Loss of control

I'm attending the International Network Conference (INC 2010) conference in Heidelberg today, so this is an opportune time to talk about its most famous son - Johannes Gutenberg.

When I first started teaching I thought my role was to transmit knowledge. I was caught up in the cycle of teaching-learning experiences I remembered from my own formative years. I was essentially perpetuating the kind of teaching style I had myself been exposed to. We teach as were were taught. It took me some time to realise that a) I could also learn from my students, b) that I wasn't the font of all knowledge and c) that there were other, more effective techniques available than simply lecturing. I developed a number of interactive and participatory resources where the students were given the control over the process, and I was forced to stand back and facilitate. It was uncomfortable for me to stand back and not intervene, to try to take control. But I had to do it, and in adopting this new style, I believe I became a more effective teacher.

Sitting here now, in the heartland of Germany, in the place where a literary revolution once took place, I am reflecting now on how teachers still try to maintain control in the classroom. Here are some of my thoughts on the notion of teacher control:

Once upon a time, the lead pencil was an expensive and rare tool. Not many people used it, because not many people had the skill to do so. Pencils were kept chained up in libraries where there was restricted access. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg turned over the apple cart. What had been the preserve of the priviledged few - the nobility and clergy - was suddenly thrown open to the masses. The emergence of universal, mass produced and accessible text instigated a movement for mass literacy, and a communcation revolution ensued. The priviledged few lost control over literacy, and the world of learning had been blown wide open. Knowledge grew rapidly and as it did, so people began to learn how to question the status quo, and social movements gained momentum. The printing press was a disruptive technology - it changed forever our way of life.

Why do we still use ICT suites in schools? Do we have pencil suites? No - we used to have chained pencils before the advent of the Gutenberg press, but when everyone started to learning to read and write, chained pencils were massed produce, came down in price, and were accessible to everyone. The chained pencil was no more. People carried pencils around in their pockets. The same is now happening to computers - the personal computer is now handheld or laptop based, and they are being carried around by students wherever they go. There is a new literacy revolution going on. Students are using portable, wifi connected devices in the classroom (whether they are allowed to or not) and connecting in new ways that are alien to their teachers. Teachers are losing control of the small preserve they thought was safe. They hang on to the ICT suite because it is safe. They feel they can maintain control if all the technology is in one place, and is able to be booked for special sessions. Only thing is, ICT and computers are not special, anymore than the pencil is special. Both are merely tools that can be used to promote and support learning, and both must be freed up so that students can use them wherever and whenever they are.

The ICT suite locates computers and ICT in a setting that is restrictive and constrains creativity. It shows students that they have to go to a particular place and space to 'do computing'. It also constrains some teachers, who might spontaneously wish to bring a computer mediated activity to their session, and can't do so, because they need to 'book the ICT suite' in advance. I could go on, but I won't. I will simply say this: Teachers are losing control now just as the nobility and clergy did in Gutenberg's time. They just don't know it yet.

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