Gadgets alone won't lift school performance in STEM

Conventional 21st century wisdom decrees that a laptop or a tablet is an essential tool for today's school students. Schools that supply such items or require parents to do so often get marked up in the eyes of conscientious parents choosing a school for their child. It is a sign the faculty is up with the times, equipping students with the skills they need for tomorrow's jobs. But reality can be different from the rosy picture of uncomplicated computer literacy parents imagine.

Along with positives, such as ditching the weight of heavy textbooks and the instant access to a cornucopia of knowledge, come the negatives: the lure of social media and video streaming competing for the attention of a teen during homework and in class and the eye-watering expense of replacing lost or damaged devices. It is a recipe for conflict at home and at school. Some parents and teachers curse the day the digital age reached the classroom and question its educational benefits.

One Sydney school, St Paul's Catholic College in Manly, is banning laptops for one day a week. The prestigious Sydney Grammar School has long had a more cautious approach to their use in classrooms. The latest research from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests caution is merited. Its analysis of test results of 15-year-olds from 64 countries found "no appreciable improvements in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science in the countries that had invested heavily in ICT for education". But caution was not what we got under federal Labor, which spent a whopping $2.4 billion to distribute laptops to year 9-12 high school students across the country. The money stopped in 2013, leaving schools to decide if or how they would continue digital access for students.

Advertisement Defenders of the Digital Education Revolution say it brought progress. Students from underprivileged areas got access to technology they would not have otherwise had. Schools got access to wi-fi and forged new connections with other schools to share ideas about how to best use the technology. And while the OECD report warns that using computers intensively in school is associated with significantly poorer student outcomes, it also found that limited use of computers is better than no computer at all. OECD education chief Andreas Schleicher notes that one interpretation of the failure of technology to deliver on its promised benefits is that "we have not yet become good enough at the kind of pedagogies" that make the most of it.

However, there are questions to be asked about the scale and timing of the Rudd-Gillard spendfest and about the opportunity cost of money splashed out on gadgets rather than on less flashy yet proven investments. And in the context of the new national imperative to improve our performance in STEM (science, technology engineering and maths), there are lessons to be learned. Let's get the basics right.

Half the principals in the State of the Schools survey released this week reported they had maths and science teachers in front of classes who were not fully qualified in their subjects. We need to attract the right people into STEM teaching, train them well, and keep training and supporting them in the classroom. A laptop is no substitute for good teaching.

e² Young Engineers News and Press Releases

This article has been read 576 times.

Would you like to own a e² Young Engineers Franchise?

For more information about becoming a e² Young Engineers Franchise owner, including a franchise overview, start-up costs, fees, training and more, please visit our e² Young Engineers Franchise Information page.