Response to the "Principal of Change" on Technology and Engagement

     "The Principal of Change" is a blog written by georgecouros@gmail.com, a division principal for Parkland School Division in the province of Alberta.  He is also a consultant on teaching and innovation, who created a series of blog posts that address and challenge several myths related to the concepts of teaching and technology.  In one of his recent posts, he discussed the myth that technology is always a strong means of engagement for students.  He begins by posting this image:



Courtesy: http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/4508

   He argues that technology begins as a "novelty" for students, who are exploring a new program or website for the first time.  Yet, when presented with a task to complete while using this new application, this does not always lead to "engagement" for the student.  Furthermore, he argues that engagement should not be the ultimate goal for students, as it is merely a state of action in which you "do this because you are excited".   He asserts that "empowerment" should be the ultimate goal for our students, as it is a state of action in which you "do this because you have the power to do something meaningful for yourself". This will lead to a type of "flow" in which "a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity"

     While I agree with George's arguments that the mere use of technology does not always lead to a state of engagement, I am not quite as convinced as the state of empowerment is the more desirable goal for our students to aspire to.  We need to remember that technology is a medium, a means of communicating our ideas, thoughts, and experiences.  While this medium can lead to engagement and even empowerment, it doesn't address the purpose of technology use, that being the means to complete a task.

    One case in point, recently I began completing a series of literature circles within my grade 6 classroom.  The students were put into groups based on the type of non-fiction genre they were interested in reading about and exploring (e.g., Magazines, Newspapers, Travel Books, etc.).  To complete the different activities within each weekly circle, each group created a website on weebly.com to create their own blog pages.  Each member was asked to pick a reading each week (they can pick their own articles, or read the same one), blog about what they read, and complete a short activity for that week.  Then each student is asked to comment on each other's blogs.

     As the task was first introduced, the novelty was extremely high for the students to create these websites.  Then, as each class continued, the students demonstrated their engagement when interacting with the functions of the website.  As language periods continued on, they were coming to me less for website tech support, and were able to focus on how to do things more on their own, demonstrating a strong sense of empowerment on their own behalf.

     However, as the classes continued and the activities for each reading and blog post became due, it was very obvious that a few students were not completing the article reading and posting, but rather adding pictures and links to their website and blog page.  While this can be a positive in terms of their technological abilities and can even tie in to some curriculum expectations, these students needed to be redirected towards the purpose of the blog creation, to analyse and discuss elements of non-fiction readings.  I admit, I can see how easy it is to get caught up in the lore of the abilities of technology, but that just demonstrates the importance of the role of a teacher as facilitator.  

      Empowerment with technology can have several positive effects on our students, but empowerment alone is not enough for student development.  They must always be aware of the purpose for the use of technology as a medium, and that needs to be accomplished with the direction of a facilitator... a teacher.