The Accounting EducatorThe Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section |
Speak OutTechnology, What Can and Should it
be Used for? An article in a recent issue of my local newspaper reported that the State of New Jersey plans to spend $500 million over the next several years to hardwire the Rutgers University campus. Even with several recent lottery winnings approaching that amount, $500 million still seems like a lot of money. A faculty member, chair of the committee charged with developing plans to use this new resource, reported that hardwiring the campus would enable Rutgers faculty and students to do some "really" great things. As a New Jersey taxpayer, these words provide little comfort that my financial contribution to my home state is being spent wisely. The article did mention several things that Rutgers students and faculty would be able to do post-hardwiring that they can't do pre-hardwiring. For example, research faculty would apparently have access to special Internet sites and databases. Students would have Internet access in their dorm rooms and cable TV will be available across the campus. What's the monthly charge for that going to be and was this included in the $500 million? What struck me while reading the newspaper article was not only the price tag, but also the lack of specific plans for how this $500 million investment is going to be used. What are some specific ways that this $500 million investment will help Rutgers University achieve its education, research, and service missions? The article didn't say, and I wonder if anyone really knows. The committee chair just said that they would be able to do some really (said this three times) great things. Really? I don't mean to be critical of Rutgers or the decision to hardwire the campus. Quite frankly, I was surprised to learn that the campus wasn't already hardwired. I am also not anti-technology. I am using technology to write this column and technology will allow me to electronically transmit the file to our newsletter editor. Technology is great for providing both faculty and students with efficient access to a tremendous amount of information, more information than we could possibly use. I do, however, have concerns about the appropriate role for technology in accounting education. My concerns have become greater over the past several years, as technology integration and use seems to have become the top priority for many accounting programs. It is long overdue for educators to pause and figure out what we can and should do about integrating technology in accounting courses and the learning environment. All academic disciplines are coming under increased pressure to integrate technology into courses and instruction. The nature of our discipline puts accounting programs under more "technology stress" than most other academic disciplines on campus. Integrating technology into courses and the learning environment requires committing a material amount of both financial and non-financial resources, including faculty time. Most accounting programs face significant resource constraints and must make decisions on how to allocate limited resources to improve student learning. Committing resources to technology necessarily means that resources will not be available for other, potentially more effective, enhancements to the learning environment. My primary concern about technology is the unquestioned assumption that technology improves learning. We seem to be proceeding with a mentality of "technology is good, don't ask how or for what". Those who dare question the unquestioned use of technology are often viewed as academic dinosaurs; that is, faculty who are out of touch with the New Education Environment. It seems to me that those advocating the integration of more technology in accounting programs should be required to demonstrate how and why the use of technology will improve learning. This should be done before any additional investment in technology is made. Technology advocates should be required to identify important educational objectives that will be met through the use of technology and to explain how the use of technology will help achieve those objectives. There should also be some follow-up, or assessment, of whether technology investments are actually having the intended, positive effect on student learning. Given the amounts being invested in technology, shouldn't accountability be part of the decision process? Imagine the following conversation between Bill Gates and his (make-believe) son Timmy. "Dad, can I have $500 million?" "Well Timmy, what do you plan to do with that amount of money?" "I don't know, Dad, something. Maybe spend it on technology that I need." "Cash or check, Tim?" Okay, so the Gates family has a different situation from what the rest of us deal with. But how many accounting programs have sought, and continue to seek, either internal or external funding for technology using the same basic argument presented by little Timmy Gates to his dad, Bill? That is, programs argue that they must have money to invest in technology and promise to do something with the technology. How many millions of dollars have accounting programs invested in technology over the past five years? $50 million? $100 million? How many millions of dollars have universities invested in technology that was needed to achieve their education mission? What has been the return on this investment in terms of improved student learning or improved development of students' competencies? Your guess is as good as mine. As Editor of the Journal of Accounting Education, I welcome articles that demonstrate the effective use of technology for improving student learning. I'm not talking about papers whose authors claim to somehow know that student learning was enhanced or which provide student testimonials for the professor's use of technology. I would like to see papers whose authors have thought about and identified learning objectives for the use of technology, that describe and discuss the technology implementation, and that provide some empirical assessment that identified learning objectives are being met through the use of technology. These types of papers just don't exist. Is this because technology does not enhance learning and skills development, or is it because faculty who are using technology effectively have not written manuscripts that document their successes? I don't know, but until there is evidence to the contrary, I'm assuming that technology does not enhance learning and skills development. I therefore encourage accounting educators to provide evidence demonstrating that technology benefits accounting education through improved student learning and skills development. That is, I challenge all of us to answer this question: technology, what can and should it be used for in accounting education? Until then, let's have a moratorium on integrating technology in the curriculum. Okay, a moratorium is unrealistic, but what about a little professional skepticism? |