New OECD Report Slams Computers And Says Why They Can Hurt Learning: It’s all about the pedagogy

My PhD advisor, Elliot Soloway, considers a new report on the value of computers in education, and gets to the bottomline.  To swipe a line from Bill Clinton, “It’s the pedagogy, stupid!”  Of course, I agree with Elliot, and it’s why Lecia Barker’s findings are so disturbing.  We have to be willing to change pedagogy to improve learning.

The findings are the findings, but what is really interesting is a statement that Andreas Schleicher, the director of OECD, made as to why the impact of technology is negative. In the foreword to the OECD report, he writes, “…adding 21st century technologies to 20th century teaching practices will just dilute the effectiveness of teaching.”WOW! In this one sentence, Schleicher names clearly what he sees as the root cause of the lack of technology’s impact on student achievement. While the NYT’s articles danced around the issues, Schleicher doesn’t pull any punches: The reason computers are not having a positive impact lies in the use of outmoded teaching practices that do not truly exploit the opportunities that a 1-to-1 classroom affords.

Source: New OECD Report Slams Computers — and Actually Says Why They Can Hurt Learning — THE Journal