Can Technology Actually Help To Improve Education?

As more and more schools across the globe are adopting various online learning strategies like Bring Your Own Device programs and one-to-one tablet initiatives, it seems what academic experts claimed years age was right. Globally, spending on tablets at the K-12 level has significantly risen by over 60 per cent between 2013 and 2014. However, it seems that there is a shortage of reliable proof that educational technology actually helps in improving the learning experience.

Education & Technology

If we wish to understand how all the technological advancement will affect us, then we need to start by taking a look at it's origins. It started back in 1997 during President Clinton's term when he accumulated a science and technology committee that suggested a technological embrace in a broad scope. Moreover, an early 2000s research by Duke University found a constant fall in reading and math scores. Academicians and experts believe that it is primarily due to the dearth of adult supervision at their homes. This has resulted in increased time spending on playing online games and accessing social media instead of doing coursework.

Image Source : bit.ly/1M3kJNc

Apart from homes, our schools are now also showing an inclination towards the increasing use of technology. Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School & executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health located in Boston, is concerned that our students' “brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next hing.” 

Education is a human experience

Probably the most glaring signal of EdTech resulting in more damage than benefits for our learners comes from the leading tech firms. The Waldorf School in Silicon Valley has around 75 per cent students whose parents work in the tech sector. Still the institute refuses to use a tablet or computer in the classrooms. Why? The administrators and educators of the school believe that teaching and learning is basically a human experience and they plan to keep it that way.

Image Source : bit.ly/1DYAM6Z

Of course, the technology sector reacts rather negatively to this view of teaching. Lia De Cicco Remu, director of Partners in Learning at Microsoft Canada, has issued a warning for schools and teachers who still want to hold on to the traditional education methods- “Shift or get off the pot.” But is that what is necessary? Does the era of online education mean the end of traditional education? Not necessarily. Many educators and well as EdTech experts from across the globe believe that online learning is simply here to improve the way our students learn and not to replace the traditional mode of learning.

What we need to realise that using technology in education will not provide us a shortcut to better academic and student outcomes. Technology is not a magic wand or quick-fix solution.

The bottom line

As another school year begins, we need to understand that putting blind faith on EdTech tools or overemphasising the requirement for 21st century skills, might not only affect the education system in the long run, but it may also adversely affect our kids. It is very important that we maintain the right balance between technology and the traditional mode of learning to ensure your students get the training they need to prepare for the world of the future.

What do you think? Add to the discussion by sharing your views and opinions below.