Technorealism: the rhetoric and reality of technology in teacher education.

Technology integration in teacher education is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Technorealism is desperately needed in teacher education programs to help ameliorate the mad rush to computer technology integration for its own sake. Technorealism offers a balanced and "rational" approach to the latest technologies and the resulting changes in thoughts as well as actions. The technorealism approach in teacher education suggests the integration of technology that can facilitate "powerful" approaches to teaching and learning including meaningful, creative, challenging, inquiry-based, and active applications. The article suggests the integration of seven principles of technorealism in teacher education.

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Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important -- Bill Gates 

Technological innovations and changes are occurring at a dizzying rate today and people are either embracing these changes and cheerleading the rapidly advancing technologies, or are in a near state of panic predicting some high-tech doom. Historically, almost any time great upheavals occur, there is a good deal of anxiety produced in the society as traditional roles and values are in flux. Much of our contemporary societal angst can be linked to the rapidly changing technologies, particularly regarding computer technology.

Nothing inspires as much hope (information superhighway and the interconnectedness of the global village) and as much fear (Y2K and technoterrorism) as computer technology. The rhetoric of hope belongs to technophiles, while technophobes own that of fear. Technophiles generally have an uncritical view of technology. They suggest that technology can be the answer to current (and future) questions, and often advocate a head-long, eyes-closed, plunge into all high-tech endeavors. Technophobes on the other hand, have an overly-critical view of technology. They often believe that technology is inherently dangerous and that we should avoid plugging-in all the important institutions in our society. Such dyadic thinking is not productive, in fact, such extremism in either direction is generally counter-productive.

Contemporary technological advances must be viewed and analyzed beyond this simplistic either/or dichotomy. The issues surrounding the uses of technology are far more complex. Just as we now understand that a glass of water can exist at any one time as both half-empty and half-full, technology simultaneously exists as an agent of both hope and of fear. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a more practical and central theory that reconciles the bivalent nature of technology, rather than apply the two theories that reflect a dichotomous approach. The bivalence theory regarding technology is technorealism. Technorealism offers a more balanced and "rational" approach to the latest technologies and the resulting changes in thoughts as well as actions. This middle-of-the-road approach is needed to avoid the extremities of technophilia and technophobia. It is this middle-ground that technorealism seeks to define, employ, and expand.

SEEKING THE MIDDLE GROUND IN TEACHER EDUCATION

It is probably bordering on sedition to use the word middle in connection with contemporary teacher education programs. With teachers, pedagogy, and schooling under relentless scrutiny from a variety of sources (parents, political officials, and others), superlatives like higher, bigger, better, and faster seem much more desirable expressions among teacher educators. However, this is problematic because it privileges an extreme. It indicates that the only possible alternative has to be diametrically opposite, and this is not always the case. Again, the bivalent nature of all issues makes it necessary to explore a middle-ground.

In teacher education programs all over the United States, a line in the sand is being drawn by the philes and phobes over technology. These days there are many vocal "philes" and "phobes" at all levels, but most programs evidence the victory of the technophiles. Integrating computer technology is big, really big, in schools of education on campuses all across this country. As a reflection of this importance, unique departments of study and special degrees have been created by these schools of education. These IT departments are busily recruiting faculty and students, and are graduating many specialists. Recruiting students into these departments is not too difficult on many campuses. As Kenway (1998) explained, "technology is where the money is in education" (p.76). Most everyone knows that beginning teacher salaries in the United States are comparatively low by many standards. And students who might otherwise be reluctant to enter a school of education's teaching program, may consider the more respected and better paying field of education technology. Increasing enrollment is critically important to schools of education. As university budgets stretch to their thinnest points, schools of education, traditionally thought of as cash-cows by university administrators, are placed under considerable pressure to increase their enrollments in order to subsidize various programs like law, medicine, engineering, and nursing (Merrow, 2000). With many levels of encouragement within the universities, teacher education programs have raced to establish computer technology programs and also to refocus traditional teacher training techniques. And why not? As Pepi and Scheurman (1996) point out, computer technology is a magical phrase which, when invoked by educators, results in a flow of money into the schools.

