Overview+of+the+Book


 * INTRODUCTION:** //Reforming Schools Through Technology//
 * Throughout this introduction the reader is presented with the many reforms that have been created and implemented from the 1830s to the 1990s. These reforms range from the launch of kindergarten programs to stiffer graduation requirements.
 * One of the biggest changes in school reform has been on the original intent/mission of schools and education. Schools began as an institution of “public good”, creating responsible citizens. Now it appears that schools have fallen victim to the economy, creating mass producing or corporate- ready citizens.
 * Since the 1980s there has been an even larger education reform at bay, creating more access to or instruction through technology.
 * Cuban’s poses three questions when conducting his experiment in Silicon Valley:

1. In schools where computers are readily available, how do teacher and students use the machines in classrooms for instruction? 2. Have teaching and learning changed as a consequence of two decades of heavy promotion and investment in computers and other technologies? If so, what explains the changes? If not, what explains the stability? 3. Has the investment in computers and other technologies been worth the cost?


 * CHAPTER ONE** - //The Setting//
 * Cuban introduces the state of California as an irresistible and magnetic place, a state where possibilities are abundant. Some of these characteristics were a result of the Gold Rush, a time when a man could literally transform overnight.
 * Silicon Valley is the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose in northern California. In 1997 it was the home of thirteen billionaires and a population that had an average gross income of $66,537; only $26,000 more than the national average. However, in areas like Santa Clara about one third of all the families earned less than $25,000.
 * Those who are drawn to the area thrive on technology and finding the next new thing. They spend long hours in front of a computer at work and home, sometimes blurring the lines between two.
 * Cuban then discusses California schools, where they stand in size, teacher salary, graduation rates, etc. How they once flourished, but due to educational and political reform have struggled over time.


 * CHAPTER TWO** - //Cyberteaching in Preschools and Kindergartens//
 * Cuban compares eleven classrooms in two Silicon Valley schools and ask the questions:
 * How often and in what ways were teachers and children using computers in preschools and kindergartens?
 * Given the availability of computes, in what ways have approaches to teaching and learning remained stable and in what ways have they changed?
 * Cuban describes the different levels of integration as: entry, adoption, adaptation, and appropriation, and invention. Of the eleven classroom studied seven were in the adoption level, three were at the adaptation level, and just one classroom used computers at the appropriation level which means that students are confident with technology and computers and they could integrate them into daily routines for meaningful learning.
 * These teachers believed that technology would play an important role in their students' lives.
 * Through a study Cuban finds that preschool is a good time to introduce computers to students and teach them the safe use of technology.


 * CHAPTER THREE -** //High-Tech Schools, Low-Tech Learning//
 * Cuban examines technology use in Silicon Valley high schools.
 * Cuban bases this chapter on actual observation instead of self-report
 * 9 of 35 teachers observed at one school had students using the computers, the rest relied on standard lecture and seat work.
 * Some students reported that computers had seriously impacted their learning, but that this use was outside of the classroom.
 * Most teachers use technology to prepare lesson and do to administrative tasks, but did not use it in the classroom.
 * Cuban decides after observing that a few teachers have radically changed their teaching methods using technology, but most use the technology in ways that reinforce typcial teaching practices.


 * CHAPTER FOUR** - //New Technologies in Old Universities//
 * Cuban traces the history of a "state of the art" facility at Stanford University. He notes that positions for "faculty support" were cut as funding was cut. The faculty larged ignored and underused the facility despite the technology available.
 * Cuban also points out that although teachers have had a great increase in the information and resources available it has done little to actually change the instruction they deliever. In many cases faculty have cited lack of time or training in the use of the technology as the main reason technologies have not been used more often.
 * Stanford University is Cuban's example of this as he sites the expense for wiring the campus, buying computers and other technologies and then points to studies and surveys which show that despite the change in the way information could be accessed and professors use of computers to communicate the instruction in the class room did not change.
 * Surveys that examined instructional methods used between 1995-1999 show "lecture" and "class discussions" were used much more often than "computer/machine aided instruction"(table 13 page 106). And according to survey from Stanford in 1989 and 1997 the machines faculty used most often were the overhead and prjoector
 * BOTTOM LINE: //**According to Cuban and the studies he has cited the computers and technologies in the class have changed the ways professors aquire information to teach and prepare for their class but for many have not changed the way they deliver that information to students in direct classroom instruction.**//
 * Cuban ends the chapter suggesting he will answer the "why's" in the next chapter.


 * CHAPTER FIVE** - //Making Sense of Unexpected Outcomes//
 * //Cuban explores how teachers have received the introduction of computers into the classroom and compared this reception with://
 * **how they received other technological advances in the past.**
 * Cuban explains that the reception of computers in the educational world was similar to that of other technological advances such as film, radio, and television. There are a few who "jump on the bandwagon" and then there are others who slowly follow, and then some who barely pick up on it at all. Even then, there were limits in frequency of use or view of relevancy to curriculum.
 * **how other professionals received the introduction of computers into their professions.**
 * Exploration into the reception of computers into the professional domains of engineers and primary care physicians also revealed a similar response to computers introduced to teachers. Cuban’s findings support the idea that these three professional groups “have been very selective in their daily uses of technology, picking and choosing among those new ones that they can adapt most easily to traditional practices”(151).
 * **and the unanticipated responses to technology by teachers presently.**
 * The Slow Revolution:
 * The Historical, Social, Organizational, and Political Contexts of Teaching:
 * Historical Legacies in School Structures, Roles, and Activities
 * Contextually Constrained Choices


 * CHAPTER 6** //Are Computers in School Worth the Investment?//
 * It appears that are very few clear answers when it come to computers and education. For example, since the 1980s we have been debating what the words "computer literacy" really mean. Does it mean that one knows how to use a computer for basic productivity or should it mean that person knows how to fix minor hiccups or glitches? Cuban's final analysis is that we must take a good look at how educators use technology before we force it on them.
 * It is important to note that Cuban does reach the conclusion that for the most part computers have been "oversold and underused" in the classroom (p 179)
 * His response to this conclusion is to suggest perhaps more and more teachers will change their beliefs regarding teaching and learning and those making policy might work to: **speed the process of getting computers in classrooms, elimate the gap in Internet access between schools, invest in distance learning and online curriculum, increase on demand tech support and professsional development for teachers.**
 * Cuban sites a project in Berkley the Teacher led Technology Challenge Project (TLTC) as an example of a program that did impact the teachers advancing learning through technology but did so through transforming their staff development with technology.