Revisiting Assumptions: Is Technology in the Classroom Beneficial?

For years, the writers of this blog have started from the assumption that online education, i.e. using technology as the conduit for learning, is beneficial. Is that assumption valid?

 

New York Times opinion writer Jessica Grose recently published a series of articles that challenge that assumption, that question whether the use of technology in the classroom (devices and software) actually helps students learn. What she discovered in her research for the articles is eye-opening, and ultimately hopeful.

 

The series of articles starts with Screens are Everywhere in Schools. Do They Actually Help Kids Learn?, which suggests that “[w]e need to start asking better questions about what kinds [of technology] work for teachers and students.” Poll data confirms that post-Covid, K-12 teachers are relying on laptops and iPads as part of the education environment more and more. Some require students to submit their homework electronically. Some use online content to provide additional challenge or tutoring support to individual students who would benefit for this special attention. Some use computers as a babysitter / behavior management device. Many students are in front of screens all the time they are in school, except when at recess or eating lunch. Grose ends this article with a series of questions for her readers, parents and educators, about their experiences with technology use in the classroom.

 

In Get Tech Out of the Classroom Before It’s Too Late, Grose concludes that “[t]he ubiquity of screens is bad for teachers, students and society.” The author received over 900 responses to her questionnaire, which documented that many students are watching YouTube videos or playing video games rather than paying attention to the lesson while on their school-provided devices, often with age-inappropriate content. She also learned that many K-12 students do all their reading and writing on devices, with no requirement or opportunity to touch actual books or practice handwriting. The method of providing educational content via video often mimics a TV show or YouTube video to capture the students’ attention, making it difficult for the students to pay attention to a teacher giving a talk or to engage in collaborative discussion. It also reduces the need for students to think critically or creatively.

 

The next article in the series, Most Teachers Know They’re Playing With Fire When They Use Tech in the Classroom, moves to a more optimistic perspective, suggesting that “many of them [teachers] know how not to get burned.” She gives examples of ways in which technology in the classroom affirmatively helps the learning process. It allows for individualized teaching and assessment, meeting the student at their level of knowledge and targeting lessons to the skills/content that this student needs to learn. Some teachers have devised strategies to monitor what the students are accessing on their devices, reducing the opportunity to avoid learning by watching videos or playing games.

 

The final article in the series, Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluation, supports the benefits of using tech in the classroom, but cautions that “[s]creens in K-12 schools need a ‘hard reset’.” The author suggests that educators should be taking the lead on which tech is available in school and how or when it’s used. This would be a change from the current situation where the tech companies provide the devices and install the software and internet access limitations (if any). The author has three suggestions.

·      At the state and federal levels, ensure that students’ privacy is protected while using technology, and require independent evaluations of digital education product quality.

·      At the school district level, centralize the decision-making about the use of technology in the classroom, perhaps creating a director of information security position.

·      At the classroom level, teachers should do a tech audit of their classroom, evaluate its specific functions and frequency of use, and retain only the tech products that serve the teacher’s educational mission.

 

 

Of course, this series of articles focused on the use of technology in classrooms. Online learning, by definition, requires the use of technology for delivery of the educational content. Maybe we educators need to think more carefully about whether and when to require our online students to step away from the screen and absorb information in a different format?