The Flickering Mind II

Too much technology at too young an age can stifle children’s imaginations. “Bulldozing the Imagination,” begins Part II of Oppenheimer’s book, The Flickering Mind. The need for technology has created a situation where schools, faced with serious budget constraints, decide to - trade off classes in the Arts, Shop, etc., school supplies and teachers, and other pressing needs – for new technology in the form of computers, printers, etc. Oppenheimer provides an example of a school district in Pittsburgh that shut down schools, cut back spending school supplies, and raised taxes so the district could acquire new Dell computers, scanners, and digital cameras. Oppenheimer discusses important elements that contribute to student creativity and imagination; these are physical activity, art and music classes, and social interaction. Therefore, school districts should be wary to cut these programs and emphasize technology.

In Chapter Eight, Oppenheimer focuses on the intersection of the private sector, politics, and schools. The deregulation that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s provided an opportunity for the Telecom industry to make huge profits at the expense of schools and taxpayers by providing new technologies. With little oversight, Wisconsin’s TEACH program and the federal government’s e-rate program, school districts were overcharged by millions of dollars. Examples in San Francisco and Atlanta highlight the audacity of the companies involved; the SF school district could have funded the entire project for less than 20% of the e-rate bid. Other private sector initiatives (like the Edison project) skewed data to make it seem that the program was improving test scores.

The focus of Chapter Nine is on scientific research. Successful academic programs must be backed up by scientific evidence as to their effectiveness; Bush’s No Child Left Behind is a perfect example. But Oppenheimer wonders if we can trust the science and tells the story of Renaissance Learning, a educational software company that basically lied with numbers to highlight their program’s success. In Chapter Ten, Oppenheimer discusses the difficulties involved with teacher training. He uses the Harlem example again and describes a middle-age teacher becoming increasingly frustrated with his classroom’s technology. Oppenheimer notes that training teachers is expensive and it is often lost that teachers have a great number of demands and very little time to be adequately trained. If teachers do not understand the technology, then how can they use it to properly teach, and why do we keep throwing money at technology?

Oppenheimer brings up some excellent points in Part II. First, so much emphasis is placed on technology, other important elements of student learning are suffering including arts and music programs, physical education, and social interaction. Next, too much emphasis is placed on having the newest technology (fads) that is backed up by ‘scientific’ research; the problem is how do we know the research is sound and why are we so caught up the latest trends? We’ve lost focus on what is important. What I have learned form this is as an instructional designer and first grade teacher it is important for me to maintain a balance for my students.