The Fight For Technology

Education
A Learning Manifesto
Eric McGaha
EDLD 5302
Lamar University
10/25/2020
Eric McGaha
EDLD 5302
Learning Manifesto

Digital learning is the future of education and it is approaching quicker than

people want it to. In my time as an educator, I have experienced attacks on the way I
perceive education to be, my everyday practices, and digital learning as a whole. These
attacks have come from every angle and from places and people least expected.
Learning is an individual experience and technology gives me the power to individualize
each lesson and deliver that lesson in a more focused and intentional way. The one size
fits all method is outdated and I do not believe it ever really worked to begin with.

I feel that the current model of education is old, boring, and inefficient if not totally
ineffective. Too many educators and administrators are using technology as a
replacement for pencil and paper. They seem to be forcing it to merely say. “Look, we
are using technology!” However when the results they expected aren’t achieved, they
say, “See, digital learning and technology don’t work!” I have heard this excuse at least
4 times this year. Quite frankly I am tired of hearing it and I expected more from
teachers and administration. There is a very heavy confirmation bias going on and I
believe it needs to be stopped. These teachers are searching for anything that will
support their views and rejecting anything that doesn’t without any consideration. A few
years ago, I met a person through professional development who was hired to teach the
teachers her philosophy. This educational philosophy completely denigrated any digital
format in the classroom except for basic internet browsing and email. I presented my
views when I Was asked and even some shared a few results from an online learning
trial I had conducted which were very positive and the answer I received was “A
computer is for playing games and not for any type of learning.” But how the tables have
turned as we are now faced with a pandemic and districts are forced to incorporate
technology in order to serve their student population.

Although technology is being used in our current environment I do not feel it is

being used correctly yet. Some teachers have had little or no training in the methods of
online teaching but are thrust into that role because if necessity and some
administration are scrambling to meet classroom needs with fewer and fewer resources.
We are in a strange time with strange and ever changing environments in which to
learn. These circumstances are entirely unprecedented and so should the expectations
be. We are holding teachers, students and even the learning itself to the same old
standards that weren’t working. If the circumstances have changed then why haven’t
the expectations? This is the prime moment to affect a change of great magnitude and
the resistance seems to be wavering just a little therefore I am pushing for a new set of
expectations for learners and teachers alike. I am not certain what they should be
exactly, but they clearly need to be changed.
Eric McGaha
EDLD 5302
Learning Manifesto

Speaking of changes, the curriculum and the way learners are evaluated are also
in dire need of change. Technology education is currently an elective in nearly every
school I have looked into or taught. Basic technology education should be a mandatory
class for every student starting in elementary school and at least through middle school.
A simple one semester class teaching basic computer operations like office products,
internet security, and unnecessary exchange of personal information would be all that is
needed. I’ve taught 12 year olds that think every computer is a Chromebook, and can’t
find letters on a keyboard. I have heard that this up and coming generation is called
“digitally native” and I think that is, for lack of a better word, hooey. No one is born able
to operate a computer or intuitive enough to know what a web browser is. These are
skills that are learned and should be explicitly taught and re-taught as needed.

Our current situation has brought many issues to light. Many of these issues
have existed for some time, yet were ignored such as access to learning, serving the
special populations with equity, and cross curricular learning. Newly discovered issues
such as disparity among student population with regards to internet availability,
technological abilities, and access to devices are coming to the forefront. Again, I
believe that a lot of these issues can be relieved if not completely resolved with merely
a little teacher training. Fighting directly against the changeless and unwilling is futile
and will only end in a harder pushback. We must flow with the changes and insert a little
at a time, however quickly as to not lose the opportunity. I also believe that these
changes should continue to change in that everything needs to be continually evaluated
and reinvented or we will end up with what we have right now…this massive obtuse and
never relenting fear of change. Change is the key. Like the willow tree bends in the
wind, we bend with the changes to avoid being stiff and breaking.