Focus on computers could cut intoteaching of basic subjects
BY KEITH BONNELL
Vancouver Sun: 2008 February 27
http://tinyurl.com/2w7q8s
Filling classrooms with computers doesn’t seem to be making students any smarter and may actually be harming the education of younger children, suggests a new report.
The analysis questions the millions of dollars being spent each year by school boards across the country to ensure elementary and high school students have access to the best technology.
Released by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy think- tank, it cites several studies — including an international review that found students with less access to computers actually earned higher grades in math, reading and science.
The report was penned by Manitoba high school teacher Michael Zwaagstra, who has first- hand knowledge of the ways computers are changing classrooms.
“ More computer access does not automatically mean a better education,” Zwaagstra said Tuesday after teaching a class in Grunthal, Man., about 65 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.
Zwaagstra says the push to make students computer- literate could come at the cost of teaching kids basic subjects like reading by cutting into class time.
“ I’m not a Luddite trying to say there shouldn’t be any computers anywhere,” said the 32- year- old. “ I’m just simply issuing a call for some balance.”
His main concerns are not for high school students, but for children in Grade 1 or Grade 2.
He questioned how much sense it makes to teach young elementary school students to use computers and software that inevitably will be obsolete in a few years.
“[ Students’] time would be better spent getting a solid grasp of the basics — such as reading and mathematics,” the report said.
Manitoba spends more than $ 26 million annually on information technology in schools. Ontario offers school boards $ 60 per high school pupil that can be spent on computer hardware, software and other technology services. Boards are offered $ 46 for each elementary student.
Zwaagstra, whose report focused on Manitoba, said the money could instead be spent on capital costs for schools and more teachers.
The Manitoba government says its schools integrate computers into their lesson plans.
“ We have a balanced approach to our curriculum, and we see information technology as one of those basic skills for students,” said Darryl Gervais, a government coordinator of instruction, curriculum and assessment.
Manitoba expects school divisions to spend $ 32.3 million on computer equipment, services and salaries for related personnel in the 2007- 08 budget year.
The Zwaagstra report cites a 2004 analysis by a pair of University of Munich economists.
They looked at the OECD Program for International Student Assessment, which tests 15- yearold students in dozens of countries, including Canada.
The review found that when variables such as household income were taken into account, students with the most access to computers at home and at school had lower scores in math, reading and science than students with less computer access. It concluded that while moderate computer use was beneficial, excessive access had a negative impact on students.
“ We must not delude ourselves into thinking that more computer use increases academic achievement,” writes Zwaagstra.
One expert says that if there is a problem adapting classrooms to technology, it’s the lack of funding for teachers’ professional development.
“ It’s not the computer that makes kids smarter or not smarter, it’s what they’re doing with the technology,” said Don Herbert Krug, a professor of curriculum studies at the University of B. C.
