Why technology isn't transforming education

A recent chat session reminded participants that integrating technologies into schools does not magically transform teaching, but represents an additional strategic tool. Little summary.

The theme of the session, organized by the Edweek.com site, was “ Why Technology Is Not Transforming Teaching ". She featured Robyn howton, teacher and instigator of digital classrooms (blended classroom) in Delaware, and Wendy drexler, Chief Innovation Officer for International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

From the outset, these two professionals recalled that as long as we stay focused on achieving learning objectives, it is not technologies that change the educational environment, but strategic use by teachers, leaders and students.

So teachers aren't transforming their teaching when they integrate tablets, online learning resources, and more into their classroom. They only increase the number of opportunities available to students to achieve their learning goals.

Moreover, according to Howton and Drexler, it is education leaders who have the most influence in transforming education. By freeing up time slots for teachers, IT technicians and other resources, they allow them to exchange and collaborate on the use of new technological resources. They are also the ones who have the mandate to make resources (physical or online) available to teachers to facilitate the integration of technologies.

The two women also believe that the students are well involved in the process of implementing new technologies because, being the very heart of school life, they should not hesitate to mention how they can integrate and transform their learning.

Obviously, for these two professionals, there is no single vision for technologies to contribute to the advancement of education. Their use goes from one extreme to the other as subject matter skills vary from teacher to teacher.