John Silva Blog

One thing that is true in most high schools is that the majority of teachers out there do not use technology on a consistent basis and often are not comfortable with technology in general. The classic example is the veteran teacher who doesn’t use e-mail, does all his lesson plans by hand, and doesn’t know how to use a grading program beyond a calculator. (I’ve met many) As a teacher who is the opposite, I think an ethical dilemma might involve wanting the coolest toys.

At my previous school we had a math teacher who went to a conference and saw a demonstration of a SmartBoard™. She fell so madly in love with it she had to have one for her classroom. She created a proposal and submitted it to the principal and explained all the benefits of the technology and the wonders it could do. The principal was so impressed that she asked if other teachers would benefit from it. The math teacher enthusiastically replied “absolutely” sensing approval was forthcoming. A few months later, dozens of SmartBoards were installed in several classrooms of math and science teachers.  After that, I would say that at least 75% of the teachers were using the technology in the same fashion they would an LCD projector at about three to five times the cost. (about $6,000 for a SmartBoard and accessories)

The ethical dilemma here is falling in love with the technology and creating need. The “invention is the mother of necessity” scenario. My school didn’t need all those SmartBoards; we could have been just as effective with LCD projectors and speakers and saved quite a bit of money. Instead we had very impressive looking classrooms with extremely underutilized resources.

The ethical behavior should be in line with best practices for educational technology. Identify the need and the educational goal then identify the technology to meet that need.