I was dismayed to recently encounter this headline in The New York Times: “Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality, U.N. Agency Says.” The Times story highlighted a UNESCO report that blamed overreliance on online learning during the pandemic’s early years for what it called “an ed tech tragedy.”
It’s part of a litany of accusatory reports and articles that put responsibility for the vast differences in academic performance between low-income students and their more affluent peers on ed tech. Also laid at ed tech’s doorstep have been the rise in student disengagement and the increase in student mental health problems. The scapegoating of technology and ed-tech companies has become a common response to the current educational inequities in the United States and worldwide, allowing researchers and policymakers alike to ignore the overarching and preexisting factors that widened an already acute problem, largely correlated to poverty.
In the rush to assign blame, many critics ignore the benefits students and teachers derived from using technology during the early months of the pandemic and since and fail to consider how much deeper the learning gaps might have been without the rapid and large-scale implementation of educational technology tools during this once-in-a-century crisis.
In retrospect, it seems clear that more should have been done to keep brick-and-mortar schools open. However, once the decision to close school buildings was made, educational technology tools were always going to be an integral part of the solution. The suggestion in UNESCO’s report that, in 2020, schoolwork packets or recorded classes delivered via radio or television would have been more equitable or engaging alternatives is risible.
Instead of laying blame, though, let’s commit to focusing on the real issues impacting students today and dedicate ourselves to closing the learning gaps that have persisted for decades. There is no doubt that a caring teacher will always be the most important element of any learning environment. Technology is a tool—a vital one—in every educator’s toolkit. What’s indisputable is that educational technology can empower teachers to deliver better learning outcomes.
Technology can and has reduced inequities in education, unleashing potential and providing new opportunities for millions of learners. Here are just a few examples:
School leaders across the world were faced with an urgent problem literally overnight: how to continue to educate millions of students, each with different home experiences, different learning needs, and varied technical capabilities. What we must do now is relentlessly innovate to ensure that each learner gets the opportunity to thrive using every available resource—dedicated teachers, high-quality curricula, and technology. We will continue to support teachers by providing high-quality educational solutions that empower them in physical or virtual classroom settings, saving them time to focus on what matters most—connecting with students to improve learning outcomes.
Ed tech is neither the villain nor the single answer to systemic problems in our educational environment. Ed tech, when properly implemented, helps teachers and benefits students.
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I was dismayed to recently encounter this headline in The New York Times: “Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality, U.N. Agency Says.” The Times story highlighted a UNESCO report that blamed overreliance on online learning during the pandemic’s early years for what it called “an ed tech tragedy.”
It’s part of a litany of accusatory reports and articles that put responsibility for the vast differences in academic performance between low-income students and their more affluent peers on ed tech. Also laid at ed tech’s doorstep have been the rise in student disengagement and the increase in student mental health problems. The scapegoating of technology and ed-tech companies has become a common response to the current educational inequities in the United States and worldwide, allowing researchers and policymakers alike to ignore the overarching and preexisting factors that widened an already acute problem, largely correlated to poverty.
In the rush to assign blame, many critics ignore the benefits students and teachers derived from using technology during the early months of the pandemic and since and fail to consider how much deeper the learning gaps might have been without the rapid and large-scale implementation of educational technology tools during this once-in-a-century crisis.
In retrospect, it seems clear that more should have been done to keep brick-and-mortar schools open. However, once the decision to close school buildings was made, educational technology tools were always going to be an integral part of the solution. The suggestion in UNESCO’s report that, in 2020, schoolwork packets or recorded classes delivered via radio or television would have been more equitable or engaging alternatives is risible.
Instead of laying blame, though, let’s commit to focusing on the real issues impacting students today and dedicate ourselves to closing the learning gaps that have persisted for decades. There is no doubt that a caring teacher will always be the most important element of any learning environment. Technology is a tool—a vital one—in every educator’s toolkit. What’s indisputable is that educational technology can empower teachers to deliver better learning outcomes.
Technology can and has reduced inequities in education, unleashing potential and providing new opportunities for millions of learners. Here are just a few examples:
School leaders across the world were faced with an urgent problem literally overnight: how to continue to educate millions of students, each with different home experiences, different learning needs, and varied technical capabilities. What we must do now is relentlessly innovate to ensure that each learner gets the opportunity to thrive using every available resource—dedicated teachers, high-quality curricula, and technology. We will continue to support teachers by providing high-quality educational solutions that empower them in physical or virtual classroom settings, saving them time to focus on what matters most—connecting with students to improve learning outcomes.
