Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in

America, by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson

Yi Chen

Teachers College, Columbia University

Book Review
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 2

Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in

America, by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: synthesizing the main argument of Collins and

Halverson (2018), and discussing unsolved problems from the perspective of educational

leadership.

Understanding & Summary

The main argument of Collins and Halverson (2018) is to emphasize the urgency of

seeking a coherent model for the future of education in the age of technology. Similar to

Firestone and Riehl (2005), Collins and Halverson (2018) have not proposed solutions for the

tensions between the public schooling system and the affordances of the digital revolution.

Instead, they share a concise history of schooling in America and offer a compelling observation

of how Generation Z (i.e., the new generations after the popularity of the Internet and other

digital technologies) learn. Collins and Halverson (2018) hope their work will be helpful for

"another Horace Mann to provide the vision for an educational system that can integrate all the

different elements that are developing" (p. 141).

Collins and Halverson (2018) provide four main reasons to support their arguments.

First, the systematic transformations of education are not unique in history. For example,

the Industrial Revolution, in the first half of the 19-century, led to the educational transformation

from a system of apprenticeship into universal schooling. Similarly, the Digital Revolution is

leading Generation Z to lifelong learning (i.e., ongoing and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 3

with the help of digital technologies). Comparing the three eras of education (i.e., apprenticeship,

industrial, and information era), Collins and Halverson (2018) summarize the evolution of

education in six main aspects: responsibility (from parents to the state, and to the individual and

parents), assessment (from practical skills to necessary skills and disciplinary knowledge, and to

generic skill and learning to learn), pedagogy (from apprenticeship to didacticism, and to

interaction), location (from centered at home to centered at school, and to centered at multiple

venues), culture (from adult culture to peer culture, and to mixed-age culture), and relationship

(from personal bonds to authority figures, and to computer-mediated interactions). With time,

these pieces might come to make up the fragments of a new system of education. They do not yet

form an equitable and coherent system of education for the future of education in the age of

technology. Thus, it is necessary to seek a new education system.

Secondly, the revolution in education is inevitable and happening. Even though the

schools are still prevalent all over the world, we continue to see seeds of a new education system

emerge. Collins and Halverson (2018) summarize nine seeds which provide new setting for

learning outside the classroom: home school, workplace learning (e.g. Accenture, Xerox, and

[Link]), adult education, distance education (e.g. Open University in British), learning

centers (e.g., Kaplan and Sylvan), computer games (e.g. SimCity and Civilization), web

communities (e.g., Animé[Link] and [Link]), technical certification (e.g. Microsoft

and Cisco), and internet cafes. Beyond these seeds, the popularity of digital media (e.g.,

YouTube), social networking (e.g., Facebook), online bookmarking (e.g., Twitter), and other

Web 2.0 applications also gradually change the way how Generation Z accumulate and share the

knowledge. These seeds of new education system keep forcing us to redefine the identification of

schooling with learning and review the role of schools in education.

Thirdly, the conventional schooling system is struggling to adapt to new

technologies. The deep incompatibilities between schooling and practical needs from social

development are becoming obvious once again. The de-centralized and self-directed tendencies

in the digital revolution are not just fad but basic human competence (Knowles, 1978), where

learners are in control of deciding what to learn and how to learn, aligns with the notions of

libertarian individualism (Brookfield, 2006). As the current 'one best system' (Tyack 1974)

began to take shape, it became less tolerant of fundamental changes to core practices (Collins &

Halverson, 2009). People started realizing that grouping children together into the public school

based on their age and providing the "one-size-fits-all" solution for education do not work for

everyone. Collins and Halverson (2018) summarize six main incompatibilities between

schooling and information technologies: uniform leaning vs. custom learning, teachers as expert

vs. diverse knowledge source, standardized assessment vs. specialization, knowledge in the head

vs. reliance on the outside resource, converge vs. knowledge explosion, and learning by

absorption vs. learning by doing. Thus, it is time to think about how to help schools adapt to the

new technologies.

Finally, what if we do nothing? As with any revolution, there will be both gains and

losses. If we do nothing, we may see either loss the opportunities or ignore the risks. There

are three biggest risks for the digital revolution in education. Firstly, despite widespread tracking

and segregation, public schools have acquired acceptance as the institution that can foster social

and economic equity (Reyes & Wagstaff, 2005). Beyond public schools, rich families today

could give their children a better education with many other options (e.g., homeschooling and

distance education). While, the lives of the economically disempowered are likely to suffer the

most, public schools may become little more than the institutions of last resort. Secondly,
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 5

education is more likely to become a gambling game of commercialization. The learning

resources that we can obtain from the Internet are unbalanced. For example, much more courses

about finance, marketing, computer science, and data science are available on Coursera (an

online learning platform), compared with subjects like music, dancing, history, and philosophy.

Facing the overwhelming and sometimes misleading information, parents and students may lack

the ability to identify the information which is most suitable and useful for themselves. Finally,

the digital revolution increases divisions in society. Because people usually only pick

information that they want to see. Gradually, it becomes harder for Generation Z to have the

sympathy and the values which are usually shared with every American regardless of their

diverse background. Unfortunately, this tendency is even reinforced by the recommendation

system and social network. Thus, citizenship and social cohesion are facing the challenges.

There are also five benefits to the digital revolution in education. Firstly, education could

be more engaging since learning is directed towards what people want to learn. People choose

courses, videos, or games that reflect their interests. Thus, they have more motivation and

initiative. Secondly, new technologies promote the personalization of learning. For example,

digital environments can adapt to the level of the student’s ability and provide timely feedback.

