The Education Technology Industrial Complex

According to research.com “In the U.S. alone, education technology investment has already exceeded $13 billion (Technology for Education Consortium, 2017).”

It’s approximately 4 weeks into the 23/24 school year and already I am feeling frustrated. Not at my job, which can seem insurmountable at times, but at the broken education system.  Why, oh why, do we insist on giving children computers to stare at all day? I don’t have any fancy data to back up my claims but I see a direct correlation between the increased amount of computer use in school and decreases in performance on math and reading scores.  And you know what, I haven’t encountered a single educator that disagrees with me yet, so why is nothing being done?

I am so sad to witness this breakdown and feel powerless to make a change. Take the computers a way, why is that so hard to imagine.  As someone that works in an elementary school and middle school, here are a few heartbreaking stories that I have witnessed this school year alone…

Let me introduce you to Mary (not a real name), she is an extremely hard working, sweet 6th grade girl with a reading level we think around the 1st grade.  She is new to the district this school year and reading supports are being initiated.  Mary is in all classes with her peers and has a chrome book just  like every other student in the entire middle school (5th thru 8th grade).  Guess how part of her reading is being instructed…with a program online. Not because it is what the teacher thinks is best, it is the curriculum that the district purchased so she has to use it.  Plus, it is nearly impossible to make copies of anything anymore and the online programs make it very difficult to actually print a hard copy of the activity that is available online.

Now let’s think about my little friend Mary some more.  Not only does she struggle to read, she is unable to navigate all the screens she needs to on her computer because well, she can’t read.   She wants to do well and is not a behavior problem, so in class she will quietly sit and eventually hit enough icons to get to the screen she needs to be on.

Mary is expected to independently navigate through a number of pages to copy/paste and analyze text.  But she can’t.  So what does she do all day in class when the teacher has no other curriculum but the one online…your guess is as good as mine but I don’t think it is learning.  

If she were born 15 years earlier, in 6th grade she would be given books, highlighters and pencils. Instead of copying and pasting meaningless letters on a computer screen that disappear when she shuts it, she would use tangible items like a pencil and paper that support the multisensory process of learning.   Kids actually learn better with these tools.

Let’s look at another 6th grade student with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), I’ll call him David.  David struggles with class work so he tends to act out to try to make others laugh (whether it is nervous laughter or not, he thinks both are positive).  David has so many tabs open on his chrome book jumping so quickly between YouTube, Roblox and other sites that allow him to play loud weird noises.  He can’t help it, those websites know how to lure him in and rob his attention, especially when school is hard.  His device is definitely not helping him learn.

So what ends up happening when David is in a class with 25 other 11 year olds and the school work becomes hard?  Yep, he uses the computer to make loud obnoxious noises or he will toggle between playing a game, watching a video and jumping back to the activity he is supposed to be working on if he notices a teacher looking.  He will often disrupt the class, usually related to something on his computer so that eventually he is sent to the Dean.  There is usually no real consequence (he enjoys the 1:1 adult attention) and he then returns to class where he has to use his computer (because that is all the teacher has to use to teach their lesson) and the negative cycle starts all over again. This happens at least 3-4 times a day.  

I can’t help but wonder how many other kids are lost, distracted or on completely different sites when they are “supposed” to be doing work on their computers.  I have shared 2 situations that are probably more extreme than most but there are more students like them than not. Many of the behavior referrals in middle school stem from something that was done on the computer. Parents are even complaining that their kids are using the school issued devices inappropriately at home when they are supposed to doing “homework”.

There are also stories I hear from young new teachers.  One such teacher I talked with the other day was telling me a story about her friend who is a new 2nd grade teacher.  She told me her friend was so frustrated because her 2nd grade class (you read that correctly, 2nd grade) is on their computers most of the day for learning.  Really! These are seven and eight year olds, how sad is that.  It is not just sad, it is maddening.  Whatever happened to the recommendation of 2 hours or less of screen time a day? 

I know I don’t have data to back up my claims, (hopefully there is some researcher out there that feels the same and is doing the work) but I see a connection between the increase in the reliance and use of technology to educate with the decline in math and reading scores.  Like every other issue that plagues our society, the issue is always more complex and never black and white but it is definitely a large part of the problem. I can’t help but feel there is some sort of education technology industrial complex.  

While looking into some online learning programs, I stumbled across this from research.com “In the U.S. alone, education technology investment has already exceeded $13 billion (Technology for Education Consortium, 2017).”  That is a statistic from 2017, since COVID we have an even more reliance on technology, I can only imagine how many more billions that  number is now.  That is a lot of money and the cynic in me can’t help but think that it comes at the cost of what's best for kids.  

Headlines like this, “U.S. reading and math scores drop to lowest level in decades”, are showing up everywhere.  I know COVID policies have played a role but I think the overuse of technology plays a large part as well!  What is the educational benefit to reading and math skills from those billions of dollars being invested into education technology?  I think students like Mary and David are not benefiting from them and are in fact being harmed.

With the increase in technology used to educate children, we lose out on so many other areas as well, ones that are harder to measure.  For example, there is less face to face instruction, we are placing a barrier (a computer screen) in between teachers and their students.  Computers will never replace the nuance of what educators are able to do when they have a child directly in front of them.

There is also way less multi-sensory learning happening in classrooms. Typing on a keyboard is not the same as spelling with a pencil. Kids aren’t even taught cursive writing anymore! It scares me to think that if kids aren’t learning those skills, how will they ever be able to read valuable documents like our Constitution!

As an educator that focuses on fostering social skills and connections, I worry deeply about kids interacting less with each other and more with a screen.  As social beings we all need more human connection to help us grow and thrive. I blame much of the divide we see in this country from the breakdown of our ability to have actual conversations because so many are interacting more with others online than in person. These skills start young and we need to take the computers out of kids hands so that they can learn them.

I recently spoke with a mother that explained how her 8 year old complained he has to work on the computer at least 30 minutes a day for math.  He told her he often just thinks about something else and clicks randomly at numbers.  I say bring back the abacus, I am sure it is a lot cheaper and is a better tool to teach math skills.

Some may call me naive but I think the solutions are easy and inexpensive.  We need to take back control of the devices.  Kids don’t  “need” a computer or device to learn.  Kids don’t “need” a computer to do homework.  Kids don’t  “need” to be 1:1 in order to succeed in the digital age. And kids definitely do not “need” to be sitting in front of a screen for 80% of their school day (full disclosure: that is just a number I made up but sadly feels true) .

Educators that have been teaching for a while will remember the large computer charging stations. Why can't we put one in each classroom?  That way we don’t have to hand a device to that 10 year old to carry around and use all day.  Only allow students to take out and use the computers to support their lessons, not for their lessons. Invest in paper, books, pencils, markers, crayons and even an abacus!  I am sure these cost less than what districts spend now constantly repairing the broken devices from overuse or accidentally being dropped in the hallways.  

Invest in those programs that allow teachers to control what sites students are on when they are using computers in their classrooms.  And definitely get those locked Yondr pouches that Joe Rogan uses at his comedy club to keep students off their iPhones at school. I am sure if we put our heads together, we could come up with many more cost effective solutions. The education technology industrial complex may be powerful with their billions of dollars but I think if educators ban together, we can take back control.