The technorealism approach in teacher education suggests the integration of technology that can facilitate "powerful" approaches to teaching and learning including meaningful, creative, challenging, inquiry-based, and active applications. The idea of critical constructivism is subsumed within these "powerful" components and suggests that technology at all levels of education (including teacher education) be applied not only as a tool to support learning but as a device to critically analyze the very essence of schooling and societal issues.

Technorealism is desperately needed in teacher education programs to help ameliorate the mad rush to computer technology integration for its own sake. There is an appropriate quote from the movie Jurassic Park (the original); paraphrasing the words of the mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum's character) when he is first told that dinosaur DNA has been used to create dinosaurs in the modem world: "just because we can do something, doesn't mean that we should." This sentiment is at the heart of technorealism. It should be noted that we are technorealists, not neo-Luddites nor techno-utopians. We seek the middle ground between these two extremes to better understand and apply the technologies which exist today, and those which conceivably will exist tomorrow. It is toward these ends that the following seven principles of technorealism are recommended to be applied to computer technology integration in teacher education programs:

TECHNOLOGIES ARE NOT NEUTRAL

What is the role of technology in teacher education? Is objectivity a legitimate goal in teacher education? Should prospective teachers engage in debates regarding the very essence of technology?

That technologies are not neutral should be the first rule of not only technology, but of the entire Modern Age. Technologies are not free of bias simply because they are inanimate. Unintended consequences accompany many of the intended uses. There is an old adage that says: to someone with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To someone with a computer, does everything look like data? Is a statement more credible if prefaced with "the computer shows"? Every tool changes its user. As users change individually, so do the groups they identify with, and ultimately society becomes changed as well.

Technology has become its own driving force and must be examined in this regard. We must not speculate on a world without the rapidly occurring technological advances because it cannot exist. It is not up to our present generation to decide whether these changes have been for the better or for the worse. We cannot know our future, or those futures that might have been; just as stone-age man could not have known where the invention of the wheel would ultimately lead the world.

Technorealists advocate the exploration of the consequences, especially those that are unintended, wrought by various technologies, without resorting to intangible conclusions. To find the middle-ground in an investigation of unintended consequences of technology is extremely difficult. Often, those on both extremes of technology integration will argue that any consequences are a result of inequity. That it is more of an issue of "those who have, benefit, those who do not...." An examination of what is meant by benefit (and the implied, detriment) gets us closer to the center space. Again, that technology is not neutral and we are changed by it is a given. However, we must avoid making judgments, or other polarizing actions, with regard to those changes. We advocate this as the foremost principle of technorealism regarding computer technology integration in teacher education programs.

THE INTERNET IS REVOLUTIONARY BUT NOT UTOPIAN

What is the role of the Internet in teacher education? Should the Internet's application in education be debated in teacher education programs? How can prospective teachers investigate the Internet as a tool in teaching and learning?

The Internet and the World Wide Web are indeed revolutionary means to information. In seconds we can find the definition of paraclete, the capital of Azerbaijan, the current temperature in Reykjavik, or watch Houston's new football stadium being built. While the Internet is radical, it is not a panacea. Cheaper and faster access to information may be the goal for some educators, but these things do not translate into educational improvement. The chief consequence of setting these as program goals, and of then defining computer literacy as the means to information is neophilia. That is, new and faster is better. This belief is especially common among Americans "where the lust for what is new has no bounds" (Postman, 1993, p.11).

The old proverb: slow and steady win the race has been forgotten. A concern

with this is as technology speeds up so do our expectations of speed. Home computers with modems which once connected at only 2400 bps (bits per second) are relegated to the junkyard, as are several generations of its successors: 9600, 14.4, 28.8, and 33.3. Owners who currently have modems that operate over regular telephone lines at 56,000 (56k) bps are now checking for the availability of broadband services like cable modems and DSL that operate at 1 million bits per seconds. Our expectations of speed have become insatiable. Shenk (1997) claimed that rapidly changing technologies have caused quickness to disappear from our culture and we can know only degrees of slowness.

