The World May Be Flat
EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
The World May Be Flat – But Are Our Classrooms?
Implications for School Administrators
For the Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom
BY
JANET R. JAMES
September 2006
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Abstract
The world is flat – most of our classrooms are not. Visionary school leadership is needed to
facilitate the current transition of schools from industrial to knowledge age models. Management
is about problem solving, focusing on results, and carrying out existing plans. Leadership is
about: mission, vision, strategy, and change. (Kotter, 1999) School administrators are in a
strategic place to proactively influence educational policy, ensure and facilitate classrooms
becoming flat like the world – as they ‘steer the ship’ with regards to; budget, instructional
methodology, professional development, scheduling and school structure. The effective use of
technology in classrooms is essential in these times.
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The World May Be Flat – But Are Our Classrooms?
Implications for School Administrators
For the Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom
Business consultant Leo McManus (2004) made a statement that the 3 R’s are being
replaced by the 3 T’s (technology, teaming, and transference). Mastering basic literacy skills, the
traditional “3 R’s” (Reading Writing and Arithmetic) have, for good reason, been pushed to the
forefront by high stakes testing. However, 21st century literacy skills (Figure 1.0) are not being
proportionately cultivated. Furthermore, the current emphasis on Language Arts Literacy and
Mathematics has unwittingly encouraged a narrowing of the curriculum. The United States is not
producing enough young people going into science, technology, and engineering. (Jackson, 2005)
America must prepare her students for the challenges and opportunities that this era of
Globalization 3.0 (see Glossary) poses. The implications for school leaders are apparent. School
administrators are in a strategic place to proactively influence school operations and educational
policy for educational technology in the areas of; budget and funding, professional development,
instructional methodology, and in privileging 21st century literacy skills. This is necessary to
ensure and facilitate that classrooms become flat (see Appendix - Glossary), like the world – a
globally competitive, leveled, international playing field.
Americans are going to have to compete for intellectual work with millions and millions
of people in India, China and all over world. … Americans and Europeans must stop
complaining about outsourcing and start focusing on being prepared for challenges--and
opportunities. (Friedman, 2005) Friedman and others do not believe that the academic
community has caught up with the mindset of 21st century globalization. Case in point - It took
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education 60 years to catch up in adapting the use of the overhead projector from the bowling
alley to the classroom.
Technological innovation, coming out of basic research and invention, has been the
engine of our economy and has been the basis of our having the highest standard of living
in the world. What we're seeing is erosion, because fewer of our own young people are
interested in science and math. … the stakes are clear. … This is a question of looking at
trends that, if left unchecked, can lead to a day of reckoning. (Jackson, 2004)
It took business and industry over a quarter of a century to see substantial productivity gains
through smart technology use; schools are about a decade behind – in the midst of such a
transition right now. (Lemke, Savavong, Martin, 2005)
“Schoolchildren in the developing world may be better equipped for the demands of the
21st century than their European and American counterparts, because they are adapting
faster to changing needs, a new report says. … this sounds a new alarm for educators
charged with ensuring their students are prepared to compete in the new global
economy.”
(OECD, 2006)
School administrators have a unique opportunity to guide and ensure that today’s teachers and
students are equipped to transition into this brave, new, flat world. Educators have some catching
up to do.
Education is undergoing reform, a major paradigm shift has occurred from Behaviorism
to Cognitivism, passive to active, from Basil readers to computers in the curriculum. The current
Cognitive ‘revolution’ in education views; teacher as facilitator, student as expert, instruction to
construction, student directed learning, collaborative learning, learning communities, continual
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on-going learning as the means to more effective education. This cognitive approach is also seen
as the basis and optimum vehicle for the integration of computers and technology in our schools.
The Internet, if used properly can be a useful tool to enhance connection. Wisdom and balance,
as with all things, must be exercised.
Budget and Funding
The number one impediment administrators share to effective technology use in schools
is funding or the lack thereof. With a sophisticated command of what's genuinely needed, what's
available, and how much it should cost, school leaders just might find they can buy much more
of what they really need than they ever thought possible. (E-School News, 2006) Chief among
researchers' findings were a direct link between the quality of leadership within the district and
the amount of money budgeted for technology programs. (Murray, 2004) Solution-oriented
