As the new school year approached, a friend forwarded me an email from another school announcing with great excitement that the school had purchased new “smart tables” for all of their classrooms. “Does your school use these?” my friend asked. We don’t–and probably never will–have many–if any–“smart tables” at ANCS. After checking them out online, I’m still not entirely clear what they are or do–they seem like table-sized iPads that sit on a big pedestal, and, according to the manufacturer website, they’re great for “pre-K to 3rd grade students.” And they cost a mere $8,000 per table.
I’m no technophobe, no Luddite–I take all my notes electronically, I use an iPhone and iPad–but I’ve never really bought into the push for schools to have the latest, greatest technology for students. I’m often asked about what technology we have at ANCS, and sometimes get looks of disappointment when I don’t respond that every student has a tablet or that we have “smart boards” in each classroom. In my experience as an educator in different schools with a range of technological resources, I’ve seen little evidence that having advanced technology leads to more meaningful teaching and learning. As it turns out, I’m not alone. A large study of national data recently released found the effectiveness of costly technology in schools to be sorely lacking. In a newspaper article about the study, its author stated that “schools frequently acquire digital devices without discrete learning goals and ultimately use these devices in ways that fail to adequately serve students, schools, or taxpayers.”
Once you get past the “wow” factor of walking into a lab of expensive new computers or students huddled around a “smart table”, there is usually little that’s changed about the nature of teaching using these tools. And, even when teaching is adapted to use technology to enhance students critical thinking and creativity, we must ask ourselves if the return on investment is as great as developing skilled teachers who are able to improve student learning and inspire, whether they have shiny gadgets or not. Maybe it’s fact that our school is working with limited financial resources that makes me consider the issue differently, but, after providing students with equal access to fundamental technological tools and skills–internet, use of common software applications, cloud storage–I’d much rather spend money on hiring more teachers or useful professional development than three or four expensive pieces of technology. Simply put, the impact on student learning is much greater.
An article in this past weekend’s New York Times magazine thoughtfully explores the growing educational technology market and its pros and cons. There are millions of dollars being spent to equip schools and their students and teachers with devices with a paucity of data to suggest that they will lead to the sort of skills and knowledge our students–especially at the K-12 level–need.
Comments
One response to “Are smart boards, smart tables, and smart phones really a smart investment for schools?”
In the context of fancy technological toys and gadgets, I have worked in schools that have and schools that have not. Doesn’t mean a thing, in and of itself. Indeed, without adequate training or clear intention, the addition of SMART boards, tables, and the like in classrooms amount to nothing more than expensive distractions at best. And I am a Luddite, who would most of the time be perfectly happy to smash the machines so that we could once again celebrate what a glad experience it is to sit down face to face, over a cup of something and communicate with one another, or what a pleasure is the heft and feel of a book, or how exhilarating an experience it is to wander the “stacks” in the reference section of a library, alone, to search out information, or just have a look around – let alone the joy of a world gone quiet, of one no longer wired to the teeth with beeps and rings and whistles, to the constant hum and imperative chaos of being constantly “available.”
But anyway, there is this too: If improved classroom experiences, improved teaching, great learning, lessons, and memories are what we’re after for our kids – parents, teachers, and administrators alike – then the one thing matters above all else is this: the number of students in any given hour, under the supervision and as the direct responsibility of any given teacher. If our class sizes get any bigger (and they should be smaller than they are at this writing) there isn’t a single shiny expensive gadget in the world that’ll fix what gets lost.