Cyber-education and Silicon Snake Oil

At the height of the NBN Controversy, the Cyber-education component was often an afterthought, although it was probably every bit as wasteful and overpriced. Public statements of officials supporting the project seem to assume that slapping computer technology onto the classroom setting automatically translates into a better learning experience.

Clifford Stoll, (yes, computer security expert and hacker-buster Clifford Stoll) has been warning us of technology overhype and misapplication for years. His thoughts (compressed below) on computers and education, culled from experience in US schools, are particularly apt:

1. Computers and related equipments tend to get stolen. Unlike workbooks, these equipments have considerable value, and public schools are difficult to secure.
   
2. Some lessons (i.e. handwriting) require the kind of contact and commitment that remote links just can't inspire.
   
3. Discipline is difficult to implement.
   
4. Answers culled from databases or the World Wide Web are too simplistic, and tend to limit capacity for independent critical thought
   
5. Computers are expensive, and quickly become obsolete.
   
6. Computers break down in ways that neither teacher nor student can fix on the spot.
   
7. When computers do work, they're tough to teach with (try talking to students who have computers on their desks, competing for their attention)
   
8. Just because the children enjoy it, doesn't mean it engages their mind.
   

 

In short: our schools face serious problems like overcrowded classrooms, teacher incompetence, and lack of security. Computers address none of these problems, and buying more of them could drain the budget which could be better used for books, teacher training, and more classrooms. In the end, there's no substitute for a good, fired-up teacher who's there.