U.S. schools aren’t smart enough in utilizing their smart devices, according to a report by Center for American Progress. Although schools spend a lot of money to acquire digital devices, they aren’t checking the return-on-investment they’re getting.
The report says that these expensive smart devices are used mostly for simple stuffs, such as watching a movie or video in a science class. Very few students are exposed to use smart devices for advanced tasks, such as solving math problems on spreadsheet or statistical software. Most students aren’t “getting the hands-on STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—experiences that they need to succeed” either. The problem rises further in case of students from low-income families.
The problem lies in the fact that most schools don’t have key learning goals set for these technical expenditure. States aren’t looking into the matter either. The return-on-investment from such expenditure in public schools is often not calculated.
The Center for American Progress believes that the situation is not helping increase educational quality and is increasing the digital divide between poor students and better-off students. The institute proposes some measures to improve the situation. These include –
- More effort from policymakers to ensure that technology promotes key learning goals.
- The digital divide must be addressed by schools.
- Cost-effectiveness of technology should be pushed further.
You can download the full report (PDF) from here.
Source: CAP
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