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Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

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Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#71

Post by Pulcinella »

dmreedy wrote: post #30
Jtsummers wrote: post #2

While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).

The classic, cliché-for-a-reason recommendation here is Mindstorms by Seymour Papert. It discusses a very tangible, very realizable, ground-up system of education built on the foundation of the computer as a universal, interactive tool that can meet the needs of any learner. It's a very good read, and a very good starting place if you're curious about this sort of stuff, alongside parallel work from people like Alan…

This. I feel like the biggest problems in EdTech are Bret Victoresque. The problem with fetch isn't that the software and technology isn't user friendly enough. The problem is that most EdTech is fundamentally X-but on a computer. Write an essay, but on the computer. Create a presentation, but on the computer.

Technology needs to facilitate student learning in new, better ways, not just be paper version 1.1.

Even this low bar often trips up EdTech companies. Why is my lesson planning webapp still broken on mobile after 5 years? Why does my digital grade book require some many clicks to do anything? Why does Google classroom still not have a student view for teachers?

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#72

Post by bigger_cheese »

monk_e_boy wrote: post #32
GordonS wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree here. I'm in the UK and my daughter's primary school has bought dozens of iPads (which are not exactly the most economical tablet), and they are used for things that could otherwise be done (and likely with better results too) in the real world, such as moving objects around for basic maths. Crazy waste of funds.

I disagree. A school without basic technology like computers and tablets? Blimey, you want us to go back to slates and chalk? Most schools have 3D printers, VR headsets, iPads. We need to teach kids about technology they will be using in 10 - 15 years time when they hit the job market. We can't send kids out into a career without having used an iPad. Some kids don't have access to tech or the internet at home, now yo…

When I was in high school (late 90's/early 00's) I needed to buy a fancy Texas Instruments graphical calculator for my advanced math class. Back then it probably cost about what a low end tablet would set you back today ($200/300 Australian).

The whole thing must have been a huge rort. I can only think of a handful of times I ever used the damn thing for anything beyond what I could have used a significantly cheaper scientific calculator for. The return on investment was terrible I can't help but think the same thing with Ipads in schools nowadays. What does an ipad buy you over significantly cheaper noname brand android device?

Amusingly enough I was not allowed to use the graphical calculator at university because programmable calculators were banned from examinations due to concerns about cheating. I used a cheap $10 casio calculator all through my engineering degree at uni...

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#73

Post by paulryanrogers »

A family member of mine needed a quick way to grade student work. After a few dozen hours I had a wiki-like format loading for them to try. With a few more features tailored to language learning it ended up saving a few hundred hours per year.

Probably cost me $5000 since I could have been consulting. Still, it was worth it for love.

Now certain students hate using it, though they do appreciate getting their grades back sooner.

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#74

Post by dubya »

Jtsummers wrote: post #2

While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).

One of the more interesting ideas I've come across was for teaching reading. Basically you present the text in editable form and let the student rearrange and rewrite and add their own thoughts "between the lines".

It really doesn't require any new software or particular teacher training, only that the text be made editable, which is very much not the default now.

I don't have a non-university link, but the article I remember is Bill Bernhardt, "Reading and writing between the lines: an interactive approach using computers", Journal of Reading March 1994. (on jstor as a pdf composed of noneditable bitmaps)

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#75

Post by robertlagrant »

j2bax wrote: post #69
GordonS wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We can't send kids out into a career without having used an iPad Other than 'app developer', what actual careers involve using specifically an iPad, let alone a generic tablet? > Most schools have 3D printers, VR headsets, iPads Tablets sure, not necessarily iPads. 3D printers and VR headsets?! I'm talking about primary school , kids aged 5-11 - it would be rare for even secondary schools in the UK to have 3D print…

I've seen many non-technical professionals using iPad's. In many cases they are replacing laptops in meetings. They are used in manufacturing environments. They are used in hospitals, airports etc etc. That said, my 80 year old grandmother learned to be pretty proficient on an iPad in a matter of a few hours, so I'm not really that concerned about people being able to pick up general tablet usage outside of school.

