Point-And-Click Reading

One of the courses I'm teaching is a remedial reading class for students who failed the reading part of the school's entrance exam.  A couple came very close to passing, but most of the rest are nowhere near the mark.  To be fair, for the majority of the students, English is not their first language.  (A few can't say much beyond "I need to pass test," but that's the subject of another post.)  So I really can't blame a lack of a work ethic or scholastic aptitude for their failure, and, given enough time, most of them will pass.

However, I noticed something very disturbing.  Perhaps it got my attention because I haven't taught a course like this one in years. 

In that time, the exam has gone from one of those "fill in the right circle with a Number 2 pencil" affairs into one taken on the computer. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised; after all, so many other things that were done with pencil strokes are now being done with mouse clicks.

What disturbed me is this:  Every single student is convinced that he or she failed the test because of the "difficulty" of taking it on a computer.  I am trying to do things with them that will actually improve their reading comprehension skills; instead, they want to take practice exams on the computer, even though I point out that they had been doing that (in workshops and on their own) and they still haven't passed.

You might think that I'm describing merely a new variant on old student behavior.  What troubles me about their attitude, though, is that their belief, in essence, makes the possession of intellectual skills a function of one's ability to use technology.  

That they have such a notion is understandable:  After all, much of American education is based on a similar premise.  It seems that administrators and policy-makers came to such a conclusion after they saw the "best" or "highest-achieving" schools have the latest technology in their classrooms and buildings.  So, educators clamor for the latest computers and educational programs, and administrators have computers doing things that can be done more efficiently--not to mention with more regard for the needs of the students served--by human beings and more primitive technology.

Now, I want to make it clear that I am not some Luddite who doesn't want technology in the classroom. Rather, technology needs to be understood and respected for what it is:  a means to an end, not the end itself.  To believe that being able to move a mouse to the right spot and click it is as vital as developing skills is a bit like thinking that the ability to set the timer on cardio machine is as important to fitness as doing cardio workouts.

Unfortunately, that is the way some policy-makers seem to think.  So, I guess I can't really fault my students for thinking that their ability to pass a reading test is a function of their ability to point and click a mouse on the right spot.