit that I concur--I hate it too. Yes, I must admit, that comes as surprise, I am sure, but something tells me that our reasons for this shared loathing will not be the same. Let me share mine with you and then we can have an informed discussion to compare and contrast.

First, I cannot stand that I have had to give up hours of painstakingly annotating papers with carefully crafted comments and editing marks. I'll miss that fullness of self when I return the essays and research papers back to the students and they scurrilously thumb to the last page, jettisoning any comment or edit I made, to find out their total score on the paper.

Secondly, the fact that there will be conversations about topics in my class that occurr UNABATED and not in my presence is inconceivable and incorrigible. Thoughts about the content of my class that do not occur during the sanctity of my 50 minute class period belong either as one-on-one conversations with me in the hallway, clearly stated on their homework papers, or held onto in the working memory of the student until the next class period or hallway conversation with me.

Lastly, the assignment of group projects should be a rite of passage that includes several if not all of the following situations for students: one student should do most of the work including but not limited to: writing, researching, organizing, and assigning ancillary roles to other team members, one student should lose the flash drive that has the slide presentation at least once during the assignment duration, one student, most likely the one who pulls down 30+ hours at the local burger joint, should not be able to meet with the rest of the group at any time outside of school, provided the other group members athletics and extracurricular activities schedules do not preclude any outside of the classroom meetings. Additionally, I should not be able to see the extent to which each of these students worked on the project until the very end of the process.

As you can see, my role as a teacher is being compromised by the intrusion of tools that render aspects of my daily goings-on as obsolete. This I won't stand for. Plus, adding to my ire is the fact that there is all of this talk about new definitions of literacy. Reading is no longer just the deconstruction and reconstruction of text, but now I am being asked to help students make sense of rich media, data sets that are visualized, and more streams of immediate news and information on a daily basis. If you ask me, there is just a whole lot of noise. What do you say we just don't listen to it?

We had teachers growing up who were able to teach us the finer points of composing, of calculation, of geography, and the greater literary works of both North America and Europe, yet their technology was limited to chalk, and blessed be, an overhead projector. Can't we do as much or more with the same?

So I am with you, I think, in resisting this move, and I'll do just what's mandated of me by my building principal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go close my classroom door...

Cross-posted at Chalkdust101 and Ecology of Education.

Posted by Patrick Higgins at 05/05/2009 10:56:51 PM |

Brutal. I like it. I'm in the unenviable position at present of attempting to train teachers in the use of ICT in their classroom (and beyond). Fun times. Wish I had the guts to set this as required reading before seeing me next time.
Posted by: Miriam L ( Email: | Visit ) at 5/6/2009 7:38 AM

Beautifully crafted response. I laughed through it all since I saw through the sarcasm from the start. I think I may use this with others who say "they hate technology". Of course, most of them spend the day in front of the class lecturing, while I get to mingle with my students as they use technology to do labs and projects. I think some of them are jealous.
Posted by: Dave ( Email: ) at 5/6/2009 9:52 AM

Veiled sarcasm and disguised insults and insinuations are not productive tools in diagolue. Nor, are they good tools for persuasion. Yes,it is difficult to leave your comfort zone, however, it is necessary for growth.
Posted by: Roxann ( Email: ) at 5/7/2009 2:27 PM

While it is tempting to poke fun at those who resist technology, these teachers are often (but not always) the ones who have many of the other skills and talents necessary for good classroom instruction. They have the learning strategies, classroom discipline and understanding of curriculum down cold. When we honour these skills and abilities and provide on-going support many of these “resistors” are encouraged to use technology and change their teaching. When we belittle them, they, just like our students, retreat, resist and defend. Too often, when we "train" these teachers they feel overwhelmed as they struggle to see how the software connects to what they are doing in the classroom. And so they continue doing what they've always done.
I recently had the pleasure of working with a group of high school teachers in Bermuda. We had three days over the course of the year to work together (with another three days next year). In this time, we examined beliefs about technology and its place in the classroom (in other words let the naysayers have their say), focused on learners and learning rather than software and explored the concept of universal design. Once this foundation was in place, we integrated the use of the technology with current practice. This included excellent teaching strategies teachers were currently using (such as graphic organizers), relating on-going initiatives to the technology (for example relating our sessions with previous sessions on “Reading in the Content Areas”) and giving teachers the time to explore their ideas, apply their ideas with students in the their classroom, share with the group and discuss what worked and what didn’t. As time proceeds these teachers will become coaches (not trainers or experts or mentors)but coaches willing and able to work with teachers to help them integrate technology in their classroom.
I can understand the frustration when we meet resistant teachers but it is my experience that when we acknowledge their skills (rather than focus on their limitations) and help them make connections based on where they are (rather than where we want them to be) they are willing and able to make changes to their practice.
Posted by: Kendra Grant ( Email: ) at 5/7/2009 2:33 PM

