A large German study of computer use in schools found that computers were overused in the early grades, and not used well enough in higher grades, like high school.
The study also found that students who spent too much time on the computer had LOWER reading and math scores. This does not surprise me, as it is entirely too easy to waste time, mostly on the Web, and parents and teachers have been too quick to assume that any time on the computer is good time.
I've had many opportunities to observe K12 technology use for a decade, and I continue to see two big problems.
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First, as I noted above, there is this almost religious assumption that kids can use computers and technology better than the adults supervising them. This is utter nonsense. They are kids, and they need guidance and direction in their work activities. Teachers, parents, and school administrators are abrogating their responsibilities when they repeat things like, "Kids know a lot more about computers than we do." Kids may be more facile manipulating the interface, but it does not mean they have learned anything meaningful, like how to add, subtract, or write a grammatically correct sentence. It also does not mean they know how computers and the internet works, although I run into adults all the time who also make this grossly incorrect assumption.
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Second, I have yet to find a school that has a thoughtful and meaningful definition for what I call "technological competency." I've written about this before--our schools teach our kids to do use Word and PowerPoint. These skills-directed curriculums reward the wrong things and teach the wrong things. The ability to use PowerPoint says NOTHING about your competency to stand up in front of a group and give a thoughtful and informed talk using presentation software. There are lots of software that can be used to make presentations. Some products are better than PowerPoint. Our kids need to learn how to give a talk, which is very different than knowing which buttons to click to put a heading on a page.
Computer use in the schools is a big mess. Teachers don't get adequate training, they don't have the right equipment in the classroom (e.g. an LCD projector), they lack adequate tech support, and they don't have, most of the time, appropriate teaching materials.
I see too many parents who simply count the number of computers in the school and make the incorrect assumption that if there is a computer in the classroom, their kids are getting the appropriate instruction. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The final tragedy is that our schools are sucking huge amounts of our tax dollars for technology that is either not used at all or used in inappropriate ways. It's an outrage.