Embracing Devices in Schools

As a parent, I’m hearing a lot from educators about devices in schools being a problem. Being in the tech industry, this topic strikes a chord with me. I’m by no means an educator and am working to better understand the perceived problem from the school perspective, as I find myself often disagreeing with the approach being taken.

I grew up in the era where a computer was a box which sat on or under a desk. A big screen, separate speakers, and a plugged in keyboard and mouse. These days, that little device in our pockets is far more powerful than the most powerful computer back in the day. The tech landscape has also meaningfully changed, with the internet and technology now being ubiquitous and with even more layers of abstraction between the device user (working on a better word than “user”), and the actual underlying technology. This abstraction has created so much change. It has also reduced the opportunity for learning and understanding.

I remember attempting to run DOS games on a 486 machine. Sometimes the machine was under-powered. Sometimes the hardware was incompatible. Our computer spent more time at the shop being fixed than it did on the desk at home. These are incredible opportunities for learning and understanding! These days, the laptop or tablet are unlocked, touch screens swiped, and the device “just works”. There is seemingly no awareness of how it works, what it’s actually doing, or how to bend the technology to our will.

The same goes for the internet and world wide web (yes, those are different things). What we call the “internet” is actually mostly the “world wide web” which connects us all. It’s literally a web of cables under the ocean. How many kids today actually know that?

“Back in the day”, one could open an IRC channel using mIRC or a modified version of the software and chat with friends and complete strangers. If one messed up and said something ridiculous, one would get feedback and perhaps be criticized, yet it was over in a day or two. These days, the internet truly never forgets. With the precious gift of so much advanced technology and the lack of an education on how to use it responsibly, we’re creating a polarized society where some folks feel they can say whatever they want online (“keyboard warriors”) and others who are too afraid to say anything for fear of criticism and ridicule.

Back to schools. Instead of embracing the idea of technology and modelling appropriate behavior, educators seem to want devices out of the classroom and are using “conquest”-like techniques to achieve this. “If you’re found using your phone at school, you’ll get a detention”. This is not modelling good behavior.

I say bring the devices into the classroom. Use the technology for good. Be responsible. Model responsible behavior. Adapt your education style to embrace technology and to educate on the ways to teach responsible online behavior. Imagine being taught about South African history from an AI Nelson Mandela? Imagine being able to ask that same AI tutor to go deeper on a concept, to explain that algebra equation again, and to augment their teaching to suit the individual learner. Imagine if technology helped to usher in an age where schools teach now to learn and understand something and how to reason critically about it rather than simply how to remember and retain information.

Technology is about innovation and expression. Each learner can adapt their technology to suit their specialized needs. They can innovate on new ideas and share their work with others so they can all learn together and from one another.

If educators do not embrace technology, they will be left in the dust of irrelevance. This fear is likely very well known by educators, leading to conquest rather than embrace. It’s time to adapt. Time to break out of the silo education is currently in, and time to do something truly new and incredible to bring our children into the modern age in a responsible and sustainable way.