As most know, Competency-Based Education (CBE) is being pushed into schools for all students, including those who have special needs.
Before I go on, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development looked at 15-year-olds and their computer use in 31 nations and regions. They found that reading and math scores on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were lower for students who used computers more, rather than those who used technology less in school (OECD, 2015). How computers are used in the classroom matters.
“Those that use the Internet every day do the worst,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills…
“That’s pretty sobering for us,” said Schleicher in a press briefing. “We all hope that integrating more and more technology is going to help us enhance learning environments, make learning more interactive, introduce more experiential learning, and give students access to more advanced knowledge. But it doesn’t seem to be working like this.”
Schleicher openly worried that if students end up “cutting and pasting information from Google” into worksheets with “prefabricated” questions, “then they’re not going to learn a lot.”
The report also states…it has been noticeable that data on students who have difficulties in accessing the curriculum are more difficult to come by than for the rest of the student population.
One U.K. study indicates there are online barriers for students with dyslexia in an e-learning environment (Woodfine, Nunes, & Wright, 2008).
Online instruction has a place in the classroom. But putting students with disabilities online for the bulk of their schooling does not make sense. That seems to be the intent of CBE.
Indications are that CBE leaves something to be desired for students no matter what proponents tell us. Shouldn’t that give the disruption enthusiasts pause?
Here are some specific concerns when it comes to using Competency-Based Education with students who have disabilities.
- Are parents informed as to the kind of online instruction that will be used with their student? Are the objectives of the program clear?
- How will CBE help a child with disabilities do better at living and relating to others in the real world—and at home? How good are the online vocational programs?
- How will CBE enrich a student’s learning experience more than regular class instruction?
- How does CBE differ from using paper drill exercises?
- Is technology used as a substitute teacher—to save money? Is it to make money for the tech companies?
- Does the teacher place the student on the computer for convenience—like in a large class?
- What kind of support services do students get if they have problems learning the online material?
- What happens if the computer system breaks down? What is the alternative plan?
- If students have difficulty with pacing how are they assisted?
- What about students with attention difficulties or students who have difficulty with self-regulation?
- How will students with motor problems be assisted?
- If students have visual problems how will they do the work? How will students with dyslexia get assistance?
- When do students get real interaction with their peers?
- How is CBE considered the least restrictive environment?
- How is it differentiation if students must arrive at the same standards in the end?
- How will students with disabilities be compared to classmates without disabilities—inclusion? Or, if students with disabilities are working on different skills than the rest of the class, how is that different from self-contained classes?
- How much time during the day will children sit in front of computers? What is the impact on a child’s health sitting for screen time for such a long time?
- What specific independent research studies indicate online instruction is better for students with disabilities?
- How will cheating be addressed? What will happen if the student fails to master the skill?
- How will CBE affect a student’s ability to graduate?
- How will a child’s privacy be protected?
Woodfine, B.P., Nunes, M. Baptista, D.J. Wright. “Text-based Synchronous E-learning and dyslexia: Not Necessarily the Perfect Match. Computers & Education, 50 (3) April 2008.
Nice. Our childrens’ future:
“Competency-based curricula consist of workplace- oriented and performance-based modules or units of competence that can be accumulated to a vocational qualification. ”
https://www.giz.de/akademie/de/downloads/Lehrbrief_14_-_Competency-based_Education_and_Training_(CBET).pdf
I copied and pasted this link on Google to find it, and it is indeed an interesting article and worth the trouble. What it does is look at how CBE originated with vocational education and how it is being used in many countries. I need to read it more thoroughly but thank you for sharing.
These are crucial questions, Nancy. I wonder how the special needs advocacy groups who stand by standardized testing for all but the most severely cognitively impaired students feel about this ill-considered push for all learning on digital devices all the time. Don’t people realize that just because something is “innovative” and uses technology it is not necessarily better for flesh and blood human beings? How can computer-adapted questions aligned with flawed standards possibly account for the diversity of cognitive, perceptual, neurological, and emotional needs of all students? Isn’t the bottom line to save money for schools by spending money on technology that profits the edtech corporations at the expense of the most vulnerable children?
I find it ironic, Sheila, that the National Center for Learning Disabilities who insist about the same testing for all, think it is just fine for students with disabilities to work on different skills than their peers online. But NCLD never ceases to amaze me.
http://www.ncld.org/archives/action-center/where-we-stand/policy-recommendation-competency-based-education-cbe
You know I see some benefit in differentiating skills like this, but a little goes a long way. CBE is looking more like a way to replace certified teachers.
I’d say your last sentence says it all.
In a recent conversation with my husband discussing a child I’m advocating for , we found a similarity in his experience as a child in the 80’s with SLD, and this child. The CBE this child is connected to twice a week for an hour is not teaching her a skill. They both were isolated ( LD room/computer ) they both progress at their own rate ( workbook “seat work” vs level accomplished) and no human “teaches ” them anything…. Have we really came this far in 25 years ?
I can understand we didn’t know better 25 years ago, using cabinets of “work books” for students to complete in resource “tiny room”. CBE without explicit instruction is just a digital work book that frees the teacher from teaching. Great article thank you
I would say technology has gotten better, but it certainly isn’t about keeping a child plugged in all day. I think, and most of the research shows, that technology might supplement what a teacher does. But the teacher is still the captain of the ship.
When I started teaching in the ’70s I had access to System 80s. I would use them sometimes for varying instruction and it freed me up to work more individually with particular students. Technology can help teachers in many ways.
But CBE today is all about replacing teachers, or creating facilitators who monitor the work, and your point about some students not doing well online is well-taken. I also recall having a few students who I would never place on the old System 80 machine because it did not hold their attention.
Great points. Thank you.