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"these tools limit what assessment looks like and penalize students based on flawed interpretations of learning."

"Young people are not viewed as complete human beings but as boxes checked for attendance, for meeting academic progress metrics, or for confirming their location within a school building."

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https://news.stanford.edu/report/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/11/antero-garcia-edited.mp3
Listen to the essay, as read by Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education.
As a professor of education and a former public school teacher, I've seen digital tools change lives in schools.

I've documented the ways mobile technology like phones can transform student engagement in my own classroom.

I've explored how digital tools might network powerful civic learning and dialogue for classrooms across the country - elements of education that are crucial for sustaining our democracy today.

And, like everyone, I've witnessed digital technologies make schooling safer in the midst of a global pandemic. Zoom and Google Classroom, for instance, allowed many students to attend classrooms virtually during a period when it was not feasible to meet in person.

So I want to tell you that I think technologies are changing education for the better and that we need to invest more in them - but I just can't.

Given the substantial amount of scholarly time I've invested in documenting the life-changing possibilities of digital technologies, it gives me no pleasure to suggest that these tools might be slowly poisoning us. Despite their purported and transformational value, I've been wondering if our investment in educational technology might in fact be making our schools worse.

Let me explain.

When I was a classroom teacher, I loved relying on the latest tools to create impressive and immersive experiences for my students. We would utilize technology to create class films, produce social media profiles for the Janie Crawfords, the Holden Caulfields, and other literary characters we studied, and find playful ways to digitally share our understanding of the ideas we studied in our classrooms.

As a teacher, technology was a way to build on students' interests in pop culture and the world around them. This was exciting to me.

But I've continued to understand that the aspects of technology I loved weren't actually about technology at all - they were about creating authentic learning experiences with young people. At the heart of these digital explorations were my relationships with students and the trust we built together.

"Part of why I've grown so skeptical about this current digital revolution is because of how these tools reshape students' bodies and their relation to the world around them."

I do see promise in the suite of digital tools that are available in classrooms today. But my research focus on platforms - digital spaces like Amazon, Netflix, and Google that reshape how users interact in online environments - suggests that when we focus on the trees of individual tools, we ignore the larger forest of social and cognitive challenges.

Most people encounter platforms every day in their online social lives. From the few online retail stores where we buy groceries to the small handful of sites that stream our favorite shows and media content, platforms have narrowed how we use the internet today to a small collection of Silicon Valley behemoths. Our social media activities, too, are limited to one or two sites where we check on the updates, photos, and looped videos of friends and loved ones.

These platforms restrict our online and offline lives to a relatively small number of companies and spaces - we communicate with a finite set of tools and consume a set of media that is often algorithmically suggested. This centralization of internet - a trend decades in the making - makes me very uneasy.

From willfully hiding the negative effects of social media use for vulnerable populations to creating tools that reinforce racial bias, today's platforms are causing harm and sowing disinformation for young people and adults alike. The deluge of difficult ethical and pedagogical questions around these tools are not being broached in any meaningful way in schools - even adults aren't sure how to manage their online lives.

You might ask, "What does this have to do with education?" Platforms are also a large part of how modern schools operate. From classroom management software to attendance tracking to the online tools that allowed students to meet safely during the pandemic, platforms guide nearly every student interaction in schools today. But districts are utilizing these tools without considering the wider spectrum of changes that they have incurred alongside them.

For example, it might seem helpful for a school to use a management tool like Classroom Dojo (a digital platform that can offer parents ways to interact with and receive updates from their family's teacher) or software that tracks student reading and development like Accelerated Reader for day-to-day needs. However, these tools limit what assessment looks like and penalize students based on flawed interpretations of learning.

Another problem with platforms is that they, by necessity, amass large swaths of data. Myriad forms of educational technology exist - from virtual reality headsets to e-readers to the small sensors on student ID cards that can track when students enter schools. And all of this student data is being funneled out of schools and into the virtual black boxes of company databases.