leaders pursue grants, develop partnerships, think creatively and are willing to take risks. District
budget and funding do not have to become barriers. The single most influential factor as to how
any given school integrates technology effectively depends upon the school administrator. Paul
Tarantiles (2000), an Apple staff developer, said, “Is your school administrator actively seeking
the integration of technology into the curriculum and staff development? If they are it’ll happen.
If they’re not it won’t.”
All would agree however, that sustained funding and educational technology program
continuation are critical to realizing the potential that technology brings to learning and teaching.
(Lemke, Savavong, Martin, 2005) The Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT)
discretionary grants (tailored out of NCLB Title IID funds) have benefited schools greatly toward
closing the digital divide. Shrinking budgets due to budget cuts and increased costs challenges
administrators more than ever. EETT is the primary source of federal funding for technology for
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schools. Slashed from $696 million in 2004, to $496 million in 2005, EETT has been on the
chopping block each of the last three years but has been spared repeatedly by Congress during
negotiations. It received $272 million from lawmakers in 2006. The House voted earlier this year
(2006) to eliminate EETT, per the president's request. By voting to preserve EETT, Senate
lawmakers left the door open for the program to survive next year. (E-school News, 2006)
School leaders need to lobby Congress on behalf of educational technology funding with one
voice.
Professional Development – for self as well as staff
Perhaps the primary impediment to effective technology use in classrooms even more
than budget and funding issues is a lack of knowledge by educators.
“School leaders admit they themselves lack the skills to integrate technology effectively.
According to the survey, fewer than one in 10 school leaders (7 percent) would classify
his or her ability to integrate technology into the learning environment as "very good" or
better. Further, most school leaders contend classroom teachers need even more help. On
a scale of one to 10, respondents gave teachers an average score of 5.3 on technology
competence.” (Murray, 2004)
In an online group discussion, aspiring administrator and graduate student, Jenna Mirabella (July
16, 2006) said,
“It is important for an administrator to provide staff development, where the training will
improve student achievement through use of technology. ‘Training’ being the key word.
Teachers must first be comfortable with their technological skills, before they will apply
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these skills to their classes. Teachers want to use lessons that are reliable and dependable,
and if they do not feel comfortable with the content or methodology, they will be
reluctant to teaching the lesson to their students. An administrator must find a way to
bridge this gap between professional development and technology support in the school,
in order to have an overall impact on student achievement.”
Educators cannot effectively implement that which they do not know or understand.
Professional development and change are cut from the same cloth. (Fullan, 1996) Being
part of an ongoing community of learners will be vital as we transition classroom technology
effectively into a Globalization 3.0 society. Teachers and administrators need training in both
computer programs and skills as well as in curricular methodology for classrooms to become flat
like the world. It is by design that EETT discretionary grants mandate a minimum of 25% of
grant funding to be allocated for professional development. It is beneficial from a budgetary and
professional development vantage point for K-12 schools to develop partnerships with: colleges,
universities, corporations, Educational Technology Training Centers (ETTC), consultants, and
become conversant with quality online course offerings and resources. As school leaders
facilitate technology use through professional development they should be aware of navigating
through change processes.
Instructional Methodology and its Impact on School Structure
If we do not change our instructional methodology to conform with a Constructivist
framework then we will not successfully adapt our classroom technology use for the demands of
the 21st century. Systemic shifts in business and industry work processes were necessary to
leverage the potential of the technology they acquired. (Lemke, Savavong, Martin, 2005) In the
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field of education, adjustments, not only in work processes, but also in instructional methodology
and delivery are needed to leverage the potential of the technology we have acquired. Possessing
technology hardware and software is easy – how educators use it is the critical variable. This may
also require systemic shifts in the traditional structure of our schools.
Problem based learning (PBL) also used in medical schools to train doctors, is an
optimum pedagogical approach to use within a Constructivist framework for effective integration
of technology in the curriculum. Problem Based Learning can be in any form where a problem is
posed to drive the learning. It simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and
disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem solvers
confronted with an ill-structured problem that mirrors real-world problems. Project Based
Learning can be in any form where a project or product is the culminating expression of the