This is exactly the point - no one needs to be taught how to use an iPad. It's some MBA trying to push "educational strategy". No one who invented any part of an iPad grew up with one.

The further into my tech career I go, the more I like a bog standard whiteboard and a notebook and pen. They let me focus on thinking about hard stuff, instead of thinking about how to use some oversold software.

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#76

Post by robertlagrant »

kerrsclyde wrote: post #38
Jtsummers wrote: post #2

While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).

I work in a UK school (part time technician not teacher) and we have hardly any budget assigned to hardware, it's make do and mend constantly. The move now seems to be to teach coding via apps with friendly graphical interfaces, 10 years ago it was based around learning MS Office apps. I've worked in tech for nearly 20 years and the most important skill I learnt was to touch type. Then HTML, which lead me to simple s…

Totally agree. I think there's is a huge need to teach children logic, but not code.

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#77

Post by robertlagrant »

Uhhrrr wrote: post #60
Jtsummers wrote: post #2

While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).

The other reply is correct about the piece being marketing, but your question is still good. I've worked at 2 edtech startups and have a few teachers in my family, and my personal observation has been that technology is best when it removes friction in the areas of classroom control, assessment, communicating with parents, and organizing presentation materials. For the part where teachers figure out how to engage stu…

This makes perfect sense: digitise (as we say now) admin and busywork, to let teachers shine at teaching.

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#78

Post by Endama »

CaptSpify wrote: post #64
Endama wrote: post #41

I work at an EdTech company right now and we've found huge success simply because we've tried to get out of the way and let teachers do what they do. Teachers today have a hard enough time without tech companies, policy makers, administrators, etc. barging into their classrooms and dictating the best way to instruct their kids. Like germinalphrase mentioned, I think the best place for tech in education is to "[offer]…

Doesn't that heavily depend on the teacher though? I don't disagree with you in principle, but couldn't the reason so many people try to dictate the best way to teach is because there are a lot of bad teachers?

I'm not going to argue that there aren't bad teachers or there aren't a LOT of bad teachers. But IMHO a lot of what I have seen at my company is the following:

If a kid brings home a bad report card - Parents often blame the teacher. Obviously, their kid is great, the only reason they are struggling is because of negligent or poor instruction.

If a kid brings home a behavior citation (i.e. teacher/administration called home and said their kid was poorly behaved) - Parents may or may not recognize themselves as a contributor to that poor behavior.

But for the teacher, it doesn't really matter. If there is one poorly behaved kid in the class, it's going to make it harder for that teacher to instruct every single kid.

It often seems that the problem isn't a glut of "bad teachers", it's that the structures placed around the teachers all too often seem to be set up for them to fail. It's no surprise then that 40%-50% of teachers quit the profession entirely within five years http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/kappan_ingersol...

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#79

Post by jvvw »

kerrsclyde wrote: post #38
Jtsummers wrote: post #2

While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).

I work in a UK school (part time technician not teacher) and we have hardly any budget assigned to hardware, it's make do and mend constantly. The move now seems to be to teach coding via apps with friendly graphical interfaces, 10 years ago it was based around learning MS Office apps. I've worked in tech for nearly 20 years and the most important skill I learnt was to touch type. Then HTML, which lead me to simple s…

I'm in my forties and hence learned to code as a kid (in BASIC) before I learned to copy and paste :-)

Re: Why Classroom Technology Is Costing More Than Its Worth (2016)

#80

Post by zepto »

Pulcinella wrote: post #71
dmreedy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The classic, cliché-for-a-reason recommendation here is Mindstorms by Seymour Papert. It discusses a very tangible, very realizable, ground-up system of education built on the foundation of the computer as a universal, interactive tool that can meet the needs of any learner. It's a very good read, and a very good starting place if you're curious about this sort of stuff, alongside parallel work from people like Alan…

This. I feel like the biggest problems in EdTech are Bret Victoresque. The problem with fetch isn't that the software and technology isn't user friendly enough . The problem is that most EdTech is fundamentally X-but on a computer. Write an essay, but on the computer. Create a presentation, but on the computer. Technology needs to facilitate student learning in new, better ways, not just be paper version 1.1. Even th…

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