Teaching with Technology

Not too long ago, education primarily involved scribbling notes and thumbing through textbooks. But now, classrooms are getting a hardware upgrade, as more and more laptops take over.

Today, many of Shanghai’s international schools are turning to technology, offering innovation in their classrooms and utilizing laptops for learning. While computers are now part of many children's lives from an early age, what do students really gain from putting down their biros and opening up Microsoft Word in the classroom?

Mark Warschauer is an education and informatics professor at the University of California-Irvine. His research focuses on the integration of information and communication technologies in schools, and he has recently written a book on the subject called Laptops and Literacy: Learning in the Wireless Classroom.

He lists the many benefits of using computers in the learning process: “Greater quantity and improved quality of writing, more access to information at the point of need, experience in working with a variety of media, greater student engagement and motivation, more chances for autonomous learning.”

 But he is quick to add that technology is not a magic cure-all for schools that aren’t up to par in the first place.

"Laptops make a good school better, but they don't make a bad school good. If a school already has discipline problems," such as "poor teaching, poor administration, laptops can exacerbate pre-existing problems,” he warns.

Andrew Corney, assistant head of Dulwich College’s upper school, says providing laptops in the classroom has been a positive experience at Dulwich.

“For me, I now have a greater range of resources available to use with the students. I’m not just limited to a textbook or a worksheet,” Corney says. “The lessons are often more engaging for students.”

But perhaps the most ground-breaking change laptops have brought to the classroom is how they have redefined a teacher’s role. The teacher is now more than just a “sage on the stage,” Corney says, as teachers can utilize technology to engage and interact with students more.

Another benefit that students can gain from using laptops in class is in preparation for the outside world. While ‘social-notworking’ has become a common issue in many workplaces, introducing students to computers in the classroom may mean they can be trained from a young age to ignore computer-generated distractions.

“We need to be training students about how to manage their time in a different way than we ever learned,” says Mark Lewis, middle school principal of Concordia International School. “We need to be working with students and say, ‘You have work to do … You’ve got chat rooms open, you’ve got Skype open.’ These are all distractions – so what strategies do we need to put in place to make sure the students know that work comes first?”

While laptops are not mandatory or provided in Fudan International School’s classrooms, the majority of the high school's students still bring in their own and opt to use them.

“Without training, this,” Reed says, pointing to a laptop, “is just a chunk of aluminium, glass, and silicone.”

Fudan English teacher, James Carnaby, agrees that they have their advantages when it comes to teaching time management techniques and preparing students for life beyond high school.

“Teaching with computers allows me to prepare my students for the outside world and higher education. In my classes they learn how to format their work in an academic manner and subsequently, they’re more prepared for higher education and the demands that it brings,” Carnaby says.

But despite all the promising feedback, providing a one-to-one laptop scheme for students wasn’t an easy task for schools like Dulwich and Concordia, or a decision they took lightly.

Many international schools in Shanghai did their own homework, making sure that they didn’t fall into the same traps that many American schools fell into. For example, they have ensured that laptops were only introduced into the classroom when adequate training and infrastructure were put in place. At Concordia, the school prepared teachers with specific training on how to fulfil their role in this new style of education.

Tom Reed, Concordia’s director of technology, explains that without adequate preparation, fancy kits and expensive toys are of almost no educational value. “Without training, this,” Reed says, pointing to a laptop, “is just a chunk of aluminium, glass, and silicone.”

Dulwich College has also emphasised the importance of preparation. “Since arriving here in August I’ve been on a four day Studywiz course, participated in an online CIE course and had a two-hour inset on using Studywiz in class,” Corney says. “There has also been countless informal ‘training’ in various interactions with colleagues about using technology in the classroom.”

And from a parent’s perspective, many feel that their children are getting a better start in life by interacting early and often with computers.

Reed’s daughter is a student at Concordia and he says that her learning experience has definitely improved. “My daughter gets a better education because she has this tool, a laptop, at her disposal,” he says.

Much like the day a teacher first took the lid off a marker and wrote on a white board, schools are now at the dawn of a new educational age. Laptops won’t replace traditional teaching methods but the evidence suggests that they will improve on existing teaching formats and provide new ways for students to learn.