Coppola, Eileen M. (2004). Powering up: Learning to teach well with technology. Reviewed by Irene Laurie, McMaster University

Coppola, Eileen M. (2004). Powering up: Learning to teach well with technology. NY: Teachers College, Columbia University pp. xvi + 188 $ 29.95 (Papercover)     ISBN 0-8077-4498-0 Reviewed by Irene Laurie McMaster University March 25, 2006 Although this book is based on an ethnographic study of one high school and five of the teachers, there are many reasons that this book would inform a broader scope of readers than just secondary school educators. Carefully crafted and solidly built, the recommendations are well supported by the research. The building blocks include: why technology in education is good; what it is not; what it looks like when it is effective; what individual factors and contextual factors influence effective use. Coppola shows the dynamic tension between professional individualism and the interdependence needed to build and support visions and missions that underlie successful implementation of technology in education. Although this book will be of interest to school leaders and policy makers at any level of education, teachers and professors will want to read this to not only improve their practice, but to better understand the nature of professional learning and the contextual factors that support it. If there is any recipe to teaching well with technology in this book, however, it is not a "one pot, ready in 20 minutes" method. The recommendations are rich and interconnected, and, as the author says, it doesn't lend itself to a flowchart. Some audiences might want to skim specific sections of the book, but where they question the authors claims, reading the well constructed case she builds will likely prove convincing. The findings in this study can be well applied to other innovations in teaching and learning. Some of the questions that I had at the beginning included: This is a "higher end" school. Can this be applied to all schools? How can a study of five high school teachers reach a broad audience? These were answered to my satisfaction in the course of the book, leaving me with just a wish for more recent references for some of the key issues, but this is a difficulty of the publishing cycle not easily resolved. Introduction: Not awash in enthusiasm for technology for its own sake "Developing high-quality uses of computers in schools depends on keeping high-quality teaching at the core of the school." (p1.) This author does not fall prey to the lure of technology for its own sake as is sometimes the case. In the first part of the book, she details why and under what circumstances the use of technology is a valuable instructional practice. Coppola states that without pedagogical knowledge the results of using technology will be mediocre. The author believes that given good working theories, technology can extend their reach and power. However, she cites evidence that mandating technology leads to cosmetic or inappropriate uses and is not transformative. She states that there are many ways that this can go wrong, including political infighting which can consume much time and energy. This seems somewhat paradoxical, as we need the top levels of educational organizations to know what the needs are and to put them in place, but not as Coppola states, to mandate their placement or use. Coppola echoes what we've learned and relearned when we've forgotten, that there is no 'one size fits all' way of teaching students, so let's apply this to teaching the faculty. This book shows how. Choosing a high school that had neither external money nor partnerships, Coppola selected five teachers who were using computers as a tool for constructivist teaching. Coppola uses a wide definition for constructivism that seems like just good pedagogy rather than some of the more extreme definitions that exist. This year long, ethnographic study looks at the organizational conditions that exist in the high school. At first, one might wonder how, using only one high school and five teachers Coppola will be able to create a model that can be applied elsewhere and to other instructional practices. Stay tuned. Part 1: Why use technology, when and how Coppola first does a review of the literature to back up both her definitions, assumptions and methodology. The three strands of research she considers are: technology in education; constructivist teaching with computers; and, school reform/restructuring. She discusses evidence that using computers well is part of instructing well. With a brief historical review, Coppola shows us the introduction and development of computers into schools and their usage. Beliefs changed from earlier expectations that technology would change instruction and classroom culture, to computers as catalysts or agents, to computers used to "amplify existing practice" (p. 19). Not until the late 1980's were teachers or the school structure and culture in the model. Few studies showed the relationship between computers in schools and the quality of outcome. Coppola speaks of a broad consensus among educators that constructivism or teaching for understanding is required to develop lasting knowledge, understanding, and higher levels of thinking. She states that constructivist teaching is based on cognitive science of the 1960's and is characterized by practices that engender active engagement, evoke the real world, and emphasize conceptual over rote learning. Also, learning must build on an individual's existing knowledge and the teacher's role is to facilitate students' ability to construct this knowledge. In an excellent insight which refutes some arguments we have heard against constructivism, she states that "the higher order thinking skills promoted by this [traditional didactic] paradigm have always been accessible to a small segment of the population. But the call for teaching higher order skills to students on a mass basis poses a new challenge for educators" (p. 20). Next, Coppola supports an argument that to support high quality teaching and learning with technology, school reform is needed. She believes they are intertwined technology will have little value without reform and reform without technology is probably impossible. Stating that few teachers learned constructivist teaching using computers in their professional preparation or their own school experiences, Coppola first maintains that incentive systems must be reworked if teachers are expected to change their practice and improve student learning. (She later mentions removing disincentives and allowing mistakes without punishment.) As