Managing Educational Technology

School Partnerships and Technology Integration

Sandra Schamroth Abrams, Xiaojun Chen, Michael Downton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781317361091
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Education
• Index: Business

Managing Educational Technology examines the ways in which stakeholders from businesses, K-12 schools, and universities can influence the quality and success of technology integration in primary and secondary classrooms.

Inspired by their experiences in the field as educators, education researchers, and technology evaluators, the authors present vignettes that highlight the benefits, demands, and limitations often associated with the introduction and integration of educational technologies to K-12 school environments. These examples also underscore the inherent nuances in partnerships among businesses, K-12 schools, and universities. Readers can use these rich examples when considering ways to integrate products into schools, as well as when discussing, analyzing, and evaluating the promises of and challenges in doing so. End-of-chapter questions guide readers to consider alternate actions and identify steps for additional growth, which complement the authors' practical suggestions to strengthen business–school–university partnerships.

Any reader interested in educational technology, educational leadership, or business will benefit from this insightful investigation of business–school–university partnerships.

11 Introduction

Technology continues to be a focal point of contemporary education. The US Department of Education’s 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update, which includes “using technology to transform learning experiences,”¹ underscores the mass inclusion of digital resources in classrooms. Today, schools often boast “21st century features,” such as iPads, Chromebooks, Google Classroom, 3-D printers, Virtual Reality, and other hardware and software that promise to enhance and innovate instruction. But questions of a technology’s efficacy or a school’s technology integration efforts abound. Many wonder what innovative teaching and learning with technology looks like. Research has begun to address some of these questions. In fact, academia sponsors not only over 50 peer-reviewed journals that pertain to educational technology (Forest, 2014), but also a growing number of scholarly articles and/or book chapters on the topic. The relevance and pervasiveness of technology in education may draw attention to a number of factors, but we echo Van Eck’s (2015) point that our attention must be on how, when, and in what ways technology integration takes place. Further, we need to consider the stakeholders dominating this enterprise.

Looking more closely at the integration of technology in the classroom, we highlight three primary entities—educational technology companies, K-12 schools, and tertiary education institutions—bringing converging and diverging interests and objectives to this work. For companies in the business of educational technology, the opportunities for technological innovation, the forums to pilot and generate testimonials for their products, the potential to reach and develop a pipeline of consumers, and the possibilities for profit inspire the development of software intended for K-12 schools. Meanwhile, those in education are interested in what technology can bring to the classroom. For instance, K-12 administrators and teachers are increasingly attracted to the idea of greater efficiency for resource-strapped districts, schools, and teachers; the option for readily available, easy-to-learn lesson plans; the prospect of supplementary resources for students, especially those needing more assistance; and the promise of student improvement through the use of technology to promote and/or reinforce learning. University 2researchers, interested in examining the facets of rich, reliable data of student learning (including, but not limited to, forms of and forums for learning and assessment), see educational technology as a creator of such forums and, at times, a possible conduit to financial support for their research. In addition to these three entities, there are the students, themselves, whose use of educational technologies serves as a bridge between industry and academia, for good and for bad.

Given the various overlapping, complementary, and potentially contradictory goals and priorities represented by businesses, schools, and academics interested in developing, evaluating, and implementing educational technology, there is a need to discuss, analyze, and assess the affordances and constraints, as well as the successes and challenges, that emerge when businesses try to integrate their products in public and private schools. Managing Educational Technology: School Partnerships and Technology Integration takes up this discussion.

Technology integration has been a longstanding topic of interest for educators, education researchers, and educational technology company representatives, but various factors influence the extent to which these efforts succeed. For example, aside from the particular hardware and software that are being integrated, educators’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs can affect how, when, why, and for how long teachers will try a new tool or program in their classroom. Relatedly, technical support for teachers and students, money, and time can stymie the use of technology in the classroom (Ertmer et al., 2012).

Glaring disconnects between and among the needs of the various cohorts involved in these collaborations further complicate matters since the needs of those in academia do not necessarily comport with those in the industry of educational technology. K-12 faculty, for example may focus on test scores, but they also value the pursuit to reach all students; those in the technology industry focus on immediate innovation, competitive advantage, and, at times, changing the educational landscape; and academic researchers in higher education, who may be interested in current and future policy changes, focus on becoming part of a dialogue with colleagues, developing their expertise, and publishing something novel. Or as researcher Mary Rice aptly noted,

Teachers want plans that are inexpensive, fast, and easy to use; companies want customers in education to purchase their products; academic advocates want teachers to use their research to help children learn and companies to use their research to aid instructional design. They all exist separately from one another, each with their own ends.

(2014, p. 165)

In other words, the impetus that drives the partnership can vary greatly, and, thus, perspective, philosophy, and focus can differ among the partners.

3When it comes to research, similar disparities can exist. Mike Wright (2014), for instance, highlighted the different purposes each partner may have for academic research:

Academic research identifies gaps in policy design as practitioners and policy makers are typically too close to the action and focused on the short-term. Academic research makes a contribution by asking questions that practitioners want addressed such as rigorous policy evaluation studies. In contrast to consulting, the principal purpose of academic research is to provide objective analysis and seek to answer research question[s] with potentially longer term pay-offs (Zahra and Wright 2011). The resource based and capabilities literature teaches us that competitive advantage is not achieved by doing what everyone else is doing. If research is to provide “quality” practical business engagement leading to competitive advantage for industry and firms there is a need for more than practical or routine relevant involvement.