learning experience. Optimally, the project emanates around a problem to be solved. The realworld focus of PBL activities is central to the process. Administrators need to be familiar with
PBL in order to effectively support teachers in implementing this instructional design. Primary
students (grades K-3) may not have developed sufficient problem solving skills for Problem
Based Learning. Project Based Learning may be optimum developmentally for grades K-3 in
building problem solving skills as the teacher uses meta-cognitive modeling. Grade 4 teachers
should assess their students' readiness (or not) for Problem Based Learning. In grades 5-8 Project
Based Learning is fine as long as the teacher is making a concerted effort to build-in appropriate
scaffolded support for problem solving, research, and higher order thinking skills. At the grade
5-8 levels teachers should attempt and begin transitioning from Project Based Learning into
Problem Based learning. Grade 9-12 students should be ready to fully enter into Problem Based
Learning.
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Human interaction is paramount to learning; integrating computers and technology into
the curriculum, PBL or otherwise, must facilitate the human interaction factor if it is to flourish.
For example, blogging is being increasingly used as an educational tool. Blogs enable students
as young as the second-grade level to interact and express themselves on a wide range of
subjects. Interaction through blogging has guided, global communication potential. In addition to
blogs educators must prudently venture into safe, guided instruction that encompasses
connectedness with the global community through tele-conferencing and the world wide web.
PBL is already in practice to varying degrees in many districts and schools, but it does not
appear to be flourishing in most systems. Why? – primarily because teachers and administrators
need more professional development and familiarity with it. Also, the current traditional structure
of schools, with block scheduling, is not optimum for PBL instruction. As business models
needed systemic change to leverage the potential of technology use, so do American schools,
especially at the high school level where student readiness is most conducive to PBL.
Collaborative planning rather than isolated departments according to subjects in development of
lessons and/ or real-world problem(s) which by design will necessitate inter-disciplinary
solutions and research will be beneficial. Inter-disciplinary team teaching and the formation of
student cohorts or learning teams in lieu of block scheduling by subject would also facilitate the
effectiveness of PBL.
In addition to the above, distance learning course offerings should be considered at the
high school level. “Online schooling offers unparalleled opportunities for better intimacy with
and mentoring of individual students. She credits distance learning with making education
relevant to many students who could not flourish under a strict traditional curriculum” (Hart,
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2005) “We wonder why our students are often apathetic, lacking in self motivation, why they do
not ‘think for themselves, …why our ‘best’ students often can not function independently in the
real world. Our children are bored in school. We have created a nation of followers in a world
that demands leaders.” (Romig, 1997) Sergiovanni (1999) makes a convincing argument
relating student disengagement to ‘how kids are connected.’ Regarding reform, instead of
focusing on incentives, we need to look at connections. Learning communities, interactive
learning, computer-supported collaborative learning are key components in integrating
technology into our schools. (Daphne, 1995)
"Contrary to intuition, current Web-based online college courses are not an alienating,
mass-produced product. They are a labor-intensive, highly text-based, intellectually
challenging forum, which elicits deeper thinking on the part of the students and which
presents, for better or worse, more equality between instructor and student. Initial feelings
of anonymity notwithstanding, over the course of the semester, one-to-one relationships
may be emphasized more in online classes than in more traditional face-to-face settings."
(Smith, Ferguson, Caris, 2001)
Distance learning has increased in higher education and is in its infancy stages in some
high schools. Differentiation of instruction may be easily accommodated via distance learning.
Knowledge of student learning preference will help faculty tailor delivery methods; certain types
of students fare better than others with distance learning. General characteristics of students who
tend to flourish with distance learning are; self-sufficiency, internal direction and motivation, and
have a sensory learning style (auditory, sensory, tactile). Distance learning may be optimum for
some high school students, but not all. School leaders need to carefully think through what place
distance learning will have in their schools based upon researched best practices.
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Digital Information Literacy
Consider adding digital information fluency (DIF) courses to the curriculum as early as
grade 3 continuing through high school. The definition of literacy has changed over the last
decade. Many now consider literacy as the ability to locate, evaluate, use, and communicate using
a wide range of resources including; Internet, text, audio, and video sources. (Lamb, 2003) While
traditional literacy rates appear to be climbing in schools, the ability of students to read,
