Is technology in the classroom worth the investment?

Over the past few years schools in America have invested billions to acquire the latest technologies in order to increase test scores and enhance the learning experience. In a NYTimes article by Matt Richtel one school district in Chandler, Arizona invested 33 million dollars’ in technology in the classroom only to see test scores stagnate in an effort to improve basic learning skills (See graph). While most educators would agree that technology enhances the classroom experience, there is actually little proof to show that educational technologies make students smarter. This is the one billion dollar question; if you can't quantify whether technology improves a student’s education, how do you justify its investment?

My own school has invested much in one to one computers, interactive boards and online textbooks in an effort to improve student’s growth in the classroom. The jury is still out on its effectiveness in the classroom but it certainly has made teaching more fun. In fact, as a teacher almost everything I do in the classroom is in some way or another connected the computer. On the rare days the internet goes down, or we lose power the learning process virtually shuts down. Now, I do not propose we go back to chalk boards and writing essays out in long hand but there is certainly something to say about traditional education that is free and separate from 21^st century technology.

Matt Richtel goes on to point out in another NYTimes article that employees of Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlet-Packard send their children to schools that do not use computers. Here you have some of the most computer savvy people in the country that believe (whether right or wrong) that a computer-free education has more value than a computer obsessed one. Simply food for thought, but there is something to be said about balancing technology in the classroom with traditional learning modules.