Tech fails to boost student grades
In this area, results have stagnated, despite $33 million being invested in laptops, software and interactive screens for classrooms.
In a technology-centric classroom, students are bent over laptops, some blogging or building Facebook pages from the perspective of Shakespeare's characters.
One student compiles a song list from the Internet, picking a tune by the rapper Kanye West to express the emotions of Shakespeare's lovelorn Silvius, says The New York Times.
The digital push here aims to go far beyond gadgets to transform the very nature of the classroom, turning the teacher into a guide instead of a lecturer, wandering among students who learn at their own pace on Internet-connected devices.
Since 2005, scores in reading and math have stagnated in Kyrene, according to ZDNet. Even as statewide scores have risen. To be sure, test scores can go up or down for many reasons. But to many education experts, something is not adding up - here and across the country.
In a nutshell, schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning.
And the district has banked its future and reputation on technology, says The Bulletin. Kyrene, which serves 18 000 kindergarten to eighth-grade students, mostly from the cities of Tempe, Phoenix and Chandler, uses its computer-centric classes as a way to attract children from around the region, shoring up enrollment as its local student population shrinks.
More students mean more state dollars. And the push for technology is to the benefit of one group: technology companies.
Share