When it comes to technology and the teaching of reading and writing,
a familiar adage applies: The more things change, the more they remain the
same. Both enthusiasm for and doubts about educational technology have shown
remarkable resilience over the years. A decade ago, Jay Blanchard and his
coauthors wisely hedged their bets by saying "it is possible"
that the use of computers in teaching would continue to grow and improve.
Yet they still managed to communicate an optimistic view about the pace
of innovation in applying technology to the teaching of reading.
They went on, however, to offer an appropriately broad perspective on
specific ways technology may be used in teaching reading and writing: testing,
managing information and instruction, drill and practice activities, tutorial
or dialogue activities, simulations, telecommunications or information retrieval,
word processing, interactive fiction, laserdiscs or compact discs, speech,
and problem solving.
In the 10 years since Computer Applications in Reading was published,
significant improvements have been made in the use of technology in all
these areas, even if the applications of technology today are not quite
as widespread as Blanchard predicted. The integration of computer technology
into reading instruction has kept up with most of the new and often contentious
movements in the field of reading and writing curricula. For example, a
recent California workshop on technology and reading comprehension for K-6
levels offered a session on "a balanced approach to phonics instruction
through technology, including letter recognition."
Technology also is available for response-based approaches in the teaching
of reading. (Readers in a response-based approach are regarded as "active
meaning-makers whose personal experiences affect their interpretation of
literary works.")
The National Center for Research on Literature Teaching and Learning,
at the State University of New York, Albany, has studied commercially available
multimedia and hypermedia software for elementary and high school students.
The center found that the applications were "moderately priced, designed
for commonly available platforms, technically quite good, and related to
works commonly taught in elementary and high school classrooms." The
study concluded that "the vast majority of the commercial applications
we reviewed mirrored the approaches commonly found in schools. . . . What
was sorely missing, from a response-based perspective . . . was any provision
for constructive roles for learners."
Whatever the shortcomings of specific language arts software packages,
researchers and practitioners agree that integrating various technologies
with traditional teaching methods and goals has definite advantages. (Evidence
of this agreement is shown by the inclusion of technological literacy in
the English Language Arts Standards developed by the National Council of
Teachers of English and the International Reading Association.) Commonly
cited advantages include the ability of technology to provide direct instruction
and display infinite "teacher patience"; the motivating power
of technology to get students excited about reading and writing; technology's
role in preparing students to use the tools of the future (and, indeed,
of the present); and its ability to organize and store student performance
and assessment results and make that information available to students,
teachers, parents, and administrators.
Smart teaching with technology
The key to successful teaching with technology is to combine smart tools
with smart instruction. Teachers and students regularly report that computers
and related hardware such as CD-ROMs, laserdiscs, camcorders and digital
cameras, and scanners enrich teaching and learning. Smart teaching with
smart technology pays off by helping students master and go beyond any one
lesson or unit. The advantages are many:
* Students' "multiple intelligences" have more opportunities
for suitable expression in multimedia and interactive documents. The linguistic
intelligence traditionally valued in English/language arts settings can
be enhanced and supported by students' additional talents with video, graphics,
animation, music, painting, and dancing.
* Students have greater opportunities for process- and project-based
learning to engage their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Technologies provide social centers that bring students together rather
than isolate them. This regularly occurs in settings where students can
cluster around computers to help each other solve problems or move from
computer to computer to compare their work. Similar benefits come from students'
taking part in collaborative projects with other classrooms around the country
and the world--a common state of affairs these days.
* Students can develop skills that will benefit them greatly at later
stages in their education and in the working world. Understanding how to
use new information sources efficiently and appropriately (including laserdiscs,
CD-ROMs, the Internet, and the World Wide Web) will prepare students for
the increasing dependence on such technologies in college and on the job.
Being able to use technology to acquire and evaluate information, organize
and maintain that information, and interpret and communicate it, is one
of the sets of necessary competencies identified by the U.S. Department
of Labor in its 1991 report "What Work Requires of Schools"--the
so-called SCANS Report, from the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary
Skills.
A helping hand
Teaching reading and writing, at any grade level, requires incredible
expertise and dedication. It is asking a lot to expect teachers to handle
their day-to-day responsibilities, to stay abreast of their field, and to
keep a handle on the hot new technology that has made obsolete whatever
came out of the box they just finished unpacking.
You can help your teachers work successfully with technology in their
classrooms. Consider some words of wisdom drawn from the experiences of
classroom teachers around the county. This advice might sound simple--good
advice usually does--but it is not simplistic:
* Give your teachers opportunities to share their successes and problems
with other teachers. They will soon discover how others have solved the
same problems they are facing and can provide solutions that others have
missed.
* Give your teachers permission to make a reasonable number of mistakes.
Change entails risk, and it's hard enough to take risks if you're worried
about a punitive boss looking over your shoulder. Failure can lead to solutions,
so consider placing a high value on "failing in interesting ways."
* Help your teachers think of teaching with technology the same way they
think of the writing process: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Early
attempts at combining technology with language arts can be considered drafts
that require response, correction, rethinking, and revision. The key is
to keep your goals in mind and to remind teachers they are involved in a
process.
* Reward your teachers for reading about new technology. Lots of publications
are available for technology-using educators. And it's worthwhile remembering
that sometimes the cheapest way to upgrade a system (hardware or software)
is to read the manual.
Technology changes constantly and rapidly, but not always for the better.
(Feature bloat and creeping elegance, for instance, are technology developers'
terms for the over-loading of products with more functions than people want
to learn about or could practically use.) The successful integration of
technology into the language arts will depend, to a certain extent, on the
people who create the tools.
It will depend even more on the people who use the tools--talented educators.
As usual, they will be the ones who get the best out of the technology,
the best out of their students, and the best out of themselves.
Stephen Marcus is the coordinator of the National Writing Project Technology
Network at the University of California, Santa Barbara. | 
