The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that students who use computers “moderately” do better than pupils who use them rarely, but students who use computers “very frequently” suffer, even when accounting for social background and student demographics.
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The new study compared trends in national spending on school technology and school performance. They also found that students who used computers excessively were more likely to feel isolated or alone.
One of the more ambitious education technology projects in Canada started last year when the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board started handing out tablet computers to all students in Grade 4 and above.
So, as digital skills become increasingly necessary, what should schools do to make sure they are effectively leveraging technology?
“We’re training them to use technology which hasn’t yet been invented”.
He gave the example of digital textbooks which can be updated as an example of how online technology could be better than traditional methods.
Schools should not simply provide and learn to children how to use computers or other high-tech devices, as this educational method doesn’t improve learning, an OECD report stressed today.
In this country, there are 2.6 students per school computer and 63.5% of 15-year-old students use computers in the classroom.
The report describes as “perhaps the most disappointing” finding that technology has been of little help in bridging the skills divide between disadvantaged and advantaged students. U.S. schools had among the best student-to-computer ratios in the world, and U.S. students ranked among the best in the world in a test of digital literacy, the ability to navigate and use the Internet to complete tasks.
Schools adopting technology in the classroom would fail to improve results, if teachers were stuck in “20th century teaching practices”. In the U.S. many students, parents, K-12 teachers and administrators say they highly value computer science education, according to a separate nationwide survey released last month by research firm Gallup and commissioned by Google, although most do not perceive a high level of demand for computer science from students and parents.
This will be a sobering report for Australian policymakers, as “a computer for every student” is often sold as the solution to low grades and disadvantage.
“It is important that educators remain in the driver’s seat, so to speak, when introducing technology in classrooms, that technology is not becoming too prominent – because it can distract”, Mr. Avvisati said.
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“The conclusion that emerges is that schools and education systems are, on average, not ready to leverage the potential of technology”, the report said in its summary.
