Can Students Have Too Much Tech?

theodp writes: In a NY Times Op Ed, developmental psychologist Susan Pinker goes against the conventional White House wisdom about the importance of Internet connectivity for schoolchildren and instead argues that students can have too much tech. "More technology in the classroom has long been a policy-making panacea," Pinker writes. "But mounting evidence shows that showering students, especially those from struggling families, with networked devices will not shrink the class divide in education. If anything, it will widen it." Tech can help the progress of children, Pinker acknowledges, but proper use is the rub. As a cautionary tale, Pinker cites a study by Duke economists that tracked the academic progress of nearly one million disadvantaged middle-school students against the dates they were given networked computers. The news was not good. "Students who gain access to a home computer between the 5th and 8th grades tend to witness a persistent decline in reading and math scores," the economists wrote, adding that license to surf the Internet was also linked to lower grades in younger children.

Comments

Its not that there's too much tech...

[Zombie Ryushu]

Its what tech, and how the tech is used. Both in the Apple and Microsoft Camp, our schools have been and are being fleeced for billions possibly Trillions to buy grade school and high school kids toys, from MacBooks, to iPads, to Surface Tablets. Linux and Android technologies that could be used to teach effective use of problem solving in Math, science, Literacy, and assistive technologies for the Disabled are being shut out to prop up wholesale robbery of the tax payer to buy media consumption platforms to create an addict user base that is helpless without effective tools.

Re:This is not new.

[Lumpy]

Except for very bright students, Then it is discovered that the teachers and dumbed down education hinders students more.

If you are on either side of the bell curve you need special education. Low IQ need more hand holding, High IQ need the teachers to get the hell out of the way.

Re:Who did they compare against?

[Lumpy]

Are the factoring in that most inner city schools learning and getting good grades is considered... "acting white" and looked down upon?

I suggest identifying the smart kids and removing them from the caustic peer environment that is designed to keep them down.

Re:This is not new.

[BarbaraHudson]

The kids who are interested will already know more than an intro class can teach them. It's the same as thinking of giving an course on how to win at FPS games - those who are interested already know how, and for the rest it's just a waste of time.

I tried to get my two daughters interested in programming, and now I'm happy they didn't bite. Competition is going up, salaries and benefits are going down, and the "up or out" attitude would leave them with no job when they hit 40.

Better that they learn to use computers just as a tool, to write, to do spreadsheets, and to play games and surf the web. Programming is fast becoming a dead-end job, same as web design already is.