Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade

In the article, Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade, Larry Cuban describes and argues the spread of telecommunications, in businesses, industries, and the military. Furthermore, he offers three scenarios of how teachers will use technology in the future and predicts (from an educated guess) what he believes will actually happen in the future.

The first scenario is the Technophile’s. This scenario sounded really far fetched but I could imagine some people believing that this would be a truly great step into the right educational direction. I believe that computers are definitely needed in the classroom; however, I would never want the computer to become the main force in teaching.

The second scenario is the Preservationists. In this scenario, “policy makers and administrators put computers and telecommunication technologies into schools largely to improve productivity but no to alter substantially existing ways of organizing a school for instruction.” This scenario seemed to be the most traditional and least progressive in regards to computer technology.

The third scenario is the Cautious Optimists. This scenario sounded much more realistic to what is actually happening in today’s classroom. The Cautious Optimists believe that it is “slow because schools as organizations take time for their teachers to learn how to use computers to guide student learning.” Nevertheless, I must say that I hope that the continued introduction of the technology into our school’s and classrooms do not continue to be slow.

With all that said I believe that technology is a good thing but should not be the only thing. We need teachers, books, art, music, technology, etc. to provide an all round education.