Something on OUR End-Game!

A Regent's Vision

Multimedia is Changing New York's Education System.

By Liz Wallendorf

The state of New York has one of the largest, most diverse public school systems in the nation, with more than 7,000 K-12 schools and 248 colleges and universities, from Manhattan to the rural villages of Massena and Waddington, located on the Canadian border.

In 2001, Dr. Joseph Bowman was elected to the board of regents that oversees and sets policies for this diverse school system. His election is just another step in his life-long journey to improve the education system in New York and our nation, and to help underprivileged children succeed in school.

Dr. Bowman is involved in so many aspects of education and teaching, it is hard to know what title to use when addressing him. He is a regent, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at University at Albany, State University of New York, the founder and director of the Center for Urban Youth and Technology (CUYT), president of the CUYT foundation, a consultant, and an activist for technology access for the underprivileged.

Changing the World One Child at a Time

"Today, people are confronted with technology on all levels. They need to be able to understand technology to access social services, government services, and medical information," Bowman says. "The leaders of the future are carrying out the business of being adolescents using cell phones, iPods and instant messaging, talking in a new language of digital shorthand, passing electronic notes and carrying on dozens of conversations simultaneously without saying a word."

Dr. Bowman sees this as a problem for kids without access to technology. "We talk about 50 percent of the nation being connected to the Internet in their homes. What about the other 50 percent? What happens to them?" Not content to ask questions to which there are no answers, Dr. Bowman is acting. In 2001 and 2002, he convened a conference on the problems of limited access for economically disadvantaged families and rural areas of New York. Access to technology is opened through the programs of CUYT.

Dr. Bowman believes one of the biggest obstacles is relevance. "You have to make technology relevant to not only the kids, but the parents. It has to be explained in ways that are real to them." He relates the story of a high school freshman at a technology education event. Parents and students were invited to learn about PCs and to purchase systems. "[A student] knew she needed a computer, but couldn't convince her dad to buy one. He didn't see the need," explained Dr. Bowman. Bowman began talking with the gentleman. "Turns out he was from a small village in Brazil. The one thing he really wanted was to be able to read his hometown newspaper." After a quick Internet search, the father found his newspaper and the family had a new computer.

He carries the idea of relevance further. "If we are going to get our kids to study math and science, it has to be real to them," says Bowman. Enter ethnomathematics. Wikipedia defines ethnomathematics as the study of mathematics that considers the culture in which mathematics arises. It focuses on the mathematics that is part of general culture, rather than formal, academic mathematics. One of the programs of CUYT blends math, science, technology and culture to get kids excited about learning. "We know that Latin music has lots of percussion, with an emphasis on drum beats," Bowman says. Within the repeating rhythm are elements of math and pattern analysis. So CUYT created a program using a drum machine, where kids can create their own music, then broadcast that music over a local radio station. Bowman also uses quilt making, hair braiding, and graffiti art to teach kids and get them interested in math.

Changing the World by Changing the System

Throughout the 14 years of CUYT's existence, Bowman has influenced hundreds of kids. However, this is not enough. "I wanted to become a regent because I want to be able to influence the policies that need to be changed if we are going to make the big changes to our education system," says Bowman.

One of his goals as a New York State regent has been to address how New York schools are using technology. "We're working on a technology plan for the state to see how we can use state resources. We have a pre-K-20 initiative that brings it all together -- the museums, the archives, PBS, et cetera. As we're designing these pieces, we're trying to ensure that it is inclusive of the resources we have to offer," Bowman states.

Technology has changed how businesses operate, how governments connect with citizens, and how people communicate with each other. Yet the nation's education system remains essentially as it was more than 100 years ago.

"Technology is a seamless part of our kids' lives," Bowman believes. "They have iPods, play video games, text message each other, but we aren't training teachers to use these tools to teach our children."

Yet these tools are not in the universities and colleges that are teaching the nation's teachers. In fact, very few universities include technology as part of their education degree requirements. Bowman believes this needs to change. Teachers need to learn, not about the technology, but about integrating all the available tools into instruction. "It isn't a simple matter of putting the technology in the schools. Teachers need to learn how to teach with technology." For example, the College of St. Rose, a private college in Albany, uses re-configurable classrooms in its education program. Student teachers can experiment with different room configurations and different technologies to better understand how to integrate technology. Universities should include at least two courses on classroom instruction with technology as part of the degree requirements, Bowman believes.

By taking advantage of the tools available today, Bowman sees an opportunity to change everything, from how kids learn, to the classrooms in which they learn. The Department of Environmental Conservation has students in the field, training teens from local Boys and Girls Clubs to use global positioning systems. While the project, an adaptation of the popular worldwide "GPS Trekking" game, was really more of a treasure hunt than an actual project, it gave the students hands-on experience with GPS. "At first they were reluctant participants. When I gave them the GPS units, their interest increased," says Nancy Payne, an environmental educator at New York's Five Rivers Center. Students learned to use technology as a tool to achieve a common goal and begin to view learning as something more than just school. "There was a lot of laughing and teasing. They all had fun," Payne says.

Bowman believes programs like this create a virtual classroom, teaching students real-world skills that will help them succeed in the business world.

While the magnitude of challenges -- from changing the way teachers are trained to providing technology to all students -- may seem overwhelming, Dr. Bowman has one piece of advice that seems to define his life's work: "Just go do it."

Additional Information

The Center for Urban Youth and Technology
www.albany.edu/cuyt/

Some Current Goals:

-Development of a Multimedia Learning Lab (called Urban CyberSpace Lab) that is community oriented and creates a technology-rich environment where students, parents, small businesses and the community at large can use the resources provided.

-Creation of a school district-wide initiative to provide the networking telecommunications infrastructure that gives access to Internet and satellite/distance teaching capabilities.

-Creation of a teacher-oriented lab/facility for technology-based teacher training development.

-Creation of a job training and retraining technology facility in under-served communities to stimulate economic development.

-Development of skilled professionals in video production and television producing techniques.