California’s Santa Ana School District, for example, credits a software program called DataDirector—which enables teachers to assess students’ skills, analyze the results, and deliver follow-up support that is customized to each student’s needs—with helping to raise the achievement of its ethnically diverse students. And West Seattle Elementary School special-education teacher Elizabeth Raymond attributes an average 40-point gain in her students’ math scores last year to their use of an adaptive software program called DreamBox Learning.
These are just two of the countless ed-tech success stories we’ve reported in the recent past. Still, the Times story is correct in noting the scarcity of scientifically valid evidence that proves technology’s pedagogical value without a doubt.
One reason there are few such empirical studies is because of the ethical dilemma this poses. (Imagine having your children’s education be the subject of a tightly controlled experiment, in which the teacher gives some students access to technology but not others. You can see how that would be problematic.) Another issue is that it’s hard to control for influences outside of the technology itself. But I would argue that’s the point: You can’t separate the technology from the rest of the learning process, because they are inextricably bound.
Technology can facilitate this learning process; it can open up new avenues for learning; it can provide teachers with useful information about their students, and it can point children to lessons geared toward their particular needs. It can do all of this in ways that are clearly superior to other resources or methods of instruction.
But technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum. For technology to have an impact on student achievement, schools also need sound teaching, strong leadership, fidelity of use, and a supportive culture, among other things.
In other words, technology can’t improve student outcomes by itself. Instead, it’s one of several elements that must work together in harmony, like a complex dance, to elicit results. Should it come as a surprise that test scores haven’t risen markedly in Kyrene, when the Times reported the district has had to cut several teaching positions in recent years? Who knows how much the district has invested in professional development, or tech support?
Give the Times credit for shedding light on the fact that too many districts are struggling even after investing heavily in technology—a reality that some ed-tech supporters don’t like to acknowledge. What’s more, the newspaper’s story should further dispel the myth that technology is a “silver bullet” that can magically overcome the problems plaguing U.S. public education—a narrative that ed-tech companies deserve blame for perpetuating.
But the Times got it wrong with regard to the central question it invited readers to consider. Instead of examining whether technology is worth schools’ investment, the newspaper should have focused on two other, more relevant questions: Why are so many districts that invest in technology still failing to see success? And, what are the conditions that best lead to ed-tech success?
This second question is easier to answer. Last year, an initiative called Project RED did an extensive analysis of the academic performance in school districts that have given laptops or other computing devices to every student. It found that success wasn’t guaranteed—but there were several factors the most successful districts had in common.
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