What is the tool and what is the project?

Week 5: is it the technology that drives the project or the project that drives the technology? 
 

In his article “It’s not About the Tool: Why Online Student Collaboration Should Focus on State Standards,” Sean Capelle cites Richardson and writes, “These tools, when implemented in classrooms, will prepare students for comprehending new literacy mediums and new challenges that the future holds.” Capelle adds, “However, while blogs and wikis are avenues for collaboration, it is important to note that for educational purposes they are nothing on their own.” So, while Capelle seems to embrace Richardson’s thoughts, he also provides a caveat. In other words, using wikis and blogs (and presumably other technology tools) is not the end goal.

I agree with Capelle that technology tools are nothing on their own; therefore technology cannot fully drive the project.  However, it may be too simplistic to decide that the project should drive the technology. The project should be, to some extent, about learning the technology. We should be past the point of seeing technology as separate from other teaching and learning considerations.  As we’ve discussed in past weeks, and as NH ICT Literacy Standards and NETS standards dictate, media literacy has to be part of the education plan.  So, to the degree that media literacy is a desirable and mandated goal, projects must be designed to incorporate using and mastering technology tools and the participation that comes from effectively using technology.  In other words, there is more to the technology than the tool itself. It opens new opportunities, not just for learning, but for fully participating in that learning and the culture beyond it.  Effectively using technology forces us to teach and learn in different ways. Thus, projects must be designed to promote media literacy.  If we fully reject the notion that it’s “the technology that drives the project,” it may well become an excuse not to develop projects that incorporate technology tools.  Tools have to be used in order to further the goal of media literacy.

Project New Media Literacies says, “Frequently, computers are used as an appendage to a physical library or as a word processing tool. These are good uses for computers, but they don’t really teach students about the participatory culture that exists online – the participatory culture that they will be expected to take part in as adults. In fact, many students are already engaging with participatory culture, and they’re bored by uses of computers that don’t incorporate it!”

Using technology forces a change in the way teachers teach and learners learn. It can force a change in the classroom culture.  It provides new opportunities. Because of the benefits technology offers, projects and technology tools can’t be viewed as separate considerations. The appropriate technology tool must be determined by the project; we can’t focus on the tool just for the sake of using the tool. But using technology and all that implies (collaboration, participation, mastery of and comfort with using a broad range of tools), must be viewed as an integral part of projects and learning.