Successful Teaching: (Dis)Engaging Students in School and in Society with Computer Technology

By:

As the presence of computer technology has become infused in everyday life, the discourse of educational reform has followed suit. Federal policy makers, business leaders, and school administrators embrace this movement and encourage classroom teachers across the nation to do likewise. The belief that sophisticated experiences with technology improves teaching and student learning (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; Office of Educational Technology, 2005) has been told repeatedly to classroom teachers. Therefore in January 2005, the U.S. Department of Education announced its latest vision for the use of computer technology in education, the National Education Technology Plan. In it, selected districts were celebrated as “success stories” because of innovative uses of technology. This paper is set in a “success” story district, one that has a one-to-one computer ratio.

Specifically, I explored the (re)negotiation of what “successful” teaching is and means. A disconnect between administrators and classroom teachers about what constitutes successful teaching surfaced. I discovered complicated and diverse influences on teachers' views of successful teaching with computer technology and the ultimate impact on student engagement both in school and in society.

Stream: Technologies for Learning

Paper: (Un)Successful Teaching with Computer Technology

Shanetia P. Clark, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State Harrisburg. She is also the Site-Director of the Capital Area Writing Project, a regional site of the National Writing Project. Dr. Clark teaches courses in adolescent literacy, secondary English methods, writing, and curriculum development and instructional design. Her research interests include writing pedagogy both with and without computer technology.