trying yet Again on R/D1--written 6-28-09

Postman's view of the job of education in his article "Luddites, Learning, and Life" is a "Quantum" leap from the view of the Reigeluth-Joseph article "Beyond Technology Integration." Postman believes that education is fine as it is and primarily is for the socialization of students, while Reigeluth and Joseph see technology as the savior of our school systems. My view of education lies between these extreme opinions.
Postman states that the main function of schools is to show students "how to behave in groups." That is certainly true of an alternative school like Volinia Outcomes, where I teach. Many of the parents of our students have very weak parenting skills; I often hear, "My mom told me I don't have to do what you tell me to do. I can walk out of this school any time!!" (What happens when this child leaves school, gets a job, and tells the boss that?!) To help out students become ready for life after school, we have a Citizenship and Participation Rubric that the students are graded on every day in each class. The rubric covers such topics as: come prepared to class; do quality work; and treat the school, fellow students, and teachers with respect.
Our students must take the Michigan Merit Exam just like those in every public school in Michigan. For this and other rather specific reasons having to do with my own students, I do not agree with Postman when he says imparting information "has always been way down the list" of what a school does.
Reigeluth contends that our current schools are just a giant sorting box that holds most students back and sends a few of the best to college. He maintains that each student’s education could be customized by using technology to let students learn at their own pace. While I feel this is a worthy goal, with our limited budget and standardized testing it would be difficult, if not impossible, to implement such a system now. What we can do as teachers is use technology as much as possible when we plan our lessons. Students consider books to be old-school and boring, so the more interesting we can make our classes for them, the more they will be engaged.
There are many benefits to bringing more technology into the classroom, among them: (1) students like technology; (2) vast amounts of information can be found on just about any subject; (3) using technology helps students get ready for the work world; (4) technology-based lessons can be creatively constructed to hold student interest. There are drawbacks, including: (1) uncertainty about the found information being correct; (2) the high cost of technology; (3) the lack of experience some teachers have in using technology.
I do not see the changes Reigeluth advocates happening for many years, but I feel that we are taking our first steps in that direction. As for Postman, I think teaching how to get along with people and be a good citizen is certainly important, but not any more important than imparting knowledge.