with students, teachers learn better in the real setting of their own workplace and if they are not always isolated structurally and culturally from each other but do have some solitary reflection time. In other words, schools need to become learning communities where teachers learn as well as students. Other necessary but not sufficient factors she cites as linked to effective use of technology are: a critical ratio of one computer to every four students; time and support for professional development; technical support available in the school; and, time and schedule flexibility. In order to achieve successful technology practices, there also needs to be a shared, school-wide vision and an organizational structure that allows innovation and collaboration. Coppola cites Newmann and Wehlage (1995) who, in a meta-analysis of school organization and restructuring research found that success requires "placing student learning at the center, surrounding it with agreement among adults about what constitutes authentic pedagogy, creating organizational elements that support professional community among teacher, and maintaining an external policy environment that is supportive of school efforts." (p. 23). Responding to the challenge of Cuban (2001) in Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom, a book that argues that technology is not well-used in schools and seldom links to any deep changes, Coppola agrees in part, but still sees computers as powerful tools when teachers see them as a possible solution to an identified pedagogical issue. Her book looks "closely at the intersection between pedagogy and computers, and what elements in the school organization are most promising for the use of computers to improve teaching." (p. 25). Coppola's central, very pragmatic goal is show how to keep learning at the center of a school. She has selected a school that has succeeded in practicing constructivist teaching with computers in order to "illuminate how pedagogy, teacher learning, and organization relate to one another. The challenge for educational leaders is how to keep instructional practice the central concern as they design policy systems, lead organizations, and play out the complexities of life in schools. And therefore, the challenge for researchers is to create analytical models grounded in the real experience of schools that extend the leaders' understanding of school organization and what it means to place instruction central." (p. 26). This backward mapping from quality classroom to model looks at the antecedent policies, structure, culture and community norms that provide the resources, incentives, language and ways of thinking that lead to successful instruction. Using a model of concentric circles with successful teaching in the centre surrounded by teacher learning then organizational culture, Coppola started at the center with her work. Coppola describes her study as follows: I began with a focus on the work of five teachers who were chosen because they were using computers for constructivist-style pedagogy in different subjects and in different ways. I observed their work in the classroom so as to understand what they were doing and how it affected their students. I then asked how they understood the work they did; most specifically, I sought their stories about how they learned to do it. In response to the very simple question, "How did you learn to do this?" they each related a particular individual story. In the end, through analyzing these stories as five case studies, I found common predispositions and processes among them, but no common techniques or prescriptions. (pp. 28-29) Next, Coppola asked them questions related to their organizational culture, especially following up on mention of professional learning. She also spoke to other teachers, administrators, support staff, students and community members. Coppola studied research on how teachers learn new practices and on organizational culture to provide a context for her study and provide a good summary for the reader, of what and how teachers learn and in what work environments. She found that "The beliefs teachers hold about their work guide their many decisions, most of which occur moment to moment in the classroom." (p. 30). The individual's suppositions, commitments, ideologies and assumptions about how students learn affect not only their day-to-day efforts but also their adoption of innovations. "Without arguing that any individual buys a set of beliefs wholesale, it does seem that constructivist teachers subscribe to a group of beliefs about the nature of knowledge, the process of learning, and the practice of teaching that contrasts with the beliefs of more traditional teachers…" (p. 30) For example, learning is a highly active, individual process in which students create their own understanding. To teach this way requires deep knowledge of subject and pedagogy. Constructivist teaching adds a layer of complexity and management skills to classroom teaching and technology adds an additional dimension of complexity and management. Coppola reports that teachers learn by "individual study of content and pedagogical knowledge, reflection on teaching practice, and inquiry into aspects of teaching that emerge as problematic" (p. 32). This works best in a community of practitioners within a larger network of expertise that allows systematic, supported inquiry into teaching problems or results. She also reports that the conditions in the average school are not conducive to continuous improvement of teaching practice. Schools that do support the collegial environment generally allow teachers to be involved in setting the school instructional goals, ensure that supervision and evaluation are aligned with and support these goals, and have teachers collaborate frequently concerning practices. There is an expectation that faculty will work toward these goals, but risk taking is supported and errors not penalized. In such environments, instructional practice is not viewed as private. However, such cultures provide "a powerful, pervasive context that shapes the work of an organization through a combination of framing and sanctions. However, individuals—with their unique histories, perspectives, and personalities—operate within this general framework so that the culture should not be thought of as deterministic, but rather as highly influential" (p. 37). A school's culture centers around what the members think of as its identity and ultimate mission. Coppola states that it is unusual for schools to have a culture that nurtures adult learning, so she presents a "baseline