Technology And MI

Technology And MI

by Thomas R. Hoerr, Ph.D.

How will technology affect the implementation of Multiple Intelligences (MI)? How might technology affect the implementation of MI? Whether or not we like thinking about these possibilities, whether or not we rely on a Palm Pilot (tm) or have trouble programming our VCR, the continual advances in technology are a day-to-day reality. At least in most sectors of society.
More than one wag has pointed out that someone awakening from a 50 year nap in a school would think she had been asleep for a few years at most, long enough to see fashions change, but that's about it. Otherwise, schools would be pretty much the same as when she fell asleep a half-century ago. Indeed, in many schools the model is the same as it always was: the teacher is in front of the class, the students sitting in rows of desks, information being disseminated. Walking outside of school, however, Ramona Van Winkle would be astounded at the changes. She would see people talking on the phone in cars, using cellular phones or PDAs (personal digital assistants) while walking down the street, and see what looks like tiny television screens on which people were typing and reading something called "e-mail messages." That doesn't even begin to deal with microwaves, satellite television systems, tiny computer chips being embedded in virtually every household appliance, and a host of other changes too numerous and subtle to be recounted here.
But schools, by and large, would seem pretty much the same, Ramona would note. Virtually no where else in our society is this true. From hospitals to prisons, department stores to restaurants, auto repair shops to law offices, technology has changed both appearance and function. The one exception in schools, a way in which they have changed, would be that in many classrooms, computers sit in a prominent position � even if they don't play a prominent role in instruction.
In all fairness, when it is correctly said that technology hasn't made much of a difference in schools, I'm reminded of the comment that lowering pupil-teacher ratios doesn't make much of a difference in student achievement. That's true: a reduction from 32 to 28 pupils doesn't yield much. But what would happen if the number of pupils dropped to 16 per teacher? Is there any doubt that student achievement, however measured, would shoot up? Similarly, technology hasn't made much of a dent yet but that's because we really haven't immersed ourselves in the possibilities. In general, schools have not kept pace with technological advances. This is not the fault of educators. Schools are rarely adequately funded and buying technology often only happens at the expense of purchasing other materials or increasing salaries.But this will change. The price of technology continues to drop and the capacity to store and transmit data will explode even more than it has in the past. As a result, classrooms of tomorrow will use various forms of technology on a routine basis. The kinds and quantity of information at a student's fingertips (literally and figuratively) will ratchet up expectations for how problems are solved and research is done at every level, from grade 3 through graduate school.
This increased use of technology will not diminish the role of the teacher. Indeed, as Edward Hallowell points out, "the human moment" (January-February 1999 Harvard Business Review), a face-to-face interaction, becomes even more important when so much of our time is spent communicating with and through an electronic device (true with adults, even more true with children). Good teachers will remain the key to a student learning, but they will routinely rely on a host of technological tools. Technology will continue to be cheaper, more powerful, and more pervasive.
Indeed, "more pervasive" may be an understatement. In Japan, for example, recent advances in technology allow cell-phones to be used to send and receive e-mail. But since the Japanese alphabet contains thousands of characters, not 26, the phones have symbol-keys which enable one touch to send a visual image that means a word, such as "eating" or "time," or a phrase, such as "I am feeling..." "How are you?" or "Do you want to...?" The recipient receives a rebus-like electronic message on her cell-phone consisting of words and visual images. (The same cell- phones perform the function of charge cards and can be pointed at vending machines of various kinds, assessing the owner for the charge of a theater ticket, soft drink, or rapid transit ride.) The screen on these phones is far more advanced of those presently used in the states, capable of highly sophisticated digital imagery, and can be used to watch a movie or, in the not-too-distant future, see a clear picture of the person with whom one is speaking.
Small handheld, virtually impervious, laptop computers are beginning to take hold within our country. Although their memory is small and their screens are tiny (at least as of this month!), they allow each child to have a portable word-processor. How long will it be before students routinely paste in computer graphics to amplify a point or use them rebus-like, as they do in Japan, when writing a book report or note to a friend? Already students create their own personal web-pages and use websites to share their research with, potentially, millions of unknown others around the world. Today most schools have at least one internet connection. Shortly technology will make hard wires obsolete and every student will be able to be on-line simultaneously, perusing websites (or sending furtive messages to a buddy in another class, school, or state). Imagine a class in which each child has total access to the internet, as much as the teacher will allow.
