Is EdTech Really The Bad Guy?

Al Kingsley MBE is CEO of NetSupport, Chair of a multi-academy trust in the U.K., tech writer, speaker & author of multiple education books.

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Over the past 20 years, student outcomes across the world have stagnated or declined—and this coincides with the time that edtech was introduced into schools. Meanwhile, governments are either considering or implementing restrictions on smartphones in schools and social media use for teens, while educators are struggling to keep up with generative AI tools that can complete homework and provide students with answers in seconds. With all these parallel discussions about technology now reaching fever pitch, many people are asking whether the answer is simply to take it out of schools altogether.

But this misses the point. Yes, smartphones and social media are distractions, but they are not edtech. And AI is something we all need to learn about for the future.

A Shaky Start

Back in the early days, edtech mistakes were made (you’ll no doubt remember the often quoted failed iPad project at LAUSD). Digital tools were often positioned as a solution to virtually guarantee students’ progress—and many schools rushed in, adding devices to their classrooms without enough thought dedicated to pedagogy, teacher training, cognitive science or the effect on students of looking at a screen all day. Many edtech vendors hadn’t considered these things either, and the result was a real mixed bag of solution quality.

From what I've seen in the industry, the technology that made lessons "fun" had appeal, but the resulting higher engagement had an insignificant impact on learning.

Thoughtful Edtech Use

These days, the industry is more aware of the importance of edtech solutions (and their application) being rooted in pedagogy, with the best solutions meeting standards set by bodies such as ISTE. Its ISTE Seal is only awarded to edtech products that have gone through a rigorous assessment process that specifically considers digital pedagogy, quality, accessibility and usability.

I've found that schools and educators have also shifted their mindset away from technology being at the center and leading education, to it playing a supporting role. It’s the pedagogy that comes first—and that means recognizing when it’s not appropriate to use technology in a class. This is an important change from the edtech-led classrooms of 20 years ago.

Curriculum Reset

What do students need for a tech-filled future? The answer is skills—and this means curricula need to change.

The strongest curriculum is one that teaches how to use technology intuitively, merging it with applying judgment, creativity, adaptability and resilience. Skills such as digital literacy and being aware of AI’s biases and untruths are on one side of the coin. On the other is the human skill set that includes problem-solving and communication, which will be vital in an increasingly automated employment market. Also important are independence and time management—along with the skills that help us to relate to each other, such as emotional intelligence and collaboration.

In practice, students should leave school in the future able to learn new tools quickly, think critically about information, collaborate well, and keep growing and learning as the digital world evolves.

How To Deliver It

Change is always challenging, but, often, it’s necessary. This is one of those times. We’ve reached a point where not getting on board with technology is not an option—for any of us.

Firstly, digital literacy skills are critical, and we should already be teaching them across the curriculum as standard. But most importantly for students is the need for relevance. The world is changing faster than it ever has. Politics, climate change, employment challenges posed by AI, the cost of living, migration, and food and water security are all set to be significant issues in upcoming decades. That’s why students need relevant, useful skills and the ability to apply their knowledge to tackle open-ended problems such as these.

But all this doesn’t happen by magic. Teachers desperately need training too—plus the time to practice with tech themselves and embed new thinking and skill delivery into their lesson materials. They need to feel comfortable and confident with edtech themselves to be able to build students’ digital capabilities effectively. This isn’t a revelation, but it still seems to be a sticking point in education systems across the world.

How To Assess It

Assessment is the next big issue. With AI and various tech devices that can aid cheating now in the mix, traditional exams are surely coming to the end of their shelf life.

Future assessment methods should be fair. If students learn and complete their work in digital environments, it makes no sense to then sit them in an exam hall with a paper and pen to discover what they can remember; we should already know this from an ongoing schedule of them demonstrating their knowledge through presentations, discussions, project work and more. In addition, we should be looking to assess the skills we now value in a tech-led world: creativity, problem-solving and communication. This means designing tests to gauge skills other than feats of memory recall.​

Moving From Talk To Action

So, is less edtech in schools the answer? It’s not a straight choice between keeping or removing it. The future is digital, and students must be equipped for that.

The way to find answers is to go back to the top to review what students need for life and how we can equip them with those skills. And then we must take action. Edtech itself is not to blame for our current woes; the persistence of sticking with an education system at odds with the modern world is where many of our problems lie.​

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