For those who hope that computer technology and the Internet offer a more equitable society, there is early disappointment. Some research has shown that computer technology in the classroom does not transgress gender lines. The American Association of University of Women reported that girls are closing the gap with boys in math and science achievement, but "technology is now the new boys club in our nation's public schools" (Associated Press, 1998). The groups' research showed that while boys program and problem-solve with computers, girls primarily use computers for word-processing. Some of the prepackaged software available to educators has also been shown to exhibit gender bias. For example, when school children experienced a computerized version of The Oregon Trail, boys tended to fix on the action aspects of the guns and shooting, while girls tended to focus on the distaff activities. This violates one of the central tendencies of postmodern education--obfuscation of the categories that have traditionall y separated us (including gender, age, and racial/ethnic backgrounds--that is, biology no longer determines destiny). While there have been some recent attempts to "neuter" educational software, other socialized categories are still reinforced.

GOVERNMENT HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY ON THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER

Should the government play a role in technology integration in society (and especially schools)? What issues regarding censorship are associated with technology and teacher education? Should prospective teachers be involved in decision-making regarding technology and schooling?

Freedom of speech is a closely guarded "right" in U.S. society. Many individuals and groups perform watchdog functions for the populace to protect us from our government. At times, however, it has been necessary for our government to suspend this individual right for the greater good of society. Words which create a clear and present danger, or those which result in false and/or deliberately misleading advertisement often have been suppressed by government authority. While the government should respect the user-made rules of the new technologies, it does have a role to play; however, it is important to remember that a call for government involvement does not mean regulation or suppression. The role for government is in integrating these new technologies into our society, just as it was in the 1920s with the telephone and in the l950s with television.

Computer technology will facilitate communication; however this has resulted in changes to the traditional rules of grammar. Word-processing softwares now not only check spelling, but also grammatical constructions. Therefore, some might believe that the new grammatical standards are being set by the software companies rather than by traditional academics. Perhaps it is only a coincidence that the Modern Language Association has announced that rules regarding split infinitives and comma splices were being thrown out. Word-processing software these days comes with a spell-checker, thesaurus, and grammar checker. Teachers of writing may well ask whose work is being graded in a term paper-the student or the software authors.

Those who worry about the censorship of free speech can focus their attention on Grammatik, a grammar-checking software which senses political correctness. Potentially offensive words are highlighted and options are offered. Some of the words that the program will offer alternatives for are: handicap, girl, and busboy (Walz, 1994). But a question should be, what happens when the mandates of political correctness require additional alternatives? The rapid pace of technological advances has desensitized us to the obsolescence of hardware and now taking word choice out of the hands of the writer will ensure the obsolescence of the software as well.

INFORMATION IS NOT KNOWLEDGE

What are the ultimate goals of education and teacher education? Should we move beyond information as knowledge? Should prospective teachers be involved in higher level applications of technology and how do we critically analyze information?

The expression IT is increasingly used in schools of education; however, is not consistently defined. When an educator refers to IT, it may be an allusion to either an information technology program or an instructional technology program. For those programs that concentrate on the information gathering capabilities of technology, the potential for accessing information through the Internet is unlimited. Of course there are those things, from a practical perspective, which restrict its use such as modem speeds, hardware/software compatibility, and most importantly, the concerns about the accuracy of the available information.

Why is all this necessary? We have had immediate access to almost unlimited information for centuries-through books. But imagine the space that all the world's books would need. The Internet and the World Wide Web have shrunk the world to a 17-inch space which can fit on most any desktop. Schools are wiring- in so that students may gain access to this information. However, schooling has never been just about disseminating information. The more important task traditionally put upon our schools and teachers is to help students construct meaning (knowledge) from that information. Computers can help provide access to great amounts of information but cannot construct meaning from that information.

Accessing so much information at such a pace can have significant consequences. Contemporary students face a world that is constantly inundating them with information from an infinite number of sources through every possible medium, and the bombardment rate is increasing with each new technological innovation. We are living in a universe where there is more and more information and less and less meaning. Baudrillard (1994) termed this effect the "implosion of meaning." There is so much information coming at us so quickly we are not afforded the luxury of time to construct meaning. This results in an anti-rationalism which replaces the question: what is truth? with the question: what feels good? As Picasso once said "Computers are useless--they can only give you the answers."

