WHEN TECHNOLOGY is integrated with project-based, real-world problem solving, students are engaged in the learning, teachers are energized, and parents are involved. These are but some of the findings from the Middle School Mathematics Through Applications Program (MMAP) directed by Shelley Goldman, Stanford University Associate Professor and a Project Director at WestEd.
The Mathematics project, deemed an exemplary and promising educational technology program by the U.S. Department of Education, uses software tools to engage 6th - 8th graders in real-world problem solving that requires them to learn mathematics and apply what they learn. Developed by Goldman from 1992-1998 as a National Science Foundation project, MMAP is a project- and design-based curriculum tied to standards.
Integrating Technology into the Core
Goldman explained, "We wanted to see how technologies could become integrated, long-term partners in a core subject area where testing was occurring, such as in mathematics. We weren't looking to make an add-on or a supplement. We concentrated heavily on topics that would prepare kids for algebra, such as proportional reasoning and experiences with function, and we created four environments that used simulation and modeling." Word processing, spreadsheets, graphing programs, and other commercial software were also used. Students designed living spaces in Antarctica, rescued guppies from a polluted Venezuelan stream, and broke secret musical codes.
She found that "opening the doors of the schoolhouse to the real world" led to significant engagement in student learning and achievement. And when technology is integrated with project-based learning and teaching, it adds multimodal tools and channels for learning and communicating. It provides "more grown-up manipulatives" and accesses rich content discussions, Goldman said.
"When kids are working on designs and trying to create solutions to real world problems, they have to rationalize, explain, hypothesize, test their hypotheses, look for generalized cases, and search for patterns, and they have to communicate with each other and their teachers nonstop. We found that to be a very good developmental process for kids," she explained.
Technology provided "deep and long lasting connections to the content," Goldman observed, as well as "incredible connections to real life concerns and the possibilities for future work." Goldman found that middle school students were game for "putting on fantasy hats, and using tools that people use in real life work. They felt they were making recommendations and solving problems that mattered. They also thought they were dabbling in skills and areas that mattered to them for their own futures."
'Huge Job on Teacher Front'
To integrate technology into the classroom on a somewhat regular basis required much restructuring work in terms of pedagogy, activities, time, and space, Goldman said. She found the curriculum itself became a professional development tool, with teachers analyzing their instructional success and reflecting on ways to improve student learning.
Goldman acknowledged that teaching with technology "is a huge job on the teacher front, and an evolving process of learning, experimentation, and mastery. As soon as teachers get control of the technology in the content area, new things are on the horizon. It is a constant process, and it is necessary to give people the time and resources to make the commitment." But whenever teachers saw powerful demonstrations and models for technology integration, "they got excited and they went for it," she added. She cautioned, however, that strong, long-term, professional development contexts have to be created for teachers to work with technology in content areas.
Parents were also powerful allies in the learning process. To help parents understand project-based learning, students demonstrated learning with technology and parents were able to experience technology-in-use. "Once parents actually saw what was happening in our classrooms and got an idea for the accessibility of what they considered to be complex mathematics, they became much better partners and advocates for their own children," Goldman said.
Beyond Standardized
Performance Measures
Goldman warned that all stakeholders need convincing demonstrations of how learning is improved with the integration of technology. She worries that test scores do not make the contributions of technology evident and, with so much accountability required today, teachers worry less about adopting new technologies.
"If we provide an education that is just good enough to get kids to perform on standardized tests, we will be leaving a lot of children behind. Competence on a standardized test in reading and math is not competence enough to get you into the real world and launched from school into a healthy, productive adulthood. So we cannot be complacent that we're under the gun for this testing accountability - we have to get way beyond this," she advocated.
"Technology is a good leverage plane for helping us not only to do it but to show the other ways that we make commitments to children's learning," Goldman said. "No matter what the priorities are at the state, district, school, or at subject-level discussions, when there are plans, prioritizing, and activities, the question of 'How can technology be used here?' must be asked, must be answered, and must be acted upon."
