Technology? Not So Fast!

Ken Scherpelz, Vice President of Sales and Business Development

The past several years we have seen many stories about how technology is becoming an integral of part of classroom instruction, almost to the point that it is sometimes being touted as the solution to all of our education problems. While technology has certainly proved valuable in giving students access to resources and instruction and simulations previously unavailable to them, not every teacher is welcoming the electronic devices and software and links with open arms.

In 2011 the Idaho state legislature passed a bill requiring that all high school students must take some online classes to graduate, and that students and teachers be given computers—lots of them—to help facilitate this. The backlash from educators has been strong, for several reasons.

Many teachers saw districts shifting budget money from teacher salaries to technology purchases. With fewer teachers and more computers in schools, teachers were witnessing a fundamental change in the role of the classroom teacher, from lecturer to guide, all without the research that says online learning improves instruction and learning.

While many Idaho teachers didn’t object to the use of technology, they saw policy makers pushing technology into the classrooms without training for and input from teachers. Some, such as Ann Rosenbaum, a teacher at Post Falls High School in northern Idaho, wants to use technology to support her teaching methods, rather than use the technology as if it was the goal of learning. She says she uses the Socratic method of questioning to engage students, with the goal of “teaching them to think deeply, to think. A computer can’t do that.”

In all fairness, there are effective online course that can reach students who don’t have access to quality instruction, and there’s enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that students can benefit from using technology as a part of their instructional day. But we shouldn’t think that teachers all over America are clamoring to have their classrooms outfitted with the newest and shiniest pieces of technology as a solution to reaching the unengaged student. Many teachers still maintain confidence in their own skills and experience as the best tools for opening the minds of learners.