Tech works

A recent meta-analysis of education technology suggests that, overall, technology can improve student outcomes. But, not surprisingly, the effects are small, because any meta-analysis is going to look at both good uses of tecnology and bad ones.

As a writeup in eSchoolsNews explains:

When implemented carefully–with adequate attention paid to training, support, and evaluation–technology has been found to have a significant positive impact on student learning across all areas of the curriculum, according to a new report. So, why do critics of educational technology still decry the billions of dollars being spent on ed tech in schools across the nation? For one thing, many educators have “miscalculated” the difficulty of implementing technology effectively, the report says–and ed-tech advocates also might have “over-promised” their ability to deliver a learning return on their investment.

Once again, we see the importance of careful study of how and why new technologies can improve learning, so we understand whether and how schools need to change to accomodate new tools for learning.