In my last post, I commented on Larry Cuban’s book, Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920, and his observations of how the then-new technology of radio and film was supposed to revolutionize 20^th century educational practices and outcomes. The revolution never took place, but the penchant for technology among reformers h

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In his book, Teachers and Machines, Larry Cuban examines the uses and misuses of technology, specifically radio, film, and television, in American classrooms since 1920. In reading the introduction and first chapter, which dealt only with radio and film, I was struck by two things.

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This blog is entitled "Sharon's Pearls." A pearl is a small, but highly valuable, piece of information, insight, or advice. My name is in the title, not because I expect to dispense all the pearls, but because I'm the one looking for them, collecting them, and displaying them. Maybe I should more accurately call the blog, "Sharon's Jewelry Exchange."

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I have the distinct pleasure of teaching a doctoral level course at William and Mary this spring: Digital Tools for Learning. Here's the course description:

"Students will be provided with a variety of opportunities to examine, apply, and critique the instructional affordances and constraints of a variety of digital learning tools, focusing upon how they can be utilized to support teaching and learning, professional development,
communication and collaboration, and educational media pro… Continue

In Chapter 2 of Teachers and Machines, Larry Cuban reminds us of the cyclic nature of technology implementations in education. Instructional TV goes through its cycle... Early adopters are followed by varied degrees of adoption. Small pockets of
best-practice appear

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