Individualized learning resources can also be recommended to every student. Thirdly,

customization of learning also allows students to cultivate and pursue their own learning goals

with less competition. Personalized learning goal facilitates intrinsic motivation may surmount

the sense of failure that comes when everyone is supposed to learn the same thing and take the

same standardized tests. Fourthly, responsibilities are shared with the families who school their

children outside classroom. Parents are required to play a more active and leading role in their

children’s education. The problems which are not solved in school can be discussed in other
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 6

learning environments (e.g., distance education and learning communities). Finally, the peer

culture is redistributed through web communities, which create spaces for students to participate

in interest-based affinity groups. These groups can provide opportunities for students to develop

peer groups that reorient peer cultures around legitimate learning goals. Consequently, instead of

ignoring all the technologies that are developing, we should take a cautious, and an open-minded

attitude towards the digital revolution in education.

Conclusion & Synthesis

Collins and Halverson (2018) highlight the complexity of education in the digital

revolution and the urgency of seeking a coherent model for the future of education. To seek this

model, we need to figure out what role should school leaders play during this revolution of

education.

The first question to which school leaders should know the answer is: what is the

nature of learning in the age of information? Prestine and Nelson (2005) summarize the

nature of learning with the three major tenets of cognitive learning theory (Resnick, 1989): (1)

learning is a process of knowledge construction, (2) knowledge is self-dependent (i.e, knowledge

is developed based on the previous knowledge), (3) learning is a social activity situated in a

specific context and environment. Based on these understandings of learning, it is important for

the school leaders to focus on improving teaching and learning (Prestine & Nelson, 2005) and

incorporating communities (e.g., professional community, neighborhood community, and student

community) for effective learning (Dirscoll & Goldring, 2005).

Though new technologies may provide new vehicles for knowledge development, it does

not change the nature of learning. Learning is still “not something that can be given or handed to
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 7

some else” (Firestone and Riehl, 2005; p. 47). The fundamental problem for education is still

about how to help every student to obtain the ability, the resource, and the environment to

complete the instructional process of knowledge development continuously and

comprehensively. Meanwhile, school leaders should be aware of the new challenges these new

technologies may bring. For example, some questions that arise are: will the overwhelming

resources available online indeed help learners to remediate the gaps in their learning, or leave

more unsolved issues? Will their self-directed choices help them to achieve more successful

futures, or lure them into quick-hit, superficial, and highly suggestible learning experiences? As

long as the nature of learning is not to change, educational leaders still need to seek the best way

to improve teaching and incorporate the community for learning under different contexts.

The second question that school leaders should know is: what is the goal of school in

the age of technology? The history of public school in America started from Horace Mann’s

belief that “education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of

the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery.” His work then has been fueled

by national concerns about the low achievement of America students (with the release of A

Nation at Risk in the 1980s), and recently exemplified in the No Child Left Behind legislation.

The basic goal of the school is always serving diverse student populations to support their

achievement, equity, and justice (Leithwood & Rihel, 2005).

Reyes and Wagstaff (2005) argued that “the most critical challenge to educators today is

to educate successfully student populations that are ethnically and linguistically diverse and

those groups whose educational needs have not been met” (p. 106). As we think about

educational leadership and the rapid development of technology, this task is still not solved.

Meanwhile, the schooling system provides unique functions of education, which are not fully
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 8

considered by the new technologies. For example, school still plays an important role in

promoting and supporting social justice and democratic community for diverse students

(Furmaan & Shieelds, 2005). All of these functions of school cannot be comprehensively

replaced by any new seeds of new education systems. Consequently, school leaders still need to

cope with multiple and conflicting accountabilities (Firestone & Shipps, 2005).

Finally, how could the school leaders make an impact on educational revolution?

Our current learning systems are in flux. The first issue is the how can school leaders implicate

the new seeds of education into current school system? This is not an easy task, since “simply

inserting technology into classrooms and schools without considering how the contexts for

learning need to change will likely fail” (p. 140). To find the solution of how to help school

leaders to be successful in the digital revolution, we want to emphasize one potential

breakthrough: evidence-based improvement cycle (Bowers, Bang, Pan, & Graves, 2019). The

field of education is already in the midst of data transformation: here are changes in standards, an

increasing use of assessments, and a growing demand to measure performance, all of which is

driving the need for teachers and school administrators to work with data in new ways (Rouda,

2018). Data science technologies offers opportunities to use data to inform instructional practice,

so that school system could improve their capacity in providing personalized, timely, and

engaging learning experience to the students. However, school leaders should notice that

reviewing data takes time and skill, and it is not straightforward to translate findings into changes

in the classroom. Schildkamp, Poortman, and Handelzalts (2014) provide a theory that outlines a

set of critical components that schools must have in place to meaningful engage in data reflection

and learning, including purpose, data, information, knowledge, action, and outcome. Similarly,

Halverson (2012) shows an example of a formative feedback system model that captures how
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 9

school leaders and teachers structure artifacts and practices to create formative information flows

across interventions, assessments, and actuation spaces. For data to inform decisions about

policy, programs, practice, and student placement, there are still may open questions about how

could school leaders support effective data use. Meanwhile, there are still many other

possibilities for school leaders to make an impact on educational revolution. However, evidence-

based improvement cycle in school may be the first step for the school leaders to embrace the

future.

Acknowledgement

The author thank Professor Alex Brower for his reviewing and helpful advaice.
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology 10

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