This question, posed recently on one of my email discussion forums, begs the real question - "...a lesson on what?" This is a little like asking "How can I justify purchasing a Sports Utility Vehicle?"

In our society, we are constantly assaulted by advertising to purchase this object or that service. Some of those ads really give information about the item they are promoting, but most just try to get us to feel good about the targeted brand, creating a need where none existed before. If we were smart shoppers, we'd do our homework before we spent our money. In buying that car, the best way would be for us to analyze our driving habits, then, with this information, try to find the vehicle that best meets those needs for the least amount of money. Sound like a fun way to buy a car? No?

Of course, as public educators, we can't afford to simply listen to the "advertisers" (technology promoters) and their appeal to our emotions, since we must justify our "purchases" (use of instructional time) to the taxpayers. In designing curriculum, we have a professional responsibility to provide the core content assigned to our discipline and grade level. We also should (if we know what's good for us!) include that which our students will be tested on through the CATS system. This means that we start with a lesson objective, and then examine what we should include to help us achieve that lesson objective. Technology - or, in this case, PowerPoint - might very well be that tool, but unless its supporting the core curriculum, it's simply taking up space.

"But wait, doesn't our district have technology learning objectives? Don't they include PowerPoint?" Good question - you're paying attention! There are specific technology skills we are obligated to address, and specific grade levels by which mastery is supposed to be achieved. The problem is - whose curriculum is that? What discipline is obligated to teach PowerPoint? Social Studies? English? The answer, of course, is all of them! However, if the mathematics content coordinator for Fayette County was told that two weeks was going to be removed from the time available to address mathematics so that students could learn PowerPoint, she'd be camping out at the superintendent's door the next day!

The point is that technology, any technology, is a tool through which we learn, and otherwise do our business. Computer technologies have been shown to be great enhancers of instruction - generating enthusiasm in students, providing for lots of otherwise-unavailable experiences, giving access to masses of information, freeing up time spent formatting and dressing up assignments which are better spent on content. But if you're a math teacher and you're selecting lessons based on the technology they use, you're off track. Pick your core curriculum objective first, then select an appropriate technology, and teach as much of its use as you need to achieve that objective.

Yes, I know, you really want that SUV! But resist! If you spend all your "hard earned cash" on it, you might have fun, and feel good, but you also may not have enough left over to do the things you need to do!

       --Jeffrey L. Jones, Editor