Theme: Technology & Education

1. Guiding Questions (read this before you read the article):

- What are the two arguments for the case of tech in education? What are the two
against?
- Why does the proponent think that overcoming misuse and unequal access to
technology is inevitable? Explain Fear of new education technology is as old as
civilization itself.
- How does tech exacerbate inequality gap? Give an example from the article.
2. Primary sources (required):
• Watch the following video
• Read the following article:
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-the-benefits-of-digital-devices-in-school-classrooms-
outweigh-the-downsides-
11582297138?st=13ywd4xq2fj9xdo&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink)

#Do the Benefits of Digital Devices in School Classrooms Outweigh the

Downsides?
Technology has steadily worked its way into classrooms around the world, from kindergarten
to graduate school. Its use in schools has been strongly supported by the U.S. Education
Department, among others, and it is widely viewed as a valuable tool—even a necessity—in
education.

But its use has critics, as well. They worry about digital devices taking time away from
teacher-student interaction, especially in the early school years. And they question how
effective technology is in helping students from lower-income families narrow the
performance gap in the classroom.

YES: Tech Can Help Teachers Teach and Children Learn

New technologies are as essential to students today as reading, writing and arithmetic were
when they were the hot new things in the early 19th century. In addition, technology use in
schools is a powerful and needed tool to close the opportunity gap.

There are detractors who say that the introduction of technology into classrooms has failed to
meet the high expectations its proponents hoped for, noting correctly that flooding
classrooms with computer tablets without productive curriculum plans does not improve
educational outcomes and may even hurt students when it leads to overreliance on computers
rather than support from teachers.

But that is a shortsighted argument. Shortcomings in the use of technology can be overcome;
instances of misuse shouldn’t overshadow the many benefits technology can provide.
Today’s technology is not a magical cure to end education woes, but it is a tool that, when
used well, can help us prepare students to succeed in our modern society. We fail our
students if we do not teach them how to master the technologies that can support their
learning and success in the rest of their lives.

How technology is used is key. When technologies try to replace teachers—especially when
they are used like electronic workbooks to drill students on rote skills—research consistently
finds no benefit to students. But there is a burgeoning field of innovative digital technology
that is making a difference in many ways: aiding teachers in reviewing and analyzing
homework; providing support for students with disabilities; sparking greater academic
success for at-risk students using it to write more proficiently, understand math problems
better and learn through science simulations; and supporting students in their own inquiries
into the world around them. Young people are using technology for research and to produce
newspapers, projects and websites, as well as to program new apps. Sometimes that
technology enables them to engage in inquiries that address real-world problems with experts
and other students around the world.

If there is anything to be concerned about when it comes to technology in the classroom, it is

not that there is too much, but that there is a deep inequity in access.

Equalizing access for low-income students is particularly important. While wealthy families
can purchase technology as they see fit, lower-income families have far less access to the
most up-to-date and useful tools and the bandwidth needed to use them. Schools can help
bridge that gap. But schools in poor communities often lack the bandwidth needed to support
the most useful applications. If schools cannot provide cutting-edge technologies, and have
access to adequate bandwidth to deliver them, their students will be left behind in the digital
age.

Fear of new education technology is as old as civilization itself. In the fourth century B.C.,
Socrates told the story of a king who warned that the gift of the written word from the gods
would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories.”
Ironically, we know of Socrates’ alarm because it was recounted in writing by Plato.

Today there’s more work to do, but, like books before them, new technologies should be
welcomed, not dreaded. We need a deeper understanding of what works well and why; we
need continuing investment in professional learning to support teachers in taking advantage
of high-quality tools; and we need balance, so that students are also spending plenty of time
exercising their minds and bodies in other ways.

With well thought-out, evidence-based approaches, we can use the wealth of new tools
available to help our teachers teach and our children learn in new and powerful ways that
allow them to fully engage the world around them.

NO: Devices May Help, but Not as Used Today

Digital devices have the potential to yield benefits in the classroom, but the way they’re
commonly used only exacerbates existing inequalities. A different approach would change
that, but there’s no saying when that might happen, and meanwhile the education of many
students is suffering.

Research has shown that while digital devices can boost achievement in certain areas, notably
math, when used in moderation, a large dose of technology can impede learning. A study of
millions of high-school students in the 36 member countries of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development found that heavy computer use at school had a
negative impact on achievement. And a study by the nonprofit Reboot Foundation of
American fourth- and eighth-graders showed that the more hours they spent on computers for
English-language arts, the lower their reading scores.

Contrary to hopes that technology could help narrow the achievement gap, vulnerable
students are the most likely to be harmed by it. The Reboot study found that the gap between
the test scores of students who use technology frequently and the higher scores of those who
don’t is largest among students from low-income families. Even worse, in many schools
serving students from those families, students are more likely to use computers in the
classroom—the problem isn’t lack of access to technology, it’s overexposure.

Having spent time in high-poverty classrooms where digital devices are used daily, I’ve seen
their downsides in action. Often, they serve to intensify the fragmented, decontextualized
nature of American education, especially in lower grades.

In a typical elementary school, the day is divided into reading and math blocks, during which
students rotate through learning stations in the classroom, spending 20 or 30 minutes at each.
Typically, at least one of those stations requires students to work independently on digital
devices.

Even when the subject is math—where the evidence for technology being helpful is
strongest—children get distracted more easily in these independent activities. Devices can’t
motivate them like a teacher can, and there’s no opportunity for group discussion. Although
the software is theoretically personalized, it often assumes knowledge that children from less
educated families don’t have.

With reading, the standard curriculum gives rise to a more fundamental problem. The
prevailing approach prioritizes comprehension skills and strategies, like finding the main idea
and making inferences. Topics are random. The theory is that if students practice reading
skills on books or passages easy enough for them to read independently, they’ll be able to
understand more complex text later.

But that theory is mistaken, as cognitive scientists have found. Comprehension depends far
more on knowledge of the topic than on generally applicable skill. To boost comprehension,
schools need to build knowledge through systematic instruction in social studies, science, and
the arts—the very subjects many have cut to focus on reading comprehension skills. That’s
especially true for students unlikely to pick up academic knowledge at home.

In reading as in math, a device can’t tell when students are lost. I saw one first-grader trying
to parse a screen full of facts about bananas, including that most come from India. Unable to
understand the word “India,” she asked a classmate where bananas come from. The
classmate’s answer? “From trees”—not one of the choices.

Theoretically, digital devices could build students’ knowledge about bananas—or any other
topic. But that would require software grounded in a content-rich curriculum that genuinely
adapts to students’ existing vocabulary and knowledge. Instead, our neediest students are
getting technology that purports to be personalized but deprives them of both human
connection and a meaningful education.
3. Secondary sources (Optional – for further reading)
• Benefits of Technology in Education:
• Study shows Tech in classroom doesn’t always boost education:
• How to use Tech in classroom
4. Vocabulary building:
- Useful vocabulary have been highlighted in green. Please note down useful
expressions as you wish.
5. Questions to explore (teachers can base class-activities on these questions)
- Technological advancements are increasingly adopted to enhance teaching and
learning quality. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this new approach?
- Do you think tech advancements can replace traditional classroom in a near future?
- Who will benefit more from the integration of technology into teaching? the
education receivers or providers?
- When do you think is the best time to implement online learning on a wide scale in
Vietnam?