Part of why I've grown so skeptical about this current digital revolution is because of how these tools reshape students' bodies and their relation to the world around them. Young people are not viewed as complete human beings but as boxes checked for attendance, for meeting academic progress metrics, or for confirming their location within a school building. Nearly every action that students perform in schools - whether it's logging onto devices, accessing buildings, or sharing content through their private online lives - is noticed and recorded. Children in schools have become disembodied from their minds and their hearts. Thus, one of the greatest and implicit lessons that kids learn in schools today is that they must sacrifice their privacy in order to participate in conventional, civic society.

The pandemic has only made the situation worse. At its beginnings, some schools relied on software to track students' eye movements, ostensibly ensuring that kids were paying attention to the tasks at hand. Similarly, many schools required students to keep their cameras on during class time for similar purposes. These might be seen as in the best interests of students and their academic growth, but such practices are part of a larger (and usually more invisible) process of normalizing surveillance in the lives of youth today.

I am not suggesting that we completely reject all of the tools at our disposal - but I am urging for more caution. Even the seemingly benign resources we might use in our classrooms today come with tradeoffs. Every Wi-Fi-connected, "smart" device utilized in schools is an investment in time, money, and expertise in technology over teachers and the teaching profession.

Our focus on fixing or saving schools via digital tools assumes that the benefits and convenience that these invisible platforms offer are worth it.

But my ongoing exploration of how platforms reduce students to quantifiable data suggests that we are removing the innovation and imagination of students and teachers in the process.

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Technology might be making education worse

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Listen to the essay, as read by Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education.

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"Another negative effect stemming from this is the issue of a shortened attention span and distraction in the context of the classroom. Not only does the use of electronic devices give ample opportunity to just go on other apps or websites, it also is saturated with stimulation, notifications, and information. "

'The impacts of this phenomenon are very evident in elementary schools. Longer lessons and tasks are often unsuccessful because of distraction, or the way children are accustomed to processing information through technology; in “small, bite-sized pieces”, as described by Santa Maria College."

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Is Technology Ruining Schools? The Impact of Technology in Elementary School Classrooms

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Jan 29, 2024, by Magali Nichol - - It is difficult to define whether or not the inclusion of technology in elementary schools is positive or negative. There are many contrasting personal perspectives and scientific articles on the matter. Technology is an extremely resourceful, helpful and convenient tool. But to what point does this convenience genuinely help young students learn?

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"Technology use can be distracting in the classroom." (Under cons)

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The impact of technology in early childhood education

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Research shows more and more children are using technology. The question, therefore, isn’t if it should be used in the classroom but when and how.

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This entire source, so I will not be taking quotes out.

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Innovations in Education Integrating Technology in Elementary Education Program

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Modern elementary school students have grown up alongside technology, often discovering how to navigate the latest dev

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"Another contributing factor to students’ shortened attention span is that technology, in many cases, removes the need to pay attention at all. The ability to record, screenshot/take pictures of notes, or search up a concept only when it is needed makes students less likely to focus and understand the information being taught. As a result of this, when children learn through or with the heavy assistance of technology, the information tends to be consumed more than it is processed. "

"Technology is seen to limit critical thinking and creativity in school due to its immediate responsiveness. Not needing to reflect on prior knowledge or search for answers/solutions does not assist much in the development of cognitive skill. "

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is Technology Ruining Schools? The Impact of Technology in Elementary School Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jan 29, 2024, by Magali Nichol - - It is difficult to define whether or not the inclusion of technology in elementary schools is positive or negative. There are many contrasting personal perspectives and scientific articles on the matter. Technology is an extremely resourceful, helpful and convenient tool. But to what point does this convenience genuinely help young students learn?

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"Matt Dombrowski’s article explains that the various platforms, applications and formats made available to students through technology encourages them to express their ideas in a way that caters to their strengths. This aspect of technology can help promote individuality and can help keep students engaged in their learning. "

"Another important point brought up in this article is that technology provides resources to make learning accessible to more students. Digital applications can adapt to the needs of students with learning disabilities and can provide them with individualized help that would be otherwise unavailable in a standardized classroom setting. "

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is Technology Ruining Schools? The Impact of Technology in Elementary School Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jan 29, 2024, by Magali Nichol - - It is difficult to define whether or not the inclusion of technology in elementary schools is positive or negative. There are many contrasting personal perspectives and scientific articles on the matter. Technology is an extremely resourceful, helpful and convenient tool. But to what point does this convenience genuinely help young students learn?