The implosion of meaning also has resulted in a new "hyper-reality" where people are not asked to form opinions but to reproduce those already framed. The shift from the real to the hyper-real occurs when representation gives way to simulation--we no longer see THE world but virtual worlds. The phrase information superhighway and the often heard slogan "where do you want to go today" implies that these worlds can be explored and in this simulacra these simulations are more real than the actual experience. This has serious implications for the role of schools to teach critical thinking skills.

WIRING THE SCHOOLS WILL NOT SAVE THEM

What are the issues in our schools today? What is the role of technology in meeting these needs? How can we move beyond technology to enhance traditional methods in teacher education and schools?

With the advanced technology in medical research today doctors can often prolong the life of the elderly beyond their biological destiny. Of course the reality is that merely prolonging life is a temporary solution that does not actually save lives. Inevitably all resuscitation efforts will fail.

This is a useful analogy for examining today's schools. As it is currently conceived, educational technology will, at most, only temporarily revive schooling in the United States. Despite the number of technologies which could be incorporated into the classroom as educational tools, schools still rely overwhelmingly on the printed word. Little classroom use was ever made of alternative educational tools. Most of these alternatives were used only to support the written text, and were not intended for use outside of the support role. Multimedia such as televisions, audio recorders, and video players, known simply as audio and visual aids, once offered alternatives to the educator. Computers are not thought of as one of the tools in the next generation of audio and visual aids. Instead, all other instructional tools have been discarded and the categories of audio and visual aids have been collapsed into a single category: computer-aided instruction. Even the word multimedia has been co-opted by computer technolo gies to suggest something endemic to computers.

In many classrooms, computers have begun to transcend their original purpose of aiding in instruction and have become the actual instruction: the medium is now the message. Some teaching methods classes focus solely on computers as the only necessary tool in an educator's instructional repertoire. As a result, expectations for the integration of technology in education fails to extend educational goals beyond computer literacy. The scope is limited to exercises in the hands-on aspects of technologically assisted information gathering: electronic mail, the computerized library catalog, word-processing software, the Internet. Increasingly, courses such as keyboarding are being required for high school graduation. However, is literacy (computer, reading/writing, or cultural) simply about becoming proficient in the means to information? Doesn't the word literate suggest something more than this? Should the use of computers for gathering information be valued over what to do with that information? Are computers me rely improved means to unimproved ends?

Another problem with limiting the scope to computer literacy is that this conception is not forward looking. How likely is it that these functions will continue to be necessary in a world where over 35 million people have taught themselves to use computers with no formal training, where schools are introducing computer technologies earlier and more frequently, and an emerging generation of silicon-diaper babies have access to computers from the earliest stages of childhood? Many theories will be turned upside down as we redefine learning and cognition in light of the rapid technological advances of this new millennium. Efficiency and productivity are, and always have been, insufficient justifications.

THE PUBLIC OWNS THE AIRWAVES: THE PUBLIC SHOULD BENEFIT FROM THEIR USE

Is technology the great equalizer? What issues regarding democracy and citizenship arise with technology? What related issues are relevant in teacher education?

In the simulacra, advertisement has colonized all the public spaces. Advertisements now appear regularly in previously ad-free locales such as public television and public radio. The central premise was that listeners (users) would sponsor (pay for) broadcasts, and in return, these public stations would act in the best interests of their sponsors (the people). This meant that news broadcasts would not be subject to censorship by corporate sponsors and entertainment programs would be selected with viewers/listeners in mind rather than because of some corporate tie to the creators. The introduction of corporate sponsorship has changed these public spaces. Interestingly, people, other than the most ardent supporters of public broadcasting, are unaware of the implications inherent in this change.

Advertising has also changed the face of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Ads are the new roadside businesses of the information superhighway. But unlike the regulation and subsequent decrease in actual roadside advertisements, web ads are proliferating. This is a potential source of concern for educators. In recent years, as the Internet has become ensconced as a main source for research, the exposure to advertisements has necessarily increased as well. However there seems to be little effort to educate the researching surfers. When official looking notices pop-up unexpectedly, warning that browser speed is not optimized or predicts some other hardware or software deficiency, users who have been made aware of this type of advertising gimmick simply close the ad box and continue in their efforts. Those who have not been made aware of this may believe these messages are some type of public service warning. This is reminiscent of the beginnings of general product advertising in the 19th century when people, unfamiliar with the concept, actually believed the claims that were made about products. With the abundance of advertising on the Internet, it is possible that it will suffer the same fate as information: destroyer of intensities and accelerator of inertia (Baudrillard, 1994).

