Sunday, July 14, 2013

The brave new untested technology

Published in Los Angeles Daily News, July 17, 2013

What if tablets don't raise student achievement?
Re "LAUSD approves $50M for computer tablets" (July 12):
There is no evidence that tablets and wireless networks will improve student achievement in Los Angeles Unified. Taxpayers are funding an untested idea. By the time we know whether the brave new technology helps, the computer industry will be much wealthier and schools much poorer. And if it doesn't help, teachers will be blamed and the so-called reformers will call for more technology.
-- Stephen Krashen


original article: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22577480/lausd-approves-50m-computer-tablets


2 comments:

  1. For all the excitement promoted by the tech companies, there is no evidence that computers, tablets or EBoards will improve student learning in any appreciable way. They are a hype to spend money on quick fixes that won't work. I have used all of this stuff from a SONY subsidized CALL program in a Japanese university, to Smartboard equipped classrooms in Saudi Arabia. The Thai "One student; one tablet" program has been deemed a success on the basis that students are engrossed in their tablets for at least an hour a day. There is no evidence that this "engrossment" has any effect upon their learning, but it does give their teachers a break!

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