NCTI’s first day keynote, Dr. Dan Domenech, asserts that today’s educational environment is  similar to that of yesterday’s one room schoolhouse.  In a world of amazing tools and technologies, we still hold class with a sage on the stage, a piece of chalk and an old fashioned blackboard.  In a world of information highways, why is it that the proverbial  roadway to our schools remain unpaved?

Could resistance to technology in education be limiting the evolution of educational practices?  Dr. Domenech asserts that we have not yet learned to capture the incentives that come with the use of technology in education due to a combination of fear of change, fear of unintended consequences, outmoded models of education, and antiquated laws preventing change.

Looking back at the history of technology in the classroom it is instructive to identify issues and ways to move forward.  Dr. Domenech described a number of milestones showing from where we have come and to where we might go:

• First use of computers in the schools supported classes in programming, but not for complimenting/facilitating instruction.
• Next, software tools were introduced programmed learning (drill and kill) tools for remediation.
• Assistive Technology began to asset itself  with the introduction of  tools to provide basic accomodations, amplification of teacher’s voice, for example.
• The coming of the Internet brought online research capabilities, but still not leading innovation or indivudalization of teaching and learning.
• In the aftermath of 9-11 cell phones began to enter classrooms, but again not for instruction.  Students have often been allowed to bring phones an handhelds primarily for use in emergency.
• More recently, some schools have experimented with the potential of electronic text books.  To date, publishers report less demand for these tools — despite some compelling benefits, which has limited the development of new capabilities of these dynamic resources .

While recognizing technology’s tremendous potential as an enabler of  game-changing progress, Dr. Domenech sees a number of challenges that we must address to achieve the ultimate goal of fully individualized instruction – with teachers as directors of learning — with an IEP for every child:

• Educators need to recognize and understand the contribution of technology.
• Technologies for individualized learning must be strengthened.
• Legislatures need to change laws to encourage/enable use of technology and remove antiquated elements school programs, such as agraian-based calendars.

As we build information highways, we must improve the dirt roads that lead to our schools, asserts Dr. Domenech.