A Review of Larry Cuban's Oversold and Underused

Cuban, Larry। (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Larry Cuban, a highly respected voice among American educators, examines the effects that technology has had on instruction within the classroom in his book “Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom।” Cuban conducted this study to determine if the claims made by many educators, bureaucrats, business leaders, and parents relative to the belief that having computers in the classroom would enhance instruction and learning among students exposed to computer-aided instruction. In this study, Cuban considers three provocative questions relative to the use computers in the classroom. First, Cuban questions the utility of computers during instruction in classrooms where computers are readily accessible. Second, he examines the changes that have occurred within the teaching-learning exchange over the last twenty years as a result of the increased availability of technology within schools. Third, he confirms if the outcomes of embedding new technologies into instruction has been worth the investment.

To answer these questions, Cuban chose the computer-rich Silicon Valley to conduct his study। For Cuban, schools in this area were the most likely choices for conducting his study, because, in this area, there was a wealth of computers and technology made available to teachers and students within the classrooms. While in these schools, Cuban looked at how technology is used during instruction at three academic levels; elementary and pre-school, high school, and higher education. He examined his concerns by visiting Benjamin Co-op Preschool, George Elementary, Flatland and Las Montanas High Schools, and Stanford University.

The results for each academic level was amazingly shocking, especially considering that students and teachers at every school studied had sufficient access to instructional technologies at school and within their homes। Cuban found that “in the schools we studied, we found no clear and substantial evidence of students increasing their academic achievement as a result of using information technologies” (p. 133). So, why is there no significant increase in student achievement? Could the answer be associated to the way teachers are using the technology, because according to Cuban, “less than 5 percent of teachers integrated computer technology into their curriculum and instructional routines” (p. 133), and “the overwhelming majority of teachers employed the technology to sustain existing patterns of teaching rather to innovate” (p.134). Considering these outcomes, traditional means of instruction were continued rather than modernized through computer-assisted instruction.

To help shape his discussion further, Cuban developed a framework to help assess the level at which technology was integrated into instruction। Cuban’s framework consisted of five distinct levels: entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and invention. At the entry level, teachers are novice users of computers and other technology. The adoption level presents teachers as traditional instructors who explain the utility of computers, but keep them on the periphery of instruction. Teachers at the adaptation level follow traditional modes of instruction, but limit the use of technology during instruction. At the appropriation level, technology is regularly integrated into the curriculum. And, teachers find more creative ways to utilize technology during instruction at the invention level.

Cuban found during his study that the number of teachers who reached the invention level technology integration was small। Teachers at the elementary level rarely exceeded the adoption level, while the findings are particularly disturbing at the high school and higher education levels, especially, considering that these institutions have made special efforts to support technology integration within instruction. Cuban found that even when new technologies were adopted, the data for this study followed national trends were reports show that computers where generally used as word processors or intermittently during instruction.

So, considering these and other findings, Cuban suggests that the costs associated with technology integration have not been worth the investment। Cuban alludes to one reason, because the technology has been used so infrequently. Even though teachers are not resistant to using technology, according to Cuban, technology has not been used consistently enough and when instruction has been implemented using technology, it has been utilized to buttress traditional models of instruction. Cuban also suggests that schools have been flooded with technology as symbolic political gestures (p. 158) and as “high-status symbol(s) of power and modernity” (p.159).

Though findings in Cuban’s study were shocking, he does not believe that technology integration into instruction is a total lost. Cuban suggests that policymakers and administrators should understand the perspectives the expertise of teachers before planning and implementing technology plans. Second, he suggests that they should consider structural constraints and be sure that the infrastructure of the school climate is conducive to the changes. And finally, ensure that teachers have viable opportunities for professional development that encourages this integration along with the proper technical support to remove any phobias that teachers may have relative to instruction.