Technology is neither good nor bad, but both. Too often it begins to manage people, allow us to avoid direct conversation, or distract us into meaningless text messages, twitters, etc. Yet it offers so much that can enrich learning and our lives. The secret is how to balance it. Are resistant teachers always evil? Do kids learn less in their rooms when compared to tech-savy ones? Doesn't it depend on what each teacher is doing? The sarcastic comment gets no where and polarizes the discussion. Could you time (and perhaps my time) be better spent on something more constructive?
Posted by: Steve Griesbach ( Email: ) at 5/7/2009 10:14 PM

While I have found the use of technology especially helpful in my special education classroom. I have fellow teachers, good teachers, in both general and special education who don't. The reason being, their unfamiliarity with the new technologies and the lack of professional development that addresses their needs. These are teachers who for the most part have never used a computer in their lives and have no idea of what can be done with it.

At PDs I've watched them get lost within the first few minutes because it is assumed everyone knows the basics. In order to reach these teachers we need to help them become comfortable with the new technology by helping them learn how to use it well. Then we can show the ways it can help the in the classroom.

I spent a lot of time after school as well as during school hours giving lessons to my coworkers that should have been offered by the school/district. Even in my retirement there are still a few who call me for help because they are looked down on by those who should be teaching them. With all the focus on differentiating instruction in the classroom you would think the administration would realize the value of differetiation in professional development.
Posted by: Denise Mercado ( Email: ) at 5/8/2009 8:01 AM

sarcasm never becomes teachers. I also am somewhat of a Luddite at times when it comes to technology, but when it works, if it works, I also love and embrace it. What Kendra forgets is that there is an enormous learning curve for programs and aps that vary with each of us (for example, I don't use Imovie on the Mac platform very often, and am finding myself currently spending much more time than I feel I should relearning a newer updated "improved" version) Although what Patrick points out has always been a dream of mine, I personally, have yet to make it magically work that way, and sometimes the results quite frankly have not been worth it. However, what Patrick does is undoubtedly the direction teaching is, and should be going, since it certainly is a different world that our students live in, just as mine was different from my teachers.
Posted by: paul murgatroyd ( Email: ) at 5/8/2009 10:46 AM

Thank you everyone for your comments. This post was cross-posted at two other places, both of which received similar comments. While sarcasm may not be the best angle for creating bridges between those who do and those who don't with technology, I truly think we need more of the "this is how it is" mentality in our schools.

There needs to be some level of expectation that all teachers and administrators have a level of technological proficiency. There is no reason that we should accept that some teachers cannot send an email with an attachment, or save a file to a directory. And these are just basic operations. Too often, I feel, we allow teachers to rely on the teacher in the hallway that is "into technology," to do what they need.

I'd go even further with this to say that the conversation shouldn't even be at this level, but rather at a much higher one. Collaboration and Connectivism allow us to do so much more than we have ever done before, allow our students to do so much more than before, and if we don't have teacher-leaders who can see the possibilities within this realm, we are in serious trouble.

The model that we rely on someone to "train" us how to do something, as Denis mentions in her comment about PD, is a broken one. If we ask our teachers to learn in a one-size fits all PD session, how do we expect them to really own the learning? We need to find new models for PD, ones that demonstrate the importance of having teachers as constant learners.

The last piece I'd like to clarify is that the most important sentence I wrote in the post had nothing to do with technology, but rather the attitude that I see all too often in schools: the closed-door mentality. As Kevin Washburn said in response to this post at Ecology of Education:
"...there's a deeper, possibly more discouraging aspect to this. The teacher who hates technology communicated a hesitation to learn and grow. Technology just happened to the target of the moment."
Posted by: Patrick ( Email: | Visit ) at 5/8/2009 1:26 PM

I am from outside your profession, and yet I am part of it. As a trial lawyer my sole job is to teach the judge and jury the theory of my case. If they agree with me, I get an "A." If they disagree, I lose the case. There's no in between.

