Too Much Tech Makes the Kids Go Bad

In Sarah Pinker's NY Times article, she argues against the unthinking worship of Education Technology in the politics of education.  Simply put, people think that the mere presence of Ed Tech, even in its simplest form as giving every child a laptop will lead to dramatic reductions in the digital divide.  In turn, it would reduce the social and economic inequality that may result.  And of course, as the article argues, it's not that simple: nothing really replaces the tough but loving parent and the teacher who is gifted in the art of teaching.

Singapore's similar to the extent that there is a great emphasis on Ed Tech.  But MOE's been way ahead - the Singapore education scene's far beyond talk about equipping (that was IT Master plan 2 and we're at the brink of Masterplan 4!).  Singapore's really gone into training the teachers with IT specific pedagogy and educating parents on their role in making Ed Tech work.  Of course there will be room for improvement but I think MOE deserves credit where credit is due.

Except that most teachers and students will probably hesitate to praise the benefits of tech too quickly.  No one is quite clear whether equal access to tech has equalized the playing field.  Frankly, in my teaching experience, many students (including the serious ones) continue to prefer the more traditional methods of teaching.  There is also this jadedness with regards to tech.  I wonder if 10 years down the road will we turn back and laugh at ourselves for going through all that trouble for so little, if any, benefit.