Ed tech is neither the villain nor the single answer to systemic problems in our educational environment. Ed tech, when properly implemented, helps teachers and benefits students.
sourceStop BlamiindiaStop BlamichinaStop BlamiusaStop Blami
CanadaStop BlamikuwaitStop BlamiAntigua and Barbuda
Stop BlamiArgentinaStop BlamiArmenia
Stop Blami
Australia
Stop BlamiAustria
Stop BlamiAustrian Empire*
Azerbaijan
Stop BlamiBaden*
Bahamas, The
Stop BlamiBahrain
Stop BlamiBangladesh
Stop BlamiBarbados
Stop BlamiBavaria*
Stop BlamiBelarus
Stop BlamiBelgium
Stop BlamiBelize
Stop BlamiBenin (Dahomey)
Stop BlamiBolivia
Stop BlamiBosnia and Herzegovina
Stop BlamiBotswana
Stop BlamiBrazil
Stop BlamiBrunei
Stop BlamiBrunswick and Lüneburg*
Stop BlamiBulgaria
Stop BlamiBurkina Faso
Stop BlamiBurma
Stop BlamiBurundi
Stop BlamiCabo Verde
Stop BlamiCambodia
Stop BlamiCameroon
Stop BlamiCanada
Stop BlamiCayman Islands, The
Stop BlamiCentral African Republic
Stop BlamiCentral American Federation*
Stop BlamiChad
Stop BlamiChile
Stop BlamiChina
China
Stop BlamiColombia
Stop BlamiComoros
Stop BlamiCongo Free State, The*
Stop BlamiCosta Rica
Stop BlamiCote d’Ivoire
Stop BlamiCroatia
Stop BlamiCuba
Stop BlamiCyprus
Stop BlamiCzechia
Stop BlamiCzechoslovakia*
Stop BlamiDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Stop BlamiDenmark
Stop BlamiDjibouti
Stop BlamiDominica
Stop BlamiDominican Republic
Stop BlamiDuchy of Parma, The*
Stop BlamiEast Germany German Democratic Republic*
Stop BlamiEcuador
Stop BlamiEgypt
Stop BlamiEl Salvador
Stop BlamiEquatorial Guinea
Stop BlamiEritrea
Stop BlamiEstonia
Stop BlamiEswatini
Stop BlamiEthiopia
Stop BlamiFederal Government of Germany *
Stop BlamiFiji
Stop BlamiFinland
Stop BlamiindiaStop BlamichinaStop BlamiusaStop Blami
CanadaStop BlamikuwaitStop BlamiAntigua and Barbuda
Stop BlamiArgentinaStop BlamiArmenia
Stop Blami
Australia
Stop BlamiAustria
Stop BlamiAustrian Empire*
Azerbaijan
Stop BlamiBaden*
Bahamas, The
Stop BlamiBahrain
Stop BlamiBangladesh
Stop BlamiBarbados
Stop BlamiBavaria*
Stop BlamiBelarus
Stop BlamiBelgium
Stop BlamiBelize
Stop BlamiBenin (Dahomey)
Stop BlamiBolivia
Stop BlamiBosnia and Herzegovina
Stop BlamiBotswana
Stop BlamiBrazil
Stop BlamiBrunei
Stop BlamiBrunswick and Lüneburg*
Stop BlamiBulgaria
Stop BlamiBurkina Faso (Upper Volta)
Stop BlamiBurma
Stop BlamiBurundi
Stop BlamiCabo Verde
Stop BlamiCambodia
Stop BlamiCameroon
Stop BlamiCanada
Stop BlamiCayman Islands, The
Stop BlamiCentral African Republic
Stop BlamiCentral American Federation*
Stop BlamiChad
Stop BlamiChile
Stop BlamiChina
China
Stop BlamiColombia
Stop BlamiComoros
Stop BlamiCongo Free State, The*
Stop BlamiCosta Rica
Stop BlamiCote d’Ivoire
Stop BlamiCroatia
Stop BlamiCuba
Stop BlamiCyprus
Stop BlamiCzechia
Stop BlamiCzechoslovakia*
Stop BlamiDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Stop BlamiDenmark
Stop BlamiDjibouti
Stop BlamiDominica
Stop BlamiDominican Republic
Stop BlamiDuchy of Parma, The*
Stop BlamiEast Germany
Stop BlamiEcuador
Stop BlamiEgypt
Stop BlamiEl Salvador
Stop BlamiEquatorial Guinea
Stop BlamiEritrea
Stop BlamiEstonia
Stop BlamiEswatini
Stop BlamiEthiopia
Stop BlamiFederal Government of Germany *
Stop BlamiFiji
Stop BlamiFinland
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