In The Age of the Spiritual Machines (Viking Press, 1999), Ray Kurzweil talks about the inevitable fusing of flesh, spirit, and computer. He tracks how the demarcation between what we consider unique to humans and what computers can do becomes less clear each year. Like Isaac Asimov before him, by 2020 Kurzweil predicts that technological advances will give computers the capacity to express emotion. "Human rights for computers" -- when is it fair to pull the plug on an ailing computer? (pun intended!) -- will become a topic of much disagreement. Small telephone language interpreters, embedded in every handset, will be commonplace, instantaneously translating whatever language is spoken to that which the listener desires. And virtual reality will be far more sophisticated than today's flight-simulators or mortal combat computer games. Kurzweil predicts that technology will allow us to have face-to-face interactions in real-time with people who live on other continents; the technology, he assures us, will be so powerful that we will not know whether we are speaking to them in person or to a computer-generated life form. (Would Hallowell call this a "human moment," I wonder?) As an example of the blurring of what is defined as human and what is defined as computer, he points out that we have already started down the road to using computers in our bodies, artificial kidneys or hearts being fully accepted. Yet none of us think that the people who have these artificial organs in their bodies are any less human.So how does this relate to using MI? How will all of this change both what and how we teach? The only thing I know is that I don't know!What I do know, though, is that technology is beating at the door and is here to stay. Technological advances will not only make our lives easier, they will change the way we live and think. And while it will be later rather than sooner, this will happen in our classrooms too. Realistically, our most outlandish predictions will probably be considered conservative in 20 years. All we can do is stay abreast of technology and think of how it can offer us creative new ways to use MI to help our students grow and learn. In no way suggesting that we are in the forefront of technology (we consciously decided that this is not a route we want to take), what follows are some suggestions based on our experiences at New City School.
Record students' findings and research in creating your own living data. For years, as a study of biographies, our fourth grade students have created a "Living Museum." Rather than simply read and write about heroes and heroines, our students become these people. They dress up as the individual they studied, give a 3-5 minute presentation of their lives, and answer questions posed by other students and adult visitors. This year we took the next step and recorded each presentation on videotape, not just for the child's portfolio (as we have always done), but as an entry for the tape of the particular historical figure. In ten years, then, for example, we will have 6-8 different renditions of students portraying Winston Churchill speaking about his life on one videotape. Future years' students � whether they happen to be in this same class and preparing to present their biography or are a student from another grade who is studying Churchill or World War II -- will be able to view the New City Churchill videotape. Scores of other historic figures will be featured on their videotapes, e.g. Rosa Parks, George Washington, and will be available to be used in research. This same technique, recording students' findings and presentations for future use, could be done with all research reports, projects, and presentations.
Use videotapes as a tool for student reflection and developing the intrapersonal intelligence. We believe that the personal intelligences are the most important ones, and videotapes can be a powerful tool to give students feedback about themselves. We use videotapes at every grade level to tape students as they present their research projects and reports. We also have created forms which the students complete while watching themselves on tape, in order to reflect on their performance. Watching oneself presenting on videotape and responding to questions such as What did you do well? With what were you not pleased? What should you do differently next time? is a real learning experience. Students not only learn how to share information and present their findings and opinions, they are developing their intrapersonal intelligence.
Use CD-ROMS to create digital portfolios. We are beginning to talk about this as an alternative to our traditional portfolios. Filled with papers and photos, along with an audio and videotape, our present student portfolios address every intelligence each year and are over-brimming by the time a student completes the sixth grade (despite the fact that we cull them each year). A digital portfolio would not only save space, it would facilitate sharing student progress with families at home and around the dinner table (although we would never want to forsake our spring Portfolio Night). Of course, a digital portfolio would not only be able to contain far more information, technology would capture a far more richer picture of a child's progress, showing him/her "in action" while making presentations.Use digital camera technology as part of report cards. Last year it dawned on me that is was fairly ludicrous that we at New City, an MI school, relied almost exclusively on the linguistic intelligence to share student progress on our report cards. Our twice-annual report cards � 5 to 9 pages in length and beginning with a page devoted to the personal intelligences � consisted of skill-based grids, rubrics, and personalized narratives. Last year, instead of simply writing about a student's progress in art class, we also used a digital camera to include a photo of a piece of the student's art work in the report card. This year, rather than simply describing a student's efforts in creating a Native American diorama, we also added a picture of the student holding his/her diorama. As with the photo of the child's art work, discussion questions are printed at the bottom of each page to facilitate a dialogue among parents and students. Next year we plan to expand this strategy to more grades, with digital photos ultimately being an integral part of every report card.
A non-New City idea is to look for software that supports the intelligences not most readily available in your classroom. None of us is strong in every intelligence and it's only natural that we tend to teach in those areas in which we are the strongest. Learning-centers can be used to help address our weaker intelligences, and software can supplement them. Learning arcades designed around each intelligence, moving from room to room, have been effective at the Truman School in Davenport, IA.These strategies are just a few ways to grab on to today's technology and use it to value all of a child's intelligences. Surely, by the time you read this article, tomorrow's technology and tomorrow's ideas will have already made some of these suggestions routine. I'd welcome any ideas you may have!
About the Author:
Tom Hoerr is the director of the New City School in St. Louis, MO where MI has been implemented since 1988. Tom's book, Becoming A Multiple Intelligences School(ASCD Press), is available through www.ascd.org or www.amazon.com.Tom can be contacted at trhoerr@newcityschool.org or trhoerr@AOL.com.