"Tools for the Mind"
Mary Burns

I. Overview

In "Tools for the Mind" Mary Burns makes the case that computers are being used ineffectively as instructional tools in many school districts throughout the United States. She identifies four main reasons that computers are not being utilized to promote higher-order thinking:

1. Professional development for teachers focuses on technology skills, rather than on how and when to use technology to promote student learning.
2. Districts are not providing sufficient support (equipment, training, time, etc.) for teachers to incorporate technology wisely in the classroom
3. Excitement about new technologies overshadows whether students are really learning
4. No distinction is made between "higher-order" and "lower-order" applications
   

Burns defines these two categories of computer applications in the following way:

1. Lower-Order: Applications that offer few opportunities for problem solving, analysis, and evaluation. Burns uses Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, and Front Page as examples of this category
2. Higher-Order: Applications that offer opportunities to practice analytical and critical thinking skills. Examples given include spreadsheets, databases, and Geographical Information Systems.
   

Burns laments that most schools today use primarily lower-order applications, limiting the usefulness of computers to promote critical thinking skills. She advocates that in order to overcome this teachers must focus on critical thinking, and use technology only when it furthers that goal, and that districts need to provide professional development that shows how technology tools can be used to promote higher order learning rather than simply teaching educators how to use various types of software.

II. Quotes


The Evils of PowerPoint and Word?

1. "...the most commonly used applications are what I call show-and-tell applications-- PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, and Front Page..."

2. "PowerPoint does not lead students to delve deeply into the writing process or wrestle with complex and conflicting conceptual information."

3. [on PowerPoint] "It may be a wonderful entry-level tool for teachers wading into the technology waters. But as the default tool of choice at the middle and high school levels, it fails to promote deep, complex, or even developmentally appropriate learning."

Why Aren't "Higher-order" technology tools being used?"

4. "Higher-order tools, for the most part, are not as user-friendly or visually appealing. They are time-intensive to learn, integrate, and use."

5. "Many districts have concentrated on professional development that trains teachers in skills instead of teaching them how computers can enhance student learning."

6. "Spreadsheets may receive their most rigorous workout in computer classes, but often in a decontextualized, mechanical fashion (entering data, formatting columns, and so on)--a lower-order use of a potentially higher order tool."

7. "For example, students can use GIS to indicate a geographic area's vulnerability to natural disaster, identifying constraints such as floodplains or areas subject to coastal erosion."

High Order Technology Tools

8. "Teachers need to show students how to evaluate the information's veracity, reason logically, come to evidence-based decisions, create relevant new knowlege, and apply this learning to new situations."

9. "Spreadsheets demand both abstract and concrete reasoning and involve students in the mathematical logic of calculations. They enable learners to model complex and rich real-world phenomena."

10. "Database design can help students systematically organize, arrange, and classify data according to established criteria. Such activities require students to think inductively and deductively."

III. Personal Reflection


It is fairly evident that Burns isn't a big fan of Microsoft PowerPoint and other so-called "Lower-Order" applications (quotes 1-3). She seems to feel that these "entry-level" tools aren't developmentally appropriate for middle and high school students (quote 3). While I agree that critical thinking and analysis should be what educators aim to impart to their students, I think that Burns overlooks or dismisses many of the challenges we face in using technology to promote critical thinking.

I believe that the biggest challenge educators face in incorporating higher-order technology is time. Burns admits that higher-order technology tools are time-intensive to learn. This, I believe, is the reason that educators are taught technology skills rather than how to use applications to promote higher-order thinking. Teachers' time is limited, as are professional development opportunities, and unfortunately, if you do not know how to use an application, it is impossible to use it to teach analysis and critical thinking. This is also the reason that students in computer classes are taught how to enter data and format columns-- without these basic skills, one can't move on to higher order processing. While the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy are excellent goals, one can't simply skip the first levels.

Burns also fails to mention another limitation: space in the curriculum. With the emphasis on state content-standards, standardized testing, and "covering" the material, educators don't have the freedom to devote a large portion of the curriculum to teaching students how to use the technology necessary to do projects that incorporate higher-order learning. While I would absolutely love to have students do a GIS project such as the one that he mentions (quote 7), I think it would be nearly impossible to fit into any high school course. I spent an entire trimester at a fairly competitive university to learn the skills necessary to do something along the lines that Burns mentions; many people earn doctorate degrees doing GIS research of that nature.

Finally, there is the issue of the Digital Divide-- something that seems to be overlooked by many authors of instructional technology articles. I have some students who don't know how to copy and paste text, while others are fairly tech-savvy. The time required to bring one student from copying and pasting to using GIS software would be immense-- meanwhile, keeping the tech-savvy students engaged and continuing to learn would be challenging. This brings up a good explanation for why school districts tend to focus on applications such as Word and PowerPoint-- both of these tools are increasingly becoming necessary in the workforce, meaning that every student needs to learn how to use them effectively. While spreadsheets, databases, and GIS software all promote higher order thinking skills, they are all specialized tools not necessary in many jobs.

While there are many points I feel have been overlooked or deemphasized in Burns' article, I do fundamentally agree that educators should strive to incorporate technology into classrooms in a way that promotes higher order thinking skills. In math and science classes in particular there is ample room to integrate these tools into the curriculum. Evaluating, Modeling, and Classifying are at the heart of these subjects, and these higher order applications (see quotes 8, 9, and 10) give students the tools to use their critical thinking skills to answer complex, real-world questions.