Today there is a crisis in research and development in education as a
whole, particularly in the area of the applications of technology to
education. It is commonly expected that the continued exponential increase
of performance in information technology, the huge interest in network
technologies, our increasing understanding of cognition, and the widespread
concern for educational quality, standards, and technology utilization are
combining to make what could be a ten-year educational revolution led by
technology.
Unless we greatly increase the research and development effort devoted to
exploring new educational paradigms and the technologies that will make
them possible, educational change is unlikely. R&D is urgently needed to
provide guidance and hard data about how to use technology and what
mistakes to avoid. Without it, educators will increasingly wonder what to
do with their newly-wired schools. They will regret the huge costs
required, and they will be attacked by angry parents who see the
unsupported promises of technology unrealized. Legislators will be
frustrated about the lack of hard data on which to base multi-billion
dollar decisions, and public support will dry up. As a result, unless there
are substantial changes, future generations of children will not be fully
prepared for their increasingly complex, resource-limited world.
R&D is urgently needed to provide guidance and hard data about how to use
technology.
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At the same time as more R&D is needed, our current educational R&D
community is increasingly unable to address these problems because funding
is decreasing. Currently, less than 0.1% of the total spent on education is
in R&D, an amount insufficient to adapt to the changes technology causes.
Many industries spend a far greater percentage on research. The
pharmaceutical industry devotes a whopping 30% of its revenue on R&D, or
300 times as much as education relative to its size. A recent presidential Advisory Committee Report called for
educational R&D of $1.5 billion per year. |
At the same time as more R&D is needed, our current educational R&D
community is increasingly unable to address these problems because funding
is decreasing. Currently, less than 0.1% of the total spent on education is
in R&D, an amount insufficient to adapt to the changes technology causes.
Many industries spend a far greater percentage on research. The
pharmaceutical industry devotes a whopping 30% of its revenue on R&D, or
300 times as much as education relative to its size. A recent presidential Advisory Committee Report called for
educational R&D of $1.5 billion per year.
Current educational R&D in technology consists mostly of individual
researchers creating a prototype hardware or software innovation, testing
it in some classrooms and turning it into a product. Sometimes that
product generates a new line of improved educational technology. My work
with Probeware and Paul Horwitz's work with GenScope™ are
examples of this kind of R&D. While this sort of research is important, it
leaves unexplored too many important questions.
An example of useful R&D would be ongoing projects that work with school
districts and colleges to saturate them with computers and networking to
see whether familiarity with technological tools supports huge changes in
the curriculum. Another example is using probeware and construction
experiences in the fourth grade which would to permit the teaching of
algebra in the sixth grade and dynamic modeling by the eighth. Primary
students could learn about other languages and cultures through
international collaborative problem-solving. Middle school students could
reenact critical moments in history and the future through online role
playing. Upon this broad foundation, we could make huge changes throughout
the secondary and tertiary curriculum. Students could grapple with
interesting, complex issues like sustainable development. With adequate
funding, we could document the student learning and institutional dynamics
that facilitated and impeded these changes.
Complex R&D of this sort is out of the question right now. Projects of this
scale require hardware no school can currently afford, software that does
not exist, funding for at least five years, a huge team of curriculum
developers, and an interdisciplinary group of researchers.
I firmly believe that more R&D collaborations like the Center for
Innovation in Learning Technologies (see page 1) are needed to understand
what works and what doesn't in educational technology. Let's find out
before it's too late.
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