Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom

Rating:
Summary: Great observations, but fails to answer main question: SO?
Review: "Oversold and Underused" uses the author's apparently great array of resources to compile a comprehensive study on one of the newst, most popular educational fad: computers.

They're everywhere. In computer labs, in classrooms, and in libraries (now, because of this, called "media centers" in many places), among others.

Larry Cuban does a good job detailing this, using both previous studies and his own ones. But this book is flawed in that he does not go nearly far enough in describing the ramifications of such a drastic change in the educational landscape. And he never satisfactorally answers what should be his one of his primary concerns: do computers help students learn?

All in all, this is a good book to check out of the library and leaf through to get a better grasp of the increasing presence of computers in schools today.

Rating:
Summary: Great observations, but fails to answer main question: SO?
Review: "Oversold and Underused" uses the author's apparently great array of resources to compile a comprehensive study on one of the newest, most popular educational fads: computers.

They're everywhere. In computer labs, in classrooms, and in libraries (now, because of this, called "media centers" in many places), among others.

Larry Cuban does a good job detailing this, using both previous studies and his own ones. But this book is flawed in that he does not go nearly far enough in describing the ramifications of such a drastic change in the educational landscape. And he never satisfactorally answers what should be his one of his primary concerns: do computers help students learn?

All in all, this is a good book to check out of the library and leaf through to get a better grasp of the increasing presence of computers in schools today.

Rating:
Summary: Great observations, but fails to answer main question: SO?
Review: "Oversold and Underused" uses the author's apparently great array of resources to compile a comprehensive study on one of the newst, most popular educational fad: computers.

They're everywhere. In computer labs, in classrooms, and in libraries (now, because of this, called "media centers" in many places), among others.

Larry Cuban does a good job detailing this, using both previous studies and his own ones. But this book is flawed in that he does not go nearly far enough in describing the ramifications of such a drastic change in the educational landscape. And he never satisfactorally answers what should be his one of his primary concerns: do computers help students learn?

All in all, this is a good book to check out of the library and leaf through to get a better grasp of the increasing presence of computers in schools today.

Rating:
Summary: Well written and worth reading
Review: A very well written and thoughtful examination of the 'challenges' faced by k-12 educators dealing with the general public's view that getting computers into the schools will improve learning. The book supports a number of ideas I already subscribe to (making me a decidely biased reviewer) -- essentially, putting computers in classrooms is not enough (Alan Kay's observation that there's no music in a piano is one of my favorite succinct statements on this subject). Cuban reveals himself to be somewhat unsophisticated with computing tools/techniques, but I'm not sure this is a bad thing - he's an educator, not a 'tech-geek' and the educator's point of view on the subject of computers in the classroom has not been heard well enough in the past few years.

Rating:
Summary: A problem shared by the entire nation!
Review: As teachers, we all get frustrated with the limited technology in our schools. We have the equipment, but it isn't adequate for all of us to use. Larry Cuban explores this problem in great detail, offering an explanation as to why the billions of dollars spent across the nation on computers isn't improving academic performances. He also offers solutions as to what the nation needs to do to remedy this situation. A very thought provoking piece! If only our politicians would read it!

Rating:
Summary: Overwritten and underanalyzed
Review: If you're looking for a thoughtful, insightful analysis of the use of technology in the classroom, this book is NOT it. Two of the book's conclusions seem unassailable, i.e., the benefits from using computer technology in the classroom have been oversold by its proponents and the technology is little used in the classroom despite pervasive access to computers. This, however, is not news, as virtually any thoughtful parent with school-age children could tell you. Unfortunately, the book is rambling, and the analysis is sophomoric and naive. It might have made a useful magazine article, but the book-length format has resulted in the inclusion of so much chaff with the few grains of wheat as to make reading this rambling, poorly argued book a frustrating and annoying experience.

The unspoken assumption that underlies the whole book is that computers represent a genuinely transformative technology that should and inevitably will result in a revolution in instructional methods from pre-school through the university level. The author investigates a number of reasons why this revolution has not yet occurred notwithstanding the pervasive availability of computers in the school systems he studies but fails to investigate or discuss one of the obvious reasons, i.e., that the technology (at least at the current state of hardware and software development) is a vehicle ill-suited to producing the author's hoped-for instructional revolution.

The author uses the advent of film, radio and television as models for the acceptance of new instructional technologies in the school systems. He fails to discuss in any of these cases the ultimate reasons for their failure to revolutionize the classroom experience, i.e., their fundamental unsuitedness to the task. No one today would seriously advocate the widesrpead use of any of these still "underused" technologies to transform the educational experience for the better.

