Making the Process of Instructing More Visible (1989)

Making the Process of Instructing More Visible Many state and local programs are pumping voluminous expenditures into so-called studies. The educational critic John Goodlad calls this the ceremonial raindance for educational reform. Often, fear of losing our competitive edge is the sole motivating factor. But a real, meaningful definition of has proven elusive. Instead, it is being taken to mean doing more with fewer teachers, especially be legislated reform; the quality of instructional materials and methods is less often examined. Teachers and administrators are sometimes criticized for seeing usefulness mainly in products (instructional materials) rather than in the process of creating those materials. In so doing, they rely on the expertise of textbook publishers to bail them out when it comes to designing and modifying instruction. This article examines educational productivity as a function of student learning productivity made possible by teachers who are skilled in areas of instructional development--in particular, computer-assisted learning--over and above the traditional skills taught in colleges of education. The specific uses of recently developed technologies help to make these processes of instruction much more apparent than has ever been possible. Resistance to computer-assisted learning is still widespread; and this is unintentionally symbolized by the phrase user-friendly. Though often unstated, the major issues over use or non-use of computers in education are value issues. Budgetary concerns may be real, but they are less significant than the value issues of control, comfort and convenience. People generally love to use machines but do not want to be replaced by them. This article suggests a change of attitude and emphasis that would go a long way toward a wider acceptance of computers in education. The Triple C The traditional use of computers in the classroom does not allow most teachers a feeling of personal control because they see no way to modify or adapt pre-programmed computer material to specific coursework. There is no comfort in the feeling of being replaced when teaching responsibilities seem to be turned over to a machine. And finally, there is little convenience, because machines are still scarce, expensive and hard to use. Only the most persistent teachers voluntarily go to the trouble of using computer technology. But computers can serve the classroom in another way: as a production tool in the creation and design of new materials and innovative presentation techniques. One such approach to the design and presentation of a high school algebra course is described here. It combined computer technology with the VCR and print materials to solve a number of classroom problems. The approach could be equally successful in any number of disciplines, at any level. The key is to create personal control, comfort and convenience in relationship to the technology. A High School Algebra Problem During the 1984/85 school year, I volunteered to teach a high school Algebra I class in addition to my routine university assignment as a professor of educational leadership. During my 18-year absence from public school teaching, I had worked as an intructional development coordinator in university, public school and industrial training projects. The lack of student motivation and achievement in mathematics had then been a major worry. The worry seemed, if anything, to have intensified. Could it be that, despite all our experience and the technological advances in education and training, we still had the same problems we had 18 years before? Textbook in hand, I was introduced to an average class of 35 students (which soon expanded to more than 40). Most were ninth-graders, but about a third were upper-classmen (some trying for the second and third time to pass Algebra I). …