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April 6, 2007
Educational software, the real storyAll eyes are on educational software these days, with a new study out this week from the Department of Education. The study, as widely reported, including here in the Washington Post, makes the sweeping generalization that educational software doesn't lead to higher math and reading scores. Does this mean the end of tech in the classroom? Are computers going to go the way of the abacus? Not likely.
BoardBuzz would like to point out that some other wonderful, well researched programs have been found "ineffective" when implemented poorly and by teachers with little professional development in how to use the product. Assuming the software is a "silver bullet" will lead to disaster. However, according to the study, "Nearly all the teachers received training on the products and believed they were well prepared to use the technology in their classrooms."
Technology solutions alone - without being integrated as a part of an overall instructional plan - are not likely to produce the desired results. For example, a building with literacy challenges may want to include a technology product as one component, but then also work to make literacy a high priority with all teachers, create a program that rewards students for reading a certain number of books, and create a culture that is really focused on literacy, among other things.
Technology extends far beyond software programs -- the tools that are used in today's classroom are many and quite varied, including interactive white boards, digital cameras, electronic student response devices, etc. In the hands of a talented, properly trained teacher, technology and lessons come alive, and students are truly engaged.
Additionally, reading and math achievement are just one measure of student performance. Technology may have other, more far reaching impacts such as increasing student engagement or increasing technological skills, and not just impacting test scores.
It is also important to note that the study was conducted over the course of just one year, and only in select schools. "The report was based on schools and teachers not using the products in the previous school year. Whether products are more effective when teachers have more experience using them is being examined in a follow-up study."
Posted April 6, 2007 11:24 AM | Education Technology
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Comments(1)
Posted by: June on May 28, 2007 11:58 AM
From a research point of view, this DOE study provides a few conclusions, some of which you touched upon, and connects with the ed-tech research history in a few ways:
1. Software in and of itself does not "cause" better learning performance.
2. This results reinforces an entire history of research on educational media, that finds that media in and of itself does not "cause" better learning performance.
3. Thus technology is not a "silver bullet" as you stated in your post.
4. What matters most to better learning is not teacher training on technology... it is better instructional methods and pedagogy that matter.
5. So the real question is not "Does software lead to better learning"? The question to ask is, "What instructional methods lead to better learning?" and "How does technology help us implement those pedagogies?"
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