(Wright, 2014, p. 332)

Put simply, success goes beyond making sure that each stakeholder is fully committed to the project (Connors et al., 2002). The stakeholders must share—or at least acknowledge—each other’s interests and philosophical standpoints if they are to collaborate in ways that meet each party’s needs. There is the need for mutual understanding of goals and opportunities for ideation, especially when collaboration, which is key to partnerships, can advance educational understandings: “By working together, academics and teachers can contribute their unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives to the inquiry” (McQuirter et al., 2016, p. 75).

This book does not argue for any one type of technology or discuss whether a particular technology enhances teaching and learning; such arguments may become obsolete given the rapid evolution of digital devices. Besides, the argument for technology as a teaching-and-learning resource predates this century, with Seymour Papert (c.f., 1980, 1993) suggesting that the computer would revolutionize both learning and teaching. Rather, this book aims to examine a real and pressing issue that can impact the integration and evaluation of technology: the interactions between and among educational technology company employees, K-12 schools students and personnel, and university researchers, as well as the barriers that arise and the supports that are necessary to nurture healthy partnerships.

Why We Have Written This Book

Each author of this book has had myriad experiences in trying to negotiate and maintain positive relationships with educational technology companies. Whether the experience was as a classroom teacher trying to implement 4new software into the class; as a researcher examining the relevance and value of new educational technology; and/or as a designer of pedagogical practices that utilize educational technology, these experiences have led us to a point where we felt that a guide could help further the discussions among stakeholders from educational technology companies, schools, and universities.

We are not in the business of selling educational technology. We are educators and education researchers with diverse backgrounds in literacy, technology, communications, learning, and teaching, and we have, in one way or another, worked with educational technology companies, as well as a range of public and private schools in rural, suburban, and urban settings—including charter schools, traditional and experimental public schools, and parochial and secular private schools—to provide feedback on design with respect to access, pedagogy, and practice. We contend that by sharing these experiences new discussions can take place and, hopefully, new ways of understanding the complicated and nuanced worlds of both business and education can be cultivated.

About the Book

Drawing upon our collective and collaborative experiences, we have crafted stories about three, fictional educational software companies that want K-12 schools to adopt their products, and we use the narratives of each company’s successes and struggles in working with K-12 schools and university researchers to highlight the cultures, the affordances, and the constraints that can impact business, school, and university partnerships. Further, when we discuss software—be it actual or fictional—we do so understanding that we are addressing current capacities, and we make recommendations with the anticipation that future technologies and software iterations may support critical thinking, reflective practice, and greater customization to meet the needs of all students. Finally, though contemporary discussions of meaning making include the blurring of boundaries of online and offline learning spaces (Burnett & Merchant, 2014), we make distinctions between online and offline (or digital and nondigital) resources and learning environments to call attention to where and how hardware and software have been introduced to and/or integrated into educational spheres and how affordances and constraints exist within and across brick-and-mortar and online classrooms.

We begin with an overview of the software companies themselves—EminentEd, StartEd, and LearnEd—in this chapter. We have taken great care to obscure identifiers, blend experiences, and modify information so that no one particular company, school, or other stakeholder we have worked with is specifically represented in this text. Rather, each company represents a type of business actively working to establish partnerships between its company, K-12 schools, and academia.

5Chapter Two provides an overview of some established theories of learning that support educational practice and technology integration. For readers not familiar with learning theories and philosophies of education, this chapter offers insight into the pedagogical decisions of K-12 faculty and an understanding of the language and values of the education profession. In so doing, this chapter supports sustained understanding and communication among all partners.

Chapter Three focuses on gaining access to K-12 public and private schools and the steps company representatives, K-12 school administration and faculty, and university researchers must consider before engaging in a partnership that involves the implementation and/or continued use of technology in K-12 schools.

Once in a K-12 school, company representatives and university researchers must be cognizant of factors that can shift or derail plans to implement or research technology in the classroom. Chapter Four examines how to negotiate these challenges.

Chapter Five focuses on the challenges of collecting, examining, and accurately reporting data in contexts with ethical guidelines. Reporting data accurately while protecting participant information requires an attention to detail, an unbiased approach to examining the data, and a willingness to honor the contract established with participants and the school.

The final chapter brings these discussions together, summarizing the features that promoted or stymied success and offering ideas for reconceptualizing partnerships in light of stakeholders’ needs and feedback. This chapter calls for less technowashing and greater transparency, and it includes recommendations for a paradigmatic shift that places the student—not the software—at the center of pedagogical discussions and technological designs. Finally, this chapter advocates for partnerships that do not use a particular hardware, software, space, or approach as packaged, but as needed.

Meant as a guide for all participants in a business–university–school partnership, this book includes chapter overviews and call-out boxes to draw attention to overarching themes and specific points. Embedded in each chapter are spotlight boxes featuring “Narratives from the Field” written by other educators and education researchers whose stories provide additional insight into the concepts offered throughout this book. Concluding each chapter is a set of “More to Consider” questions that encourage readers to reflect upon the discussio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Authors’ Note
• List of Narratives from the Field
• About the Authors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Learning in the Context of Technology Integration
• 3. Gaining Access to a School
• 4. Maintaining and Losing Access
• 5. Data, Data, Data: Issues and Possible Conflicts
• 6. Conclusion
• Afterword
• Appendix A: Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Appendix B: Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
• References
• Index