school" to contrast with the school that she is studying. The structure of an average American high school, Coppola writes, summarizing a range of studies, includes schedules, physical design, space available to teachers, teaching loads and profession development personnel, and the organization. Generally, school culture features "aloneness" rather than interdependence. Teachers are constrained by time and space and "rarely work with other teachers on collaborative endeavors" (p. 40) or learn from each other, and often must compromise their standards for lack of time. Part 2: Contexts and Commonalities Next, Coppola presents five narratives of teachers at Woodland High School who have succeeded in teaching constructively with technology. "The importance of these stories lies in the details they provide about individual learning and development occurring within a cultural and structural context" (p. 43). She begins by describing the context. Woodland High is revealed as having parents that, while socioeconomically diverse, are above average in education and range of income. Students achieve above average results in standardized tests. Teachers have relatively more preparation time than in other schools, and the climate was "both relaxed and businesslike" and "Teachers would always interrupt a conversation with an adult to respond to a student; they were engaged with students throughout class time, and were consistently unwilling to interrupt their work to talk with other adults if they were busy preparing for class" (p. 48). Extensive study of the five teachers showed what Coppola called an enormously wide range of learning techniques with little mention of in-school courses or workshops. Although their learning was highly individual, Coppola found some common intellectual processes: commitment to use computers (where it made sense); a definition of pedagogical problems; scanning for new ideas and practices; creating new curriculum and practice; and, trying, reflecting, refining. The teachers created uses particular to their own subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, curriculum and students and none used predevelloped software or curriculum. Coppola believes this creative process to be the essence of their learning and that it gave them both quality work and staying power. An interesting finding that Coppola mentions was that rather than being resistant to change, all the teachers she interviewed had made rational decisions for not using computers for a particular segment of curriculum. "This was true for the computer users, the ambivalents, and the non-users in the study…This finding attributes to teachers a high degree of consciousness; a logic rooted in their pedagogical theories determined their acceptance or rejection of computer use" (pp. 49-50.) To summarize the context, Coppola describes the school and district as "providing a combination of structure and flexibility, support and accountability, with professional autonomy within a strong pedagogical culture" (p. 51.) The five chapters that complete Part II present stories that are excellent examples for educators as it gives the five teachers' thoughts about how policies, structure and culture influence their striving for better teaching and learning. Part 3: Teacher Learning, Organizational Culture, and Recommendations In Part III Coppola expands on the commonalities that she found among the five teachers and describes the supports surrounding each of these factors. Her interpretations are supported by an examination of findings from other researchers and many examples from Woodland High School. Coppola states that the most essential cultural features that created a successful school technologically, were likely to support non-technical innovations as well: a shared pedagogical worldview, a strong focus on students, and the value placed on continuous learning and innovation. Specifically, while Woodland had many normal structures, there was adequate time and space for work and opportunities to interact with colleagues and the principal. Intellectual work was supported and teachers took pride in their autonomy which was "bounded by a focus on constructivist learning and accountability" (p. 124.) Woodland encouraged innovation and expected quality, but provided discretionary time and money with professional development requiring planning and accounting. Critical, was a strong technical infrastructure which avoided the frustrations often found in other schools where system crashes can take days to resolve. Coppola concludes with recommendations for leaders that start with keeping pedagogy at the centre. Another recommendation is that "good professionals will adopt technology only when they see a pedagogical reason for doing so" (p. 151), so norms, not requirements are best to get teachers to adopt technology. Also, "Make technological and material support a predictable constant so that teachers can focus on good instruction" (p. 151). At Woodlands, "technical personnel treated teachers and students as their clients" (p. 153). Anyone who has tried teaching with technology will enthusiastically applaud that concept. Among the other recommendations is the caution, "Accept that learning to integrate computers takes a lot of time, and that the best uses are locally created" (p. 152). The final recommendation, while well supported may be difficult to realize. "Policymakers…should be aware of the necessity of consistency and coherence in culture. They should value and sustain strong, stable leadership, and they should consider the value of new leadership paradigms" (p. 153). As mentioned previously, most of these are broad enough to be applied to other innovations in education. In summary, while this is a good book for those of us who help others adopt technology, it is equally enlightening for a wider audience. The rich summary of models and issues can be applied by people working on many types of educational change, or as an excellent example of using a specific case, grounded in theory, to discover useful generalities. References Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Newmann, F. M., & Wehlage, G. G. (1995). Successful school restructuring. Madison: University of Wisconsin, Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools. About the Reviewer Irene Laurie (lauriei@mcmaster.ca), Research Coordinator, McMaster Innovative Learning Study; Doctoral Candidate, Theory & Policy Studies, OISE/University of Toronto. Previously, Director of Educational Technology, College Professor, Computer Systems Analyst. Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.