Over the summer, I did a study on the use of technology in secondary education. As a part of my STEM Capstone summer inquiry, I asked high school principals in the Chicagoland region to indicate how frequently their students/teachers used school-issued laptops, computer labs, and other devices. Admittedly, the study was not executed in the best way (mass-emailing school principals with a few weeks left in August), and the results were heavily dependent on voluntary response—leading to natural bias. However, the intent of the study and the unspoken consensus of all the schools I surveyed seemed to be this: that the integration of technology into education creates a learning environment of higher quality and efficiency.
District 203 Distributing Chromebooks
Technology has undoubtedly created better accessibility and opportunities in America’s education system. At the cost of this post sounding drab, I quote directly from the US Department of Education, who lists the benefits of computers in the classroom: “…[technology] expands course offerings, experiences, and learning materials; supports learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; builds 21st century skills; increases student engagement and motivation; and accelerates learning.”
I’m sure that none of this is a new insight to us. In fact, it isn’t difficult to remember the years of elementary school where we had to use laptop carts—how 4th graders would rush to get the one device they had logged into previously so they wouldn’t be stuck for thirty minutes, waiting for the green-hill Windows XP desktop to appear. Since then, 5-pound textbooks have been replaced with slim tablets, assignment notebooks have evolved into online calendars, and Kahoots have become the staple classroom activity. Four years now into the district-wide chromebook initiative, it is second nature now to pull out our chromebooks or phones and open Google suite tools for all of our papers, presentations, and reading assignments.
Understandably, I was/still am on the train of technology-benefits-all. There wasn’t even a debate because, based on my experience, technology was only making life easier for us in 203. It wasn’t until I stumbled across this YouTube video by tiffanyferg—part of her internet analysis series—that I started to reconsider.
She is commenting on the CNBC Video shown during 1:20. Also see 3:43, 5:54, 7:27, and 8:15.
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Though her video is not exactly arguing a firm stance on the issue (more like shedding light on an ironic situation while touching on wealth disparity and mental health), she brings up a few points that probed my more open-minded inquiry into this topic.
Steve Jobs wouldn’t let his kids use the new iPad when it was relesased
One of the most interesting points in Tiffany’s video is the mention that tech CEO giants actually limit their childrens’ screen-time. Some big names that come up right away are, as she mentions, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I found a Business Insider article that goes more in depth. These CEO’s restrictions on their kids ranges anywhere from balancing watching Netflix with reading books (Mark Cuban) to not allowing their children to use the technologies developed by their very company (Steve Jobs with the iPad).
To be fair, their concerns are completely meritted. The World Health Organization indicated that children five and under should spend less than an hour a day on screens, and children under one should have no interaction with technology at all. Psychology Today also highlights some long-term health issues associated with technology addiction, including sedentary lifestyle, deteriorating vision, and psychological conditions such as confidence anxiety and depression.
This is the second message I spoke on in this post that shouldn’t be new to anyone. Society has made quite clear that using our devices too much results in underdeveloped in-person social skills. Yet, this seems to be in direct conflict with the other commonly perpetuated idea I mentioned, that technology is the future of education.
So does the same logic apply to educational technologies? Well, there are certainly headlines out there such as “Parents say a learning app backed by Mark Zuckerburg is giving kids anxiety and headaches, raising concerns about the amount of time students spend staring at screens” from Business Insider. Technology in the classroom seems to be raising similar concerns as technology for entertainment. It seems to be shortening our attention spans and growing as a source of distraction.
Again, not a foreign concept. Speaking from personal experience, public school teachers have definitely increased emphasis on technology-free time in the classroom ever since middle school. Although there is a pretty wide range for tolerating the use of cell phones and chromebooks in class, there seems to be a common view that typing away during a lecture or class discussion is just as disrespectful as talking over the speaker. From Chess.com to Google Hangouts, students (myself included) seem increasingly brazen with doing off-hand tasks when they should be paying attention. I have also noticed my transition into a phenomenal yet unproductive multitasker thanks to our personalized chromebooks, with an average of fifteen tabs in Google Chrome at any given time.
On another note, I came across Forbes article that sums up recent research done on the impact school-issued personalized devices has on learning performance. The Jameel Poverty Education Lab, based in MIT, finds that computer-assisted learning improves results especially in mathematics due to curriculums tailored to the needs and pace of each student. However, the major hindrances to performance came when technology was introduced to the classroom with minimal change in the class’s teaching style. Horn, the author, makes that analogy to the introduction of blackboards in the 19th century. According to him, schooling back then was closer to one-on-one tutoring rather than the lecture-style classes we consider traditional today. Thus, the use of blackboards without an update to the teaching method proved an obstacle to the schooling system. Similarly, in schools still transitioning to a tech-heavy environment, it is crucial to integrate ideas of independent learning and online exploration in tandem with the incorporation of laptops or tablets.
Khan Academy is a great example of technology that allows for personalized learning
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At this point, technology is so ingrained into our daily lives that we brush off the touting of both the privileges we have and the consequences we face. However, the next time you pull out your new-model chromebook or your iPhone X, I challenge you to think back to a time when you would have gaped at such a prospect (if you could even remember such a time). What was life like back then without instant access to the internet and social media? How was your thinking process different back then, and what expectations do you have for your own learning now?
Now, after considering all the benefits you enjoy thanks to technology, exit out of your twenty tabs, shut your chromebook, and give your eyes the break they deserve.
Articles I used and further readings (for after your break):
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-silicon-valley-ceos-limit-screen-time-at-home-2019-4
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/201802/could-you-be-addicted-technology
https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning
February 27, 2020 at 3:27 pm
Hi Foles!! I didn’t know you had a STEM capstone inquiry over the summer! That’s super dope. Did you find out how other schools use technology? I’ve always wondered about that because Naperville is a wealthier school district and our experience in technology may not be reflected in other school districts. I laughed when you mentioned Chess.com because I see my friends playing there more often than I am during school. I wish we could develop new technology that would prevent our eyes from dying because my vision is actually crap now because of staring at screens for hours on end since childhood. For the sedentary lifestyle, standing desks are becoming more popular and we definitely need to use them because sitting is even worse than smoking in some studies. Keep me updated on our passing period walks for what more info you discover about this topic!