The great disenchantment: Does edtech help kids learn?

Schools have spent billions of dollars on edtech in the last 15 years with "minimal" evidence it's helping students learn more, writes Meredith Coffey in Education Next.

"As many as 99 percent of teachers work at schools that provide laptops or tablets to K–12 students, who then spend a daily average of 98 minutes on screens at school, navigating a jaw-dropping average of 48 unique digital tools annually," Coffey writes. "Yet academic achievement continues its freefall, because, all too often, districts fork over millions for learning tech without clear purpose, teachers don’t know how or why to use the tools foisted upon them, and kids are gaming and scrolling YouTube Shorts during class."

When school buildings closed in the spring of 2020, "teachers and students had no choice but to rely on devices for remote learning," she writes. There was no going back when schools reopened.

Half of teachers said “their school’s core curriculum required students to work online,” according to a recent survey, Coffey writes. Yet training in how to use new technology can be sketchy, and many teachers say they're not sure why new digital tools were adopted.

In surveys, teachers say that laptops and tablets are "a major source of distraction." Some tell her that edtech is used for "babysitting."

Coffey wants schools to teach students how to do online research and how to protect personal information. Schools also need to set a clear policy on ethical AI use, she writes. "If schools choose to ban all AI use, they’ll need to back up that policy by accepting only pen and paper submissions."