Stanlee Brimberg Discusses Technological Literacy

How did you get involved with technology in Education?
In the early 1980’s, I was using The Bank Street Writer, the then groundbreaking word processing software program developed by Bank Street, a few years before I came to the School for Children. For me, the importance of all this new technology was using it for my own writing and to help my students learn to write. It changed the way everyone thought about written communication. What technology has always tried to do, and has done beautifully, is to level the playing field for learners. For example, Palenque, a digital video interactive disk program developed by CCT (Center for Children and Technology) at Bank Street in the late 1980’s, enabled a wheelchair-bound student of mine to explore a Mayan ruin.

Did you foresee the role of computer technology in the lives and work of your students?
Not really. But when the Internet came into its own, I did realize the whole world would be different, not just the lives and work of students. The Internet and computer technology in general has profoundly changed the way we all live. I define "the way we live" by what our needs are and how we fill them. But technology also has changed our needs, extended them by providing us with a different kind of awareness, and so we fill these changed needs by using new technology. We fill old needs that way too, IM-ing (Instant Messaging) and e-mailing friends and family, getting and sharing knowledge, taking control of things other people once controlled for us, and playing, playing, playing. Today we’ve passed way beyond teaching kids the keyboard. They—and we—have more important things to do.

What "more important things"?
The Internet contains just about everything, ranging from the wisdom of the ages to utter foolishness. It offers an infinite amount of raw material we can use to learn about things previously off limits to everyone but scholars or the wealthy. So, besides learning to navigate the Web, the grander challenges are these: How do you handle all this data? How do you find, understand, organize, and use it? How can you tell whether your information is authentic? Finally, how do you use data you find to make what you express about it yours? What is originality? What is copying and how do you learn not to do it?

How do you work on these things?
The students have to ride their own bikes, but I am their training wheels. Learning tasks are as much about process as content. For example, in my American history study, I ask students to look at a cross section of life during a defined period. I want them to appreciate that, say, at the time the Civil War was being fought, people also were using cameras and steam engines; artists were painting the West, composers writing music, and writers creating poetry and stories. For one project, I select web sites where students can look at period paintings. They choose one and study it with the aid of prompts I provide. They research the artist’s life and the history of the time the picture was created. Then they hypothesize about the relationship between that picture and the artist’s life and the period in which he or she lived. The questions they have to consider rely not only on information, but also on choices only they can make, so it has to be original.

What software do you use or have developed to enhance your curriculum?
With the exception of games, I think we are all moving away from nifty new software, and staying with the basics. These consist of a word processing program, such as Word; a graphics program, such as Adobe Photo Shop; and, if you are doing math, a program like Excel. You also need a browser like Explorer or Netscape, and the plug-ins that enable you to connect to what’s out there. Some teachers like to have presentation software, such as PowerPoint. After that, it’s a matter of teaching and learning, and not about the software. I think at last the computer is taking its rightful place as a tool rather than a shiny new toy or trophy.

From your perspective, what disadvantages does technology bring to learning?
Technology has brought more advantages than disadvantages. It’s given us incredible access. But I no longer believe that being able to do technological feats in the blink of an eye will free up more time for leisure, human contact, or spiritual endeavors. Every time I get a more powerful program, I do more work and spend more time in the virtual world and less time in the actual world. It’s immensely enticing to have the potential to be so productive virtually. But we need to encourage children—and ourselves—to visit to real places, do real things, be with real people. We also need to teach kids how to enjoy quiet, the simple lack of external stimulation. A few weeks ago, walking up a country road at night, I looked up at the stars and felt the same wonder as when I was twelve. We need to move children toward more experiences like that.

About the Author
Stanlee Brimberg uses technology extensively in teaching social studies and language arts to 12s in the School for Children. He spent five summers at the Library of Congress teaching educators how to create curriculum using the American Memory website. He has contributed online lesson plans to the websites of The Library of Congress, The New Deal Network (Roosevelt Institute), and The New York Times Learning Network. He is presently working with the Center for Children and Technology to develop online materials about the Civil War to be used by the Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park.