Digressions 4: Bothering with technology in literacy instruction (why should we?)

Compared with other instructional activities using conventional materials, computer-based activities present a teacher with a formidable array of potential problems. For example, even assuming that a teacher has adequate training or experience to operate a computer and related devices such as printers (an assumption that cannot be made too confidently in most instances), many schools lack the infrastructure to support new technologies. Linda Morra (1995) of the U.S. Government Accounting Office has reported the results of a national survey indicating that while about 40% of U.S. schools report having very or moderately sufficient numbers of computers for instructional use, an equal percent report having inadequate electrical wiring to use them. In short, it doesn't do much good to have a lot of computers if you don't have a place to plug them in.

Other potential problems might fall into one or more of the following categories: logistical (e.g., How can I allow my students adequate time to explore the World Wide Web when I have only one computer in my classroom or I can get into the lab only once a week?), technological (e.g., Could a network be set up so that my students could easily share their online journals?), financial (e.g., My students could join the chat room discussion with that children's author if my school could afford to buy me a fast modem), pedagogical (e.g., What would be a good way to introduce my students to word processing?), curricular (e.g., How do I integrate word processing into the curriculum and what might be eliminated to make room for it?), and interpersonal or public relations issues (e.g., How can I convince my principal/students' parents/colleagues that having my students use a spell checker is not likely to turn them into poor spellers?). Unlike other activities and approaches that can often be fitted into established instructional niches, computer-based activities must often be built from the ground up.

Given the many obstacles, I have come to realize how remarkable it is that even a small percentage of educators would bother trying to integrate technology into their instruction. I hold in high esteem those teachers who have been successful or who are still striving to do so creatively and effectively. I think they deserve recognition and encouragement from colleagues, supervisors, and parents. And, I think that recognition is more likely to be forthcoming when there is a broader appreciation for the difficulties they must overcome and the importance of involving children in electronic forms of reading and writing.

Thus, it is legitimate, and important, to ask the question "Why bother?" with using computers in classrooms. I don't think that it's valid to reply, like the mountain climber, "Because it's there." I believe that anyone who becomes seriously involved in using computers to enhance literacy in schools (or researching the effects of such activities) ought to be able to respond explicitly to that question. From a strictly pedagogical viewpoint, I think there are at least three reasonable and often overlapping categories of responses. I think these three categories represent a progressive maturity in the use and understanding of technology's role in literacy instruction.

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Category 1: Helping us do what we've always done (but doing it better)

Category 2: Preparing children for the future (because it's here)

Category 3: Using technology to transform literacy instruction (to become or not to become)