It ain’t about the technology, it’s about what you do with it:
This article, “Is our children learning?” from Red Herring offers the usual Luddite screeds about technology in the classroom not living up to the potential predicted by its evangelists. Sigh. It’s the same old story. Lots of hand-waving about the millions spent on computers but Johnny still can’t read. Lots of blustery, accusatory rhetoric about tech companies providing training but Johnny still can’t read.
Look, people, the idea that techology is a panacea is so 1997. I don’t know anybody in education (or educational technology providers) who still really believes that. Everybody knows that the technology doesn’t solve education’s problems and, in fact, presents some entirely new ones. Everybody except the media, that is.
The article’s concluding paragraph says “Schools need more substantial proof that their investment in technology has made learning better–not just cheaper or faster.” But here’s the scoop folks:
TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T MAKE EDUCATION “BETTER.” IT JUST MAKES EDUCATION DIFFERENT.
What are we going to do? Keep technology out of education? You can’t do that, people. Computers are here to stay. The Internet is here to stay. Do we just ignore it in our schools?!?
I have a lot more to say on this topic, but it will have to wait until later. Maybe I’ll have cooled off by then, too. ;-)