The author would have been able to explore his subject more effectively if he had compared these supposed revolutionary technologies, which advocates argued would fundamentally transform education but were never widely adopted, with technologies that have been widely adopted in the classroom. Teachers, like other workers, will rapidly adopt procedures and technologies that they believe will improve their ability to function effectively. (See, for example, the pervasive use of computers by teachers for preparatory and administrative activities, which the author discusses but whose significance escapes him.) The computer revolution in business was driven from the bottom up. Workers clamored for computers that they knew would simplify complex tasks and improve their ability to get their work done, much the way teachers have embraced computers for preparatory and administrative tasks. By contrast, computers have been introduced to the classrooms not by grassroots demands from teachers but from top down pressures from parents and administrators. As the author rightly points out, teachers today are not technophobes and commonly make extensive use of PCs outside the classroom for person use or to prepare for classes. If there were readily apparent, readily implementable and educationally beneficial uses of computer technology for instructional purposes in the classroom, teachers would be clamoring for more computers not letting them sit "underused."

The author investigates any reason he can think of to explain why teachers don't integrate computer technology into the classroom except the most obvious one -- that computer technology (like film, radio and television) is not a suitable vehicle to produce a revolution in instructional methods.

The author fails to cite even one example where computers have had a revolutionary effect on classroom instruction, even among teachers who are highly motivated to use and promote the technology. Even the few teachers he praises for integrating computers into the classroom seem to be doing nothing more than using computers to do the same old things that could otherwise have been easily done with slides, pictures and other low tech technologies. There was nothing "transformative" or "revolutionary" about any of the "innovative" uses that he lavishly praises.

The term "underused" in the title of the book assumes that computers should be used in the classroom much more than they currently are, but this assumption goes wholly unexamined by Mr. Cuban.

JHB

Rating:
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: In his book "Oversold and Underused Computers in the Classroom", Larry Cuban gives us much to consider with regard to the placement of computer technology in our nation's schools. Computer technology was touted by reformers, politicians, and school administrators as being the innovation that was going to change the way our teachers teach and our students learn. Literally billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure, computers, projectors, software, and both mobile and stationary labs. But to what end? What, if anything, has changed?

Cuban supplies the reader with a look at schools in Silicon Valley and their attempts to bring about change through technology implementation. While teachers may use computers at home or for administrative tasks at school, they have yet to integrate technology use and bring about change through constructivist methodologies. His prognosis for change is pessimistic at best.

I believe that Dr. Cuban has presented a very valid case and has substantiated his position with plenty of good data. The book was easy to read and understand. I found the case studies to be particularly good reading. I would recommend that school board members, administrators, teachers, elected officials, and concerned parents read this book and thoughtfully consider his case.

Rating:
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: In his book "Oversold and Underused Computers in the Classroom", Larry Cuban gives us much to consider with regard to the placement of computer technology in our nation's schools. Computer technology was touted by reformers, politicians, and school administrators as being the innovation that was going to change the way our teachers teach and our students learn. Literally billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure, computers, projectors, software, and both mobile and stationary labs. But to what end? What, if anything, has changed?

Cuban supplies the reader with a look at schools in Silicon Valley and their attempts to bring about change through technology implementation. While teachers may use computers at home or for administrative tasks at school, they have yet to integrate technology use and bring about change through constructivist methodologies. His prognosis for change is pessimistic at best.

I believe that Dr. Cuban has presented a very valid case and has substantiated his position with plenty of good data. The book was easy to read and understand. I found the case studies to be particularly good reading. I would recommend that school board members, administrators, teachers, elected officials, and concerned parents read this book and thoughtfully consider his case.

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking for technophiles and technophobes
Review: In Larry Cuban's book, Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classrooms, the author contends that all the technology that has been infused in schools has done little to change the way teachers teach. Furthermore, he believes that technology probably will never change the way teachers teach. He researchers the technology in schools in Silicon Valley, thinking that if technology will change the way we teach, what better place to begin his research. He finds that very little has changed in the way teachers teach and children learn even in this geographical area where technology in schools all began. He gives very detailed and specific research, and then gives his reasons why he believes the way he does. He understands that technology is here to stay, but unless schools first concentrate on learning and their core and social values, technology will continue to be oversold and underused. Although I disagree with him on some of his observations, this book has certainly made me think and will change the way I make future decisions when recommending what technology should be purchased and how it should be incorporated so that it will not be underused.

Rating:
Summary: Oversold and Underused: Really?
Review: In this book, Larry Cuban details why he thinks a moratorium should be placed on all educational funds earmarked for technology. He methodically outlines the case studies of several Silicon Valley Schools. He points out that Silicon Valley, above all other places, should have been able to incorporate on a wide-spread basis technology-infused, student-centered teaching methodologies. Based on his studies, he predicts that not much will change in the near or far future as far as teaching is concerned. But he also offers suggestions as to how the desired changes in teaching might be realized. The book is interesting, well-written, and thought provoking. It may even be thought-provoking enough to facilitate the changes, he predicts will never happen.