While the proliferation of advertising in public spaces is of concern, of greater concern might be the inequalities manifest in the public spaces. As Postman (1993) noted, "those who cultivate competence in the use of a new technology become an elite group that are granted undeserved authority and prestige by those who have no such competence" (p. 9). This type of value judgment occurs often in education. Although it is unstated, the idea that technology will level the playing field is clear. Unfortunately public education seems to have never been equal, despite our historical sense of equality and fairness. In thinking about the type of equality we seem to have in education, a quote from Animal Farm comes to mind: "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" (Orwell 1946, p. 123). As Kozol (1991) explained, "the immense resources which the nation does in fact possess go not to the child in the greatest need but to the child of the highest bidder" (p. 79).

UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY SHOULD BE AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 

What is the role of technology in global citizenship? How can technology address issues related to globalization and the world? How do these themes and topics relate to teacher education?

Perhaps one of the most important goals of the schooling and education process in any society is to communicate what it means to be an informed and active citizen of one's nation and the world. What we do not do very well in schools is model what we teach. Most often teachers will tell and test rather than allow students the opportunities for discovery and practice. Students at all levels, including those in teacher education programs, are given very few opportunities to actively experience democracy or citizenship.

As stated previously, privileging information over contextualization continues to be the practice of schools today. Providing students the opportunities to truly understand technology through critical analysis and application would help make learning more meaningful. Enabling prospective teachers and students through engaging experiences opens up a world of possibilities and thus enhances active global citizenship.

Any complacencies we felt regarding public school education in the United States were eliminated in 1983 by the government's report of educational atrocities in A Nation at Risk. It was asserted that our nation was falling behind other countries because our educational system was inferior to the systems of other countries. One possibility to raise inferior student test scores is to connect marginal classrooms with quality ones through distance education. But while it is acceptable to talk of our educational limitations by comparing us to other cultures, it is not acceptable to look to those societies for help in raising our standards. Distance education is a technological application which could truly create global citizens; however it has not been used in this capacity. To now, this application can be seen as reaffirming our educational (and global) isolation.

CONCLUSION

Technology integration in society and teacher education has been conceived by technophiles; while technophobes were wringing their hands and acting like the fabled Chicken Little warning "the sky is falling" to deaf ears. Technorealism advocates a position between technological adoration and technological abhorrence, and is a much-needed approach in teacher education programs. This is the only practical approach given the rapidly changing nature of computer technology and its resulting implications for education and society. We, as technorealists and teacher educators, advocate the seven principles of technorealism previously outlined, and recommend that they should be applied to teacher education programs. Prospective teacher deserve opportunities to investigate the role of technology in society and the teaching and learning process. How can technology be integrated to facilitate powerful approaches in education? Our ultimate aim is to encourage educators, children, parents, and administrators to ask why rat her than why not, and then move to how.

References

High technology new 'Boys Club' in schools, women's group claims. (1998, October 14). Houston Chronicle, pageA9, 3-star edition.

Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and simulacrum [trans. by Sheila Faria Glaser]. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Kenway, J. (1998), Gender and science education in schools: A review "with attitude." Studies in Science Education, 3], 1-30.

Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities. Children in America's schools. New York: The Trumpet Club.

Merrow, J. (2000). Choosing excellence. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Orwell, G. (1946). Animal farm. New York: New American Library.

Pepi, D., & Scheurman, G. (1996). The Emperor's new computer: A critical look at our appetite for computer technology. Journal of Teacher Education, May-June pp. 229-236.

Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York: Vintage Books.

Shenk, D. (1997). NPR's All Things Considered: Faster modems, restless life [radio broadcast: August 16, 1997]. Washington, DC: National Public Radio.

A defense against offensiveness: Software can check writers' work for bias and vulgarity. (1994, August 24). Houston Chronicle, Business, p. 2.