Giving Compass' Take:

• Edtech is useful for classrooms, but there are some things that teachers are capable of doing, that technology can not provide for students. 

•What does the best combination of education technology and teaching look like in the classroom?

• Read about how to support teachers in the digital age. 

We’re swimming in a world of technologies that have huge implications for the future of schooling.

Yet even with these technologies flooding into schools and classrooms, computers won’t be replacing teachers any time soon, and that’s why now, more than ever, teachers should be given the critical support they’re asking for in the classroom.

To illustrate this point, consider these three things educational technology can’t do.

  • Technology can’t … provide higher-order feedback Software is great for generating immediate, automated feedback on students’ mastery of basic knowledge and skills. But higher-order feedback falls outside its purview.
  • Technology can’t … get to know a student Software today can potentially access a lot of data about a student: home address, race and ethnicity, diagnosed learning disabilities, family income, attendance records, test scores, browser history, and even keystrokes and mouse clicks. But with all that data, can software really know a student?
  • Technology can’t … care about a student Where do students get the motivation to learn? At times motivation may come from pure intellectual curiosity. But more often than not, motivation comes from relationships.

But here’s the rub: while software can’t do the things listed above, neither can most teachers. For teachers, however, it isn’t a matter of capability, but a matter of capacity.

Caring about students isn’t constrained by time, but showing that you care is. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, most teachers’ days quickly fill up with planning lessons, writing quizzes, running copies, covering content, participating in staff meetings, and grading lower-order assignments; with little time left for many of the high-value activities described above.

This is why edtech is so important for teachers, in spite of all the things it can’t do.

Read the full article about what edtech can't do by Thomas Arnett at Christensen Institute.