The New York Times Magazine wrote a hefty piece on the evolution of school gadgets and tools for education, plus the rise in tablet technology in education, but we can’t help but wonder how effective is this?
The programs set in motion these weeks involve using tablets to adapt to a child’s pace and learning style. It all relies on the little ones’ enthusiasm regarding new technology and it’s all part of a huge market, that among others involves $17 billion spent on K-12 schools for instructional materials and technology per year. Experts in the field of education like Kamau Bobb agree that this early exposure to tech can lay a solid foundation for future STEM learning and potentially inspire a lifelong interest in these fields.
It’s not only the children who have to learn to get used to novelty, but also the teachers. There’s a ton of software to get familiar with, plus the gadgets, that are so varied these days. The digital classroom is here and what the huge marketing of device makers manages to obscure is the fact that kids are learning less and less as years pass. We’ve got ADHD, Angry Birds, Twitter and Facebook. How can the kids cope with those things at the same time, while a tablet usually enhances them!?
