Sunday, October 16, 2011

Questioning our Mania for Technology

I love technology as much as the next teacher, but I do wonder about the one size fits all, we must have it because it is technology, and so what if we can pay our teachers this year approach. Thought provoking article from the Committed Sardine blog


If money were no object, it would be hard to take a position against educational technology. Especially in less privileged neighborhoods, students do benefit from hands-on experience with the kinds of tools that are standard in white-collar workplaces. At worst, kids like new gadgets, and it doesn’t hurt to give them what they like once in a while.

This, however, is a zero-sum game in which money that goes to technology could just as easily have been spent on other approaches that, though perhaps not scalable, are directly connected to the processes of teaching and learning. Funding projects to improve teacher training, development, and retention, for instance, is less sexy than cutting the ribbon on a lab full of lightning-fast computers. But it’s also more likely to help kids learn.