Technology has come to the law in a big way, just as it has become the camel with its nose under the tent of Education. Lawyers are no different from teachers, Some are as resistant to change and unwilling to accept new ideas, methods, teaching aids as any other profession. Some will turn their back on the presenter at professional development sessions, talk loudly, let me say rudely, to their neighbors during a presentation, or simply get up and walk out.

Others, however, embrace the concept, if not the reality of what they see. Though not of a present mind to fully embrace the practice of new technology, they see its possibilities and remain open to its use at some future, yet to be determined time. There's hope for this group.

Not too many years ago I carried a laptop into a deposition. I was there to "defend" the deposition, meaning I was there not to ask questions of the witness, but to represent the opposing side of the lawsuit.

The opposing lawyer complained that I should not be allowed to have a computer in the room. Pencil and legal pad should be enough. The court reporter was there to record the testimony, why should I need to use a computer? Besides, everyone knows that lawyers don't know how to type, that's why they have a secretary.

I disagreed. Any tool that makes my job easier (I am unable to write in cursive) is something that interests me. So I kept my laptop open and began to take notes as the lawyer began his questioning. My activity, taking the same notes that I would have tried to take in longhand, but on a computer, so unnerved the lawyer that he stopped the deposition and took me to court to prevent the use of the laptop.

Needless to say, or perhaps not needless in this strange world of endless conflict, the presiding judge ruled in favor of technology over tradition. I was permitted to use my laptop.

That was less than twenty years ago. A millennium in the development of all the technology that has evolved since then. From a time when I was that oddball lawyer who knew, or was trying to learn to type, it is difficult to imagine any competent lawyer NOT carrying a computer to every legal proceeding, AND knowing how to use it!

What does all this have to do with you as teachers? As a group, you have learned how to teach and it is difficult to envision doing it in any way other than the way you were taught and learned as an undergraduate student or as a student teacher. You, like every human on earth, find it hard to change from what you know well, and what seems to work for you.

What I would hope for from my grandson's teachers, however, is that they could summon up some of the enthusiasm for new ideas that they hope to provoke in their students. I would hope that they would be willing to struggle with their new technologies of whiteboards, document readers and Prometheans long enough to master the basics of what might be possible with each of those teaching aids, not for their own comfort or personal satisfaction, but for what those technologies might make possible for those whom they teach.

I am watching as my grandson's third grade teacher struggles with his Promethean to learn its myriad functions and possibilities and I admire him. His students see clearly how the Promethean works, and though many of them are not tall enough to reach some of the controls, they know how to use them and they embrace them.

Let me end with this thought: is there a possibility that teachers still have the capacity to become students?
Posted by: Anthony Mournian ( Email: ) at 5/10/2009 9:25 AM

I am very interested in these posts. Does anyone have a link to the original letter? I would like to read the letter and come back and read these posts again. Thanks.
Posted by: GeneC ( Email: ) at 5/15/2009 8:53 AM

Having represented both textbook publishers and software providers in educational settings for over 15 years, I have wondered how long it would be before educators would embrace technology rather than fight it. As a former classroom teacher (9 years), I would have given my right arm for computers and software that would have assisted me in providing the individualized instruction I can now deliver to students. Having spent hours constructing my version of that same instruction manually, I could now access and create pathways for each student in minutes--and then track their use and progress--as well as areas of concern--in minutes.

When I left the classroom, I missed seeing those positive interactions I worked for, but it had burned me out with the hours of preparation needed to do the job effectively. There will likely be a place for both textbooks, lectures, and technology for years to come, but we need to recognize that the students coming into the middle school and high school classrooms now have access to technology 24/7, want to learn at their pace rather than ours, and if motivated (and technology is great at that), will far outpace the limited amount of learning they can receive from a book with a front and back cover... If I were to present a case to colleges preparing new educators for the classroom of tomorrow, I would recommend that they stress the need to change and keep up to date in order to remain in education. Best practices will continue to evolve, and so do the best educators.
Posted by: Ed Kow ( Email: ) at 5/15/2009 9:13 AM

To Anthony:

Yes, teachers still have the ability to becomes students, but they have to accept that the rules of learning have changed. Learning does not isolate itself to the classroom or the graduate school class. Learning is now networked, ubiquitous and under the complete control of the learner.

To Gene:
There was no actual teacher that uttered this, rather just an aggregate feeling I was reacting to.

