Cuban, Larry. (2001). Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
256 pages
$27.95 (cloth) ISBN 067400602
Reviewed by Larry
Kuehn
University of British
Columbia
June 6, 2002
When he was running for office in 2000, Vicente Fox—the current president of Mexico from the right-wing party PAN—included in his education platform the placing of computers in every school. In outlining new directions for education in Cuba in the new century, Fidel Castro said he wants—that's right—computers in every school. Will computers in every school transform teaching practice in Mexico or Cuba? Not likely, if the experience in already computer-rich Silicon Valley is any indicator. To find out if computers are changing education practice, Stanford historian of technology in education, Larry Cuban, took a look at the impact of computers in the community where extensive integration seems most likely. He looked into the preschools, Kindergartens and secondary schools where the people who develop the new technologies send their children. He also looked at Stanford University, an institution that feeds the developers of the high tech industries of the Silicon Valley region of California.
At every level he examined, there was the unexpected outcome: "In the schools we studied, we found no clear and substantial evidence of students increasing their academic achievement as a result of using information technologies." (p. 133) So where is the problem? Not in lack of access: "Students and teachers had access to computers and related technologies available in both their homes and their schools." (p. 132)
Cuban also rejects the most common response from critics of the schools, what he calls the "blame and train" approach—technophobic teachers who must be forced to be trained. He found little evidence of resistance by teachers to using technology. In fact, many used it extensively to prepare their work, communicate with parents, colleagues and students, maintain records, and carry out research. However, "less than 5 percent of teachers integrated computer technology into their curriculum and instructional routines." (p. 133) In fact, "the overwhelming majority of teachers employed the technology to sustain existing patterns of teaching rather than to innovate." (p. 134)
Cuban does not find that result disturbing—or even surprising. In his previous studies of the introduction of new technologies over the past century, the results were similar. This happened with radio, film, television and the early use of large "main frame" computers. Promoters claimed that each new technology would revolutionize schools. In fact, each received some use, but within the context of existing instructional practices.
Expenditures on technology have not been based on evidence of educational benefits. Rather, "decisions to purchase hardware and software or wire school were as much symbolic political gestures as they were attempts to actually acquire the right tool to get a job well done." (p. 158) This applies to the administrator trying to please the parents of Silicon Valley as much as to Vicente Fox and Fidel Castro. The computer is "a high-status symbol of power and modernity." (p 159)
What accounts for this gap between the symbol and the classroom reality? As he found with all the previous technologies, Cuban identifies reliability as a key factor in limiting use. If a technology is not reliable, no teacher with 25 to 30 students to keep engaged can afford to use it. Even the most enthusiastic computer-using teacher will have a back-up lesson plan for the inevitable crash.
Complexity is a second factor—"rampant featurism" that increased Microsoft Word commands from 311 to 1,033 between 1992 and Word 97, is an example. In addition, corporate marketing produces incompatibilities between wiring, software and the hardware.
Cuban's third explanation is called "contextually constrained choice." Limited classroom use of computers is not a perverse and willful challenge to the technology. Even many of the computer enthusiasts do not use it in ways that transform the practice of teaching. Teachers have to meet complex, overlapping and sometime contradictory objectives. Teach for cognitive development, but also for socialization, for the ability to work together as well as to work independently, to stimulate creativity while also preparing for the increasingly frequent standardized exams. And they have to keep a level of classroom authority to maintain a working classroom.
In naming his book, Cuban describes computers as being oversold, a case that is made convincingly. However, in the other half of the title he claims that they are underused. While he doesn't see computers as an educational panacea, he also isn't rejecting the use of information and communications technology in education. He sees a necessity for teachers and students to understand both the technology and the social practices that make it a powerful force in society. Cuban suggests a number of things that have to change if the potential is to be achieved.
The first change necessary is to respect teachers: "Policymakers and administrators must understand teachers' expertise and perspectives on classroom work and engage teachers fully in the deliberations, design, deployment, and implementation of technology plans." (p. 183) This must include a range of teachers, not just the techno-enthusiasts. Secondly, structural constraints must be reduced. This means providing large chunks of uninterrupted time for planning with other teachers and giving sustained attention to different forms of learning. Thirdly, professional development and technical support would have to be redesigned so they are responsive to the reality of the workplace constraints teachers face. If government officials and education administrators are serious about the effective use of the technology in schools, they would do well to listen to Cuban's advice, and not to the corporate sales agent with grand promises of the next teacher-proof techno solution.
About the Reviewer
Larry Kuehn
Director of Research and
Technology
British Columbia
Teachers' Federation
Email: lkuehn@bctf.ca
Larry Kuehn is also a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia.
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