understand, and decipher online material requires a unique skill set--qualities many of today's
students have yet to grasp. (Leu, 2006) Thus, it is crucial that when teaching literacy to our
students, we emphasize skills that reflect the information environment of the present, not the
past. (Armstrong and Warlick, 2004) As teachers and librarians develop these skills and teach
them to students, students will become better equipped to achieve their information needs. (See
Appendix, List 1.0, 20 Action Items for Administrators)
Concluding Remarks
Business models experienced a temporary fall in productivity when new technologies
were introduced, the insertion of new technologies into the current education system can result in
minor gains in student achievement, full value will not be realized until they realign teaching and
learning to take full advantage of today’s powerful, real-time, digital tools and resources.
(Lemke, Savavong, Martin, 2005) As today’s administrators we have the challenge and
opportunity of shaping tomorrow. Andy Hargrove, chairman of Intel, once said, “Senior
managers got where they are by having been good at what they do … so its not surprising that
they will keep implementing the same strategic and tactical moves that worked for them during
the course of their careers…I call this phenomena the inertia of success. Its extremely
dangerous.” It is imperative that we knowledgeably, proactively face and embrace this new era of
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Globalization 3.0. As Jason Denard (September 11, 2006) said in a professional discussion,
“Technology is all around us. If we don't ‘get with it’ so to speak, we will be too far behind, and
as administrators, we should be two steps ahead.” The world is flat – our classrooms should be
also.
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Reference
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2005 from WWW:
http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=47102021
Bass, Warren. April 3, 2005. The great leveling. Washington Post. Book review retrieved
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Cox, W. Michael. January 31,2006. GTC Executive Leadership Institute keynote address.
Retrieved September 9, 2006 from WWW:
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=98242
Daphne, H. (1995). CSCL Theories. Retrieved December 1999 from WWW:
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/cslstudent/Dhsiao/daphne.html
E-school News. 2006. Controlling Technology Costs. Retrieved September 10, 2005 from
WWW: http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/CostConscious/index.cfm
E-school News. August 24, 2006. EETT grants back to school for Congress. E-school News.
Retrieved September 9, 2006 from WWW:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6523&page=1
Friedman, Thomas L. April 3, 2005. The world is flat. New York Times, 6, 33, column 1.
Abstract
retrieved September 8, 2006 from WWW:
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00C16F93E5B0C708CDDAD0894DD4
04482
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Freidman, Thomas L. April 18, 2005. Wake up and face the flat earth. Yale Center for the Study
of Globalization. Retrieved September 8, 2006 from WWW:
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5581
Fullan, Michael and Hargreaves, Andy. What’s Worth Fighting for in Your School. Teachers
College Press: New York, New York. 1996.
Hart, Melissa. January 4, 2005. A virtual teacher: distance learning can deepen bonds with
students. ASCD Newsbrief. Retrieved January 6, 2005 from WWW:
http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0104/p12 s01-legn.html
Jackson, Shirley Ann. October 11, 2004. The innovation economy – what’s ahead? Voices of
innovation: Shirley Ann Jackson. Business Week. Retrieved September 9, 2006 from
WWW: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_41/b3903416.htm
Kotter, John. 1999. What Leaders Really Do. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Harvard, Connecticut.
Lamb, Annette. August 2003. The evolving definition of literacy. Retrieved September 12, 2006
from WWW: http://eduscapes.com/info/evolve.html
Lemke, Cheryl, Savavong, Phoumy, and Martin, Crystal. March 2005. National trends:
enhancing education through technology: NCLB Title IID – year 2 in review. State
Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). Retrieved September 8, 2006
from WWW: http://www.setda.org/resources/NationalTrendsReport2005FINAL1%2Epdf
Leu, Donald J. 2006. Study aims to improve internet literacy:
Researchers test new way to teach internet comprehension skills to students. E-school
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News. Retrieved September 8, 2006 from WWW:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6578
McManus, L. F. 2004.The changing world of work four major forces. PowerPoint. Worcester,
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NM
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http://www.educ.drake.edu/romig/cogito/cognitive_paradigm.html
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Available: Seton Hall University, Supervision and Instruction, So. Orange, NJ.
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face to face. The Journal. Retrieved August 27, 2006 from WWW:
http://thejournal.com/articles/15358_1
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Appendix
List 1.0
Sarah Armstrong and David Warlick (2004) offer the following:
20 Action Items for Administrators
Below are tips for how school and district leadership can play a key role in driving and
supporting new literacy.
Central Office Administrators