To Ed:
Amen.
Posted by: Patrick ( Email: | Visit ) at 5/16/2009 10:43 PM

What tripe! If this educator spent half the time reading and practicing satire that he does patting himself smugly on the back for being able to use the internet, his pusillanimous attempt to humiliate his colleagues might not be so painful to read. The choice between chalkboard and information technology is a false one. The real decision we must make is whether we encourage our students to become slavishly distracted by the latest way to spend hours away from the company of other human beings or engage them in thoughtful, content-rich dialogue that invites them to participate in civilization. The good news for the author of this article is that he is well on his way of advancing his career in administration, where progress is measured in numbers of laptops and “innovative” web-based networking programs.
Posted by: Sean ( Email: ) at 5/17/2009 4:55 PM

Sean,

Being the author and educator in question, a few things surprise me about your response.

You bring up a point that Jason hinted at in his response: while it is of utmost importance to "engage them in thoughtful, content-rich dialogue that invites them to participate in civilization," perhaps more than anything else we do now is to teach them that the conversation is happening at many levels and in many places. It's not enough to just engage in the face-to-face, because so often in their future they will have to be able to engage in conversations that are asynchronous. Where are our students going to get their information from? With the ease at which information is created and manipulated, there is no greater burden for educators today than to aid in the formation of student "BS" detectors. How can this be done without full-on discussion and immersion in new forms of publication and information dissemination?

It is not, nor ever will be, about the technology. As I stated in a comment above, technology just is. It's like data: it is what it is. It's here, it's in your classroom, in your student's pockets, and most likely written directly into your curriculum. The hard questions come when you begin to leverage it to accomplish the aim you speak of: meaningful conversation around issues of citizenship.

Lastly, any technology that goes to make us less social should fail. See this video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/renny_gleeso.... We haven't yet created the norms as a society for the behaviors that social technology has initiated.

Thanks for the pushback, and in the interest of full-disclosure, I am an administrator, and I'd love to further this discussion with a focus on our definitions of progress. I can assure you that mine has nothing at all to do with the two generalities you pose.
Posted by: phiggins ( Email: | Visit ) at 5/20/2009 11:35 AM

Yes, there are people who long for chalk and typewriters ... but let's not forget that technology is any tool used to make a task easier: thus, chalk, overhead projectors and typewriters - oh and pens, pencil and paper - are technology. If teachers want to "ditch" computers and the Internet because they are "technology," they are simply removing newer tools from their teaching tool chest, and I, for one, want as many tools to use as possible when I am working to cultivate cognitive skills and positive attitudes toward life-long learning in my students.
Posted by: Laurie Miller ( Email: | Visit ) at 5/22/2009 9:31 AM

While understanding the frustration and sarcasm of the above, I'd like to make one statement. The year I graduated from high school was the first year computers were in classrooms (this included memory typewriters). The excitement of the students, the interest in "how does it work?", and the drive toward the future were all things that inspired me to become involved in items of "technology". In reference to Ms. Miller’s statement above, technology is anything that enhances the understanding of information by students, teachers and parents. The time it takes to learn the technology, find ways to incorporate it into lesson plans, track student progress…I think these are more the frustration points than “I hate technology”. Am I a teacher? No. I provide resources for teachers to use in their classrooms to enhance student learning. Differentiated Instruction happens when teachers acknowledge that all students don’t learn in the same manner. Susie might learn better by reading a book, but Tommy interprets information with visual stimuli. In my opinion, it is a teacher's goal to provide information/lessons in a manner that all students can understand and imbibe. Forget assessment scores – those will go up with the students’ understanding of the information.

We in the educational environment must provide professional development for teachers to use electronic resources effectively in the classroom (21st Century Skills). Is it easy? No. Everyone has their style of teaching. The fact is, you’ve got to keep up or stay ahead of the students to keep their interest.

“I hate technology” isn’t an option. It’s here to stay and is evolving faster than most of us can keep up.
Posted by: KG ( Email: ) at 5/26/2009 1:41 PM

I totally agree with the statement that "I hate technology" is not an option. Either we use it as one of our classroom tools or our students will be short-changed in their education. I also agree with the poster who alluded to the fct that computers, PDA's, etc. are just the latest in a continuum of technology that includes the likes of ink that was "store-bought" (kids will lose the knowledge and ability to mix their own ink!) ballpoint pens, calculators (no one will be able to use a slide rule!), electric typewriters (what if the power goes out?!), etc. Some of the "lost skills" are just no longer necessary skills. Progress happens and we need to be able to help our students use it -- not exclusively, but appropriately.
Posted by: Marilyn ( Email: ) at 6/3/2009 6:14 PM