A Moral Purpose for Technology in Education

Bette Manchester described the state of Maine’s one laptop per middle school child program as having a “moral purpose” to make sure every student, teacher, and now parents have equity and access to learning.  She joined a panel of educational leaders at the Milken Institute Global Conference to discuss Infusing Technology into Education for Economic Competitiveness. Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS, led a lively discussion that leaned more toward challenges to infusing technology into education than economic competitiveness.

A key theme of the conference was the development of human capital and several sessions touched on education and technology in the US as well as India. According to economist Gary Becker, human capital accounts for more than 75% of capital stock in the US. As a result an effective education system plays a key role in the development and competitiveness of the US economy. Judging by the prevalence of dark blue suits in the audience, this was not the typical education technology conference crowd, but people interested in capital development and global competitiveness.

Despite the promise of technology, human capital remains key in education: research shows that an effective teacher has the most impact on student learning. Glen Kleiman of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation pointed out that teaching is not treated as a profession. Many urban and rural districts are relying on Teach for America, a source of bright ambitious college graduates who only stay a few years. “How many of you would want 50% of your employees who are bright and dedicated to leave every two years?”

In countries with the greatest success on international standards, teaching is a highly revered profession, according to Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, who has led delegations to Finland, Singapore, and Korea. In Finland, the schools have 8 applicants for every position and the top third of students go into teaching. At the same time, teachers have much more flexibility in the classroom, the standards are much shorter.

He also reminded us that there is a lot of strength in the US education system that stimulates innovation and collaboration. Korea and Singapore are looking to the US for ideas on how to bring those concepts into their curriculum. “It’s going to be a much more competitive world. We can’t have kids coming out of education systems so bored and disengaged,” he said.

L. Michael Golden of Microsoft and formerly of the Department of Education in Pennsylvania noted that fantastic things are happening. He shared the story of a physics teacher who realized that many students didn’t feel comfortable learning physics through math as he did, that they learned from each other. By having students work together on problems more relevant to their lives such as the physics of a skateboard park or centrifical force in breakdancing,they learned physics more easily.

Another great example of partnership to develop human capital came from Bette Manchester, Executive Director of the Maine International Center for Digital Learning.  The Audobon Society identified the top 5 environmental issues for the state of Maine and MIT students developed programming and simulations related to the issues. Middle school students learn the science of inquiry by doing fieldwork on the issues in their communities and then use the programming for simulations and modeling. “It took 5 years and an NSF grant, but the curriculum is now available to every middle school student in Maine,” she said. “Students take home their laptops and work for hours on their models.”

While there are many wonderful examples of success, it will take political will and local leadership for any programs to scale. A forthcoming report from CoSN on Web 2.0 found that while school leaders recognize the potential of Web 2.0 tools for learning only 8% have changed policies to allow it. Many ban social networking, cell phones and other technologies used by students, according to Keith Krueger.

We have to make sure every child has access to a quality teacher as well as quality curriculum and appropriate assessment, according to Michael Golden. If we believe in education as a civil right then “we have to just say this is no longer acceptable.”

Bette Manchester closed the session with the thoughts, “We have good news and bad news. Democracy is about choice. As a country we get to decide what we will do.” Although the title of the session suggested an economic purpose, perhaps having a moral purpose will help more people realize their potential and make meaningful contributions to our communities.