If you ever wondered how scarce educational dollars are all too often wasted on foolish technology purchases all you need to do is continue to not look at the research. As soon as you read above statement you immediately thought I made a mistake and should have stated that all you need to do is look at the research. You would be right from a grammatical perspective that I meant to say “look at the research” but the emphasis I am trying to make is that there is overwhelming evidence that almost 90% of educational leaders are making technology purchases without looking at the research.
Dr. Michael Kennedy, an associate professor at the University of Virginia along with a team of thirteen researchers at the Edtech Research Efficacy Symposium in 2017 asked 515 educational leaders from 17 states the following question:
When making purchasing and/or adoption decisions regarding a new technology-based product (assume for academic instruction) for your district or school, how important is the existence of peer-reviewed research to back the product?
It is important to note that the survey participants were categorized as, 24 percent district technology supervisors, 22 percent assistant superintendents, 7 percent superintendents, 27 percent teachers, and 10 percent principals. Equally important is that 75 percent of this group were directly responsible for EdTech purchases for their school or were consulted on purchase decisions.
Only 11 percent of these decision-makers listed research being in place to confirm the efficacy of the product they were planning to purchase. In contrast what was rated “extremely important” or “very important” were the prioritized factors of ‘fit’ for their school, price, functionality, and alignment with district initiatives. This should be extremely concerning to parents, most teachers, and taxpayers who are funding our educational system. If technology supervisors, superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, and select teachers are making decisions on what technology to purchase that doesn’t include support for its effectiveness in the learning environment then they should be held accountable when it doesn’t work.
Unfortunately, the research which so many of these leaders are willing to ignore shows that that technology all too often doesn’t make a difference or worse it can hinder learning:
…students who use computers very frequently at school do a lot worse in most learning outcomes, even after accounting for social background and student demographics (OECD 2015, p. 5).
This not new research. On the contrary, we have known for a very long time that just adding technology to the classroom does not have any significant impact on learning. In the early 1990’s Thomas Russell and several other researchers pointed to the results of a meta-analysis of the research into technology use in distance education and found that there is no difference between technology-based instruction or classroom instruction (1999).
I must be very clear that I am not opposed to using computers, smartphones, tablets or any other technology to enhance learning. I would challenge you to find a bigger user and proponent of the effective use of technology to enhance learning. The key is to focus on the learning first and then look to technology to further enhance and amplify the learning environment and the learning experience. We also have to be careful that we don’t just try to bolt technology onto an antiquated classroom that emphasizes the 19th-century information transfer model of standardized curriculum and testing which research as also shows doesn’t enhance learning. That OECD (2015) report I referred to earlier also suggest that:
Technology can support new pedagogies that focus on learners as active participants with tools for inquiry-based pedagogies and collaborative workspaces. For example, technology can enhance experiential learning, foster project-based and inquiry-based learning pedagogies, facilitate hands-on activities and cooperative learning (p. 6)
The OECD (2015) report also pointed to John Hattie’s research into what contributes to student achievement and confirms that:
Computers were more effective when they are used to extend study time and practice, used to give students control over the learning situation (pacing of material) and when used to support collaborative learning (p. 163).
Technology is a potentially powerful tool that should be used to enhance creation, collaboration, inquiry, investigation, communication. Ideally we want to give our learners choice ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. Technology helps us to do this more effectively. We need to make our technology purchases based on research and the research shows that we aren’t doing this.
The fact that most of our educational leaders are making technology purchases based on price, fit, or other factors that support their confirmation bias we should not be surprised when the Ed Tech industry ignores the research. They don’t need to support their product claims with evidence or research because it is clear that they can sell their products without it. All they need to do is have a well-tuned sales pitch and a good salesperson that will give these educational leaders just what they think is important or what want.
Are you part of the 11 percent that is using research to make informed decisions about your technology purchases that will enhance learning. Or are part of 89 percent that is ignoring the research and potentially ignoring the learning?
References
Kennedy, M. (2017) Role of federal funding and research findings on adoption and implementation of technology-based products and tools. Edtech Research Efficacy Symposium. Retrieved from http://symposium.curry.virginia.edu//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Goals-and-Roles-of-Federal-Funding-for-EdTech-Research_FINAL-1.pdf
OECD (2015), Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264239555-en
Russell, T. L. (1999). The no significant difference phenomenon: A comparative research annotated bibliography on technology for distance education: As reported in 355 research reports, summaries and papers. North Carolina State University.
