From Textbook to Tablets

I'm used to texbooks, whiteboards and flashcards. The most digitally forward thing at my elementary school was a computer game I was obsessed with called M&Ms: The Lost Formulas, with a goal to uncover the secret recipe behind the beloved chocolate candies.

But just because that's how I grew up, that doesn't mean it's the "right" way to learn. Everyone's got a different style. If the younger generation is growing up in a digitized world, doesn't it make sense that they would likely learn better that way?

I'm not a huge technology enthusiast—although I will admit I hinge on the convenience it provides—but when commercial interests get in the mix, I get angry. And that's exactly what I think the chief executive of Amplify Joel Klein has at heart with the classroom tablet takeover.

He stresses the following three points backing his tabletizing classroom theory:

1. "Plenty of research does indeed show that an individual student will learn more if you can tailor the curriculum to match her learning style, pace and interests; the tablet will help teachers do that." 
2. "Educators have not taken full advantage of students’ enthusiasm for the gadgetry that constitutes an important part of their experience.” 
3. "Teachers feel overwhelmed; they need tools to meet ever-increasing demands to show that their students are making progress."

Okay, these are fair points. But when school districts are budgeting $30 million for tablets over hiring teachers, we're proving the very threat that digital luddites have been preaching from the beginning: the robots are finally taking over. And author Carlos Rotella hits this idea home when he says: 

"...they struck me as exemplifying several dubious American habits now ascendant: the overvaluing of technology and the undervaluing of people; the displacement of face-to-face interaction by virtual connection; the recasting of citizenship and inner life as a commodified data profile; the tendency to turn to the market to address social problems." Preach, Carlos. 

The company does away with the reality that not every child has the Internet at their expense at every waking moment of the day. Tabletizing the classroom would perpetuate a huge disadvantage for students who do not have the Internet at home. Prioritizing tablets in classrooms over making sure every home has Internet access doesn't make a whole lot of sense. 

I'm not saying that every employee at companies like Amplify have corporate interests and intentions with their educational tools. As the article mentions, there are people working for these companies who are truly trying to enhance the educational experience. And to be honest, we'd be doing a disservice to our students if we didn't explore the possibilities that the digital age offers. But I do caution to be weary. Making sound financial decisions and investments in things over people may be seemingly progressive, but it will regress us all.