TFV ARTICLE CRITIQUE      TFVI ARTICLE ARTICLE CRITIQUE


TFV: Productivity and Professional Practice

            Breivik (2005) pointed out that young people are far more awash in information than their parents were, however, neither all of this information, nor their ease with the computers and Internet that bring much of it to them, are translating into better-educated and informed college graduates or more competent and efficient workers.  What went wrong?  Why haven't these technological enthusiasts evolved into an extraordinary American workforce?
            Education has always had the responsibility to help students acquire research skills, a responsibility that grew both harder and more urgent even prior to the widespread use of computers, with the information explosion (Breivik).
            Breivik suggests that students must be taught critical thinking skills that will help them determine when and where to find information and then how to identify, access, evaluate, and effectively use that information; in other words, to be prepared for the 21st century, today's students need to be "information literate."
            The author went on to explain that with the seductiveness of the Internet added to the problem, it has become one of education's greatest challenges to teach students the skills needed to test the reliability, currency, and relevance of the information they find.
            Breivik intimated that it is time for both technology and information-literacy skills to be accepted as a core competency to be acquired systematically through all levels of formal learning and the effort to develop them should begin in the K-12 system, but instead, students emerging from the schools today are often far less prepared to do research than their predecessors.
            Breivik further explained that in many states, budget cuts beginning in the early 1990s have led to major cutbacks in school libraries, despite a growing number of studies documenting that school library media programs correlate with stronger reading skills and overall better academic performance and pressures for students to pass writing tests in many schools have caused a significant shift from high school writing assignments that focus on research papers to narrative writing.
            The lack of assessment tools to gauge acceptable performance levels is another cause of inadequate attention in elementary and high school to the development of students' research skills.  High schools are regularly assessed on students' writing and math test scores, which are increasingly tied to funding and there is no similar motivation to develop students' information literacy skills (Breivik).
            This article focused on the various aspects of information literacy in the 21st Century and the lack thereof.  It was an easy read and spoke to the various problems resulting from students’ lack of information literacy skills in secondary and higher education as well as the workplace.
            As an educator responsible for the facilitation of technology and development of information literacy skills, it served as a poignant reminder of the importance of the continuous evaluation and reflection on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in the support of student learning. 

Breivik, P. S. (2005). 21st Century learning and information literacy. Change, 37, 2.

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TFVI: Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues

             This article discusses three issues facing students of color and students who are considered at risk for school failure because of inequities existing with regard to technology Brown (2000).
            The definitions of at risk appear vague, but do offer some common characteristics: (a) children/youths from families living in poverty, (b) children/youths with different backgrounds (e.g., experiences, education, origins), (c) children/youths of color, and (d) children/youths from limited English-speaking families (Davis & McCaul, 1990).  Brown added that at risk also refers to those who are unlikely to graduate from high school or leave school without an adequate level of basic skills.
            In addressing the issue of access, Brown points to four-key areas that are problematic: physical access and use of technology, home and school access, location of computers in the schools, and equal access and learning in schools.  With regard to home and school access, the author cited Henry (1997) and reported that schools with large numbers of students from families living in poverty and students of color tend to offer less access to most types of classroom technology.  Even though these schools receive additional federal funds for technology, they still trail in the technology race and these students reportedly lag behind in access to multimedia technology, cable TV, the Internet, CD-ROM drives, networks, laserdisc technology, and satellite technology (Brown).
            Brown revealed that when technology is placed in public schools, regardless of the types of students attending the school, it is typically concentrated in areas of the building where students have limited access to the technology.  In 1995, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a study which reported that computers and technology placed in the schools are located in administrative offices 67.5% of the time, library and media centers 60.1% of the time, and computer labs 59.3% of the time while computers and technology are placed in the classroom only 38.1% of the time.
            With instructional practices there appears to be an emphasis on remediation for low achievers that results in less-challenging curricula and an over emphasis on repetition of content through drill and practice, thus denying students of color, low achievers, or students with disabilities an opportunity to learn higher-level thinking skills (Hearne et al., 1988).  The Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition [LCHC] (1989) suggested that rather than drill-and-practice software, tasks should involve rich, interactive simulations and microworlds that embed the need for basic skills in higher-order thinking.
            Speaking to the third issue, barriers; the author referred to Wolfe’s 1986 assertion that many students of color and female students believe stereotypes about technology and about themselves that interfere with their use of technology as a tool for education, recreation, artistic expression, information organization and solving problems.  In addition, Cummings (1998) found that the majority of educators in her survey did not like to teach with technology.  Hannafin and Savenye (1993) cited that some educators do not want to compete with the computer for students’ attention, they do not believe the computer improves learning outcomes, and pointed out that if teachers are not involved in the process, technology will not be used effectively, regardless of how much training they receive.
            Although the three big ideas of the article were access, instruction, and barriers, the author also discussed practices promoting equity and effective instruction as well as integrating technology into instruction.  In doing so, Brown focused on the following points:

            This article not only dealt with the three main issues, but solutions to the underlying problems as well.  Although published in 2000, with sources over 20 years old, this article remains relevant and applicable because these problems continue to exist in schools that educate students at risk.
            As a school library media student, it brings the issues relative to students at risk to the forefront while presenting viable options to assist in bridging and closing the technology gap.  What amazed me the most in the article were the statistics that indicated that computers are least often placed in classrooms where learning occurs and most often in administrative offices. 

Brown, M. R. (2000). Access, Instruction, and Barriers: Technology issues facing students at risk. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 3.

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