Create a standard Web page with the district's banner that provides links to appropriate
search tools and other Web-based information services. Offer this page as a link to Web
sites in the school district.

Configure all systems so that each teacher (and student, if possible) can establish a
personal library of bookmarks that follow the user from station to station.

Work with other curriculum leaders in your district to integrate proper research and
critical evaluation techniques into classroom activities.

Emphasize the use of productivity tools in your technology program (word processing,
spreadsheets, graphics, music, and video production). Offer professional development
that supports student use of these tools as techniques for self-teaching.

Establish an annual technology fair for your district. Feature booths where students and
teachers demonstrate their digital work and discuss what they learn and teach in the
process and provide formal presentations designed to help your community reshape their
image of 21st century education.

Establish a district mailing list for teachers to use to discuss how they are integrating 21st
century literacy into their classrooms.

Explore, plan, and implement venues for teachers to display student-produced digital
information products. Collaborate with the local public library, community college,
banks, movie theaters, and other establishments to display student productions.

Offer staff development opportunities for teachers and students on computer graphics,
Web design, information layout, music composition, and video production.

Work toward placing graphic software on every computer, digital still and video cameras
in every classroom, and numerous music composition stations in every school.
School Administrators
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
When evaluating teacher performance, document evidence that students are learning to
find, decode, evaluate, and organize information. Also document evidence that students
are employing information to construct new knowledge and that they are communicating
what they have learned to authentic audiences.

To the greatest degree possible, expect students to turn in their assignments digitally: on
disk, tape, or over the Internet.

Arrange computer and Internet facilities in your school in a way that offers the most
access to the most people possible, and in a way that affords flexibility in their use.

Arrange supervised after-hours access to computers for students and families who do not
have convenient access at home.

When delivering performance and demographic data to teachers for use in planning,
demonstrate how you have used the data to tell a story about your school's strengths,
weaknesses, and challenges.

Purchase digital still and video cameras, and make them available for any teacher to use
at any time. Work toward providing a still and video camera for each classroom, and
bundles of cameras for student use.

Frequently ask to see student-produced digital products (reports on disk, Web pages,
multimedia presentations, or software).

Establish a school Web site and enable all professional staff members to use the site in
order to communicate vital information to the homes of their students and the community.
Require that each teacher have a classroom Web site and to demonstrate how their Web
site helps them do their jobs. Create a section of the school's Web site for showcasing
student and teacher productions.

Think of your school as more than its building. Include in your vision of the school all of
the information products (text, images, songs, and video) that are created by students and
teachers.

Invite community comments on student and teacher work.

Establish rotating video production teams and school photographers and assign them the
responsibility of recording significant events of the school year. Have both upper- and
lowerclassmen on the teams so the experienced students can train less experienced
students.
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Glossary of Terms
Flat – in the context of this paper; “a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple
forms of collaboration on research and work in real time, without regard to geography, distance
or, in near future, even language” (Friedman, 2005) a leveling or flattening of the playing field
for international trade
Globalization 1.0 – “Globalization 1.0, which ran from 1492 until 1800 and was driven by
countries' sheer brawn” (Friedman, 2005)
Globalization 2.0 – “Globalization 2.0, in which "the key agent of change, the dynamic force
driving global integration, was multinational companies" driven to look abroad for markets and
labor, spurred by industrial-age "breakthroughs in hardware" such as steamships, trains, phones
and computers” (Friedman, 2005)
Globalization 3.0 – “individuals are the main agents doing the globalizing, pushed by "not
horsepower, and not hardware, but software" and a "global fiber-optic network that has made us
all next-door neighbors." If the first two eras were driven mostly by Europeans and Americans,
the third is open to "every color of the human rainbow." (Friedman, 2005)
NCLB – No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: said purpose of the act is to close the achievement
gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. It is perhaps the
single most broad, sweeping change since the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Much controversy has arisen over various aspects of NCLB nationwide.