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Mark Warschauer, the foremost authority on technology in American classrooms, has spent countless hours studying computer projects. He writes of underperforming US schools, “placing computers and Internet connections in low-[income] schools, in and of itself, does little to address the serious educational challenges faced by these schools. To the extent that an emphasis on provision of equipment draws attention away from other important resources and interventions, such an emphasis can in fact be counterproductive.”
And, as for technology’s capacity to even the playing field of education, he says, “the introduction of information and communication technologies in [...] schools serves to amplify existing forms of inequality.” This is a specific instance of a broader thesis I argued recently, of technology’s role as an amplifier of existing institutional forces.
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- In reality, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for information technology is comfortably several times the cost of hardware, with a range of 5-10x being a good rule of thumb. Beyond hardware, necessary costs include costs of distribution, maintenance, power infrastructure, teacher training, repair and replacement, and curriculum integration.
- When Technology in Education is Justified
- 9 Myths of Technology in Education
- Anyone who says this is using American predatory pricing of textbooks as a guide. In India, a typical text book costs 7.5-25 rupees, or 15-50 cents. For $1-3, you could buy all the textbooks a child will need for the year. It can be more expensive in other countries where printing costs are not as low as in India, but there is no reason why a textbook needs to cost more than a few dollars. Please, let’s stop propagating this myth.
- Technology can be beneficial. But, it’s always worth looking at two things more carefully: First, how good was the educational environment in Study Z without the technology? Invariably, it will have been good; often, very good. This means it was secret-sauce + technology that caused the benefit, not technology by itself. Second, what was the total cost of the technology (including training, maintenance, curriculum, etc.)? Inevitably, it will be a factor of 5-10 more than the cost of hardware. Both issues suggest that for ailing schools, technology is not the answer.
- This article was written with current and near-term technologies in mind. It’s possible that future technologies will not fit the theses. Certainly, a humanoid robot indistinguishable from a good teacher could work wonders! More realistically, it’s likely that sophisticated software could become richer in the range of things they can teach and the degree to which they sustain motivation. But, any such advances should pass lab trials, pilot runs, controlled experiments, and cost-effectiveness analyses before anyone starts advocating them for widespread use. So far, no technology has met this bar – computers running existing software certainly haven’t.
- But, why do we believe this? It makes no sense. We don’t expect that playing football video games makes a child a great athlete. We don’t believe that watching YouTube will turn our kids into Steven Spielbergs. We don’t think that socializing on Facebook will turn people into electable government officials. And, if none of those things work, then why do we expect it of writing, history, science, or mathematics?
- Azim Premji Foundation
- At its best, the fascination with ICT as a solution distracts from the real issues. At its worst, ICT is suggested as substitute to solving the real problems, for example, ‘why bother about teachers, when ICT can be the teacher’. This perspective is lethal.
- And what makes “good teaching?” We need a definition here
- The question of motivation in Education is an area that has been used and abused and never understood. Motivation goes together with a set of Educational Values that aim to develop the learner as an individual, where he is taken into account and given a voice in the classroom, where he is encouraged to learn how to learn, who works in a non-threatening environment where the teacher shares the learning process with the students, etc
- That is the fatal mistake. Assuming that Motivation can be generated by external stimuli or by the teacher. Can´t remember how many times I have heard teachers say: ‘I need to motivate my students’, or ‘ Nothing motivates them’ Of course motivation can be ‘extrinsic’ e.g. the need to get a certain qualification, or “intrinsic” the satisfaction the learner gets from what he/she learns and how it affects his/her view of himself/ herself’ And that is ‘real motivation, the engine that drives human beings forward.
- This is again because technology is not being used appropriately. For starters, in most of the projects I have researched lately, students have been given a computer and then made to use it in the same traditional way as they used blackboards, i.e. controlled by the teacher “ now turn on your computer and do this…” ‘ now turn off your computer and,,,? This is not what computers are for. The idea is that students are encouraged to use computers as a ‘discovery tool’ where they can share conclusions, agree and disagree with each other and generate a final outcome that is the result of their exploration.
- Of course, if you place a computer in front of a student and don´t provide him with a task to do with it, you cannot expect any results. It also implies that the role of ICT in the classroom has not been thought through properly apart from making sure that there is connectivity, etc.
- Totally agree. If technology is used as a band-aid to cover up for other deficiencies in the educational system. The decision to incorporate technology in the classroom must be a conscious process of “innovation” where: a. a clear Curriculum is designed to incorporate the use of technology; b. all stakeholders i.e. students, ´teachers, school administrators and parents are made aware of how it can contribute to the teaching/ learning process; d. there is ongoing feedback from all stakeholders that will help identify what is working and what is not. This is one of the basic premises of “implementing innovation” which I am sure Mr. Toyama is aware of. And incorporating ICT to classrooms should be treated as such.
- At the risk of repeating myself, I would insist that a. the word ‘motivation’ has not yet been defined in this paper; b. innovations have to be introduced carefully and not imposed top-down. Have seen many educational innovations both in European countries such as Spain and Italy and in Uruguay where I currently live, collapse due to bad planning and implementation and through insisting on making it a top-down imposition
- And precisely, one of the many contributions using ICT in classrooms is help students develop their cognitive skills.
- This is mainly because they are taken for granted and part and parcel of the educational system, especially in countries like Finland and Korea.
- I am afraid I don´t see the relevance of this question. Of course lots of us grew up without computers, however, in my personal case, I would feel very isolated from the world around me if I did not have access to a computer as it reflects the direction in which the world is moving. I have many older friends and colleagues who can barely use a computer, and they only use it to open their emails once a week. They have simply decided not to keep up with times.

PISA 2009 Results: What Makes a School Successful? (Volume IV)

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