There Are No Silver Bullets in Ed Tech

• By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
• 08/17/15

Techies have a penchant for hyperbole. That sentence is indeed an example! Techies are sooooo clever. 

Elliot: (giggles childishly) 

Cathie: (moans audibly) 

Following out that penchant, we googled “revolution” followed by various educational technologies. One sample search was "revolution iPads education," and as you might expect, these searches yielded some provocative headlines and quotes.

Let’s start with laptops. Maine was the first state to jump in with both feet when, in 2002, “Angus King, then Maine’s governor … pushed the $10- to $11-million-a-year program through a reluctant legislature.” He predicted: "'I think we're going to demonstrate the power of one-to-one [laptop] access that's going to transform education ... the economic future will belong to the technologically adept.'" Half a world away, in 2008, New South Wales, Australia, created the Digital Learning Revolution NSW to “…provide laptops to all public high school students in years 9–12….”

Not all states/cities/districts/schools could afford to purchase laptops for their students. BYOD to the rescue! In 20009, laptops were the predominant non-desktop computing device — the iPad wasn't introduced until 2010 — so the "D" in BYOD effectively meant laptops. Some classrooms allowed iPods — clean your glasses, that’s an “o” — but those classrooms were a minor blip in BYOD. BYOD brought millions of laptops into U.S. classrooms.

Concurrently with the rise of laptops, interactive whiteboards came on the scene — like gangbusters! In 2006, an academic article that examined the impact of IWB use in British classrooms wondered whether the new tech might lead to a “learning revolution?" The little “?” speaks volumes. In 2009 a book of tips for using IWBs in the classroom was published. Its title? The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution: Teaching with IWBs.

After the pervasive distribution of IWBs in British and US schools came the next revolution: the iPad!

Here are some articles proclaiming this particular revolution:

• From a Jan. 2012 article "Apple's Announcements Further iPad Revolution in Education": “Apple already revolutionized education when it invented the iPad.”
• From a Sep. 2012 article, "The iPad Revolution: How Learning Will Never Be the Same Again": “Using an iPad is incredibly intuitive … They’re perfect for children because of their simplicity … there’s a tablet for everyone and in the not too distant future they’re bound to be a standard feature in schools and offices around the world.”
• From an October 2012 article, "The iPad Mini Could Spur an Education Revolution": “The tablet … that really means the iPad … could be the tool that finally makes the difference. And the new iPad mini could greatly accelerate the trend …. Google does not appear to be taking on a leadership role in education.”
• And then two years later, we were promised "A 1:1 iPad Education Revolution."

But there appears to be a rotten apple in the barrel (Elliot: Sorry, I just can't resist a cheap shot!) 

• By August 2014 at least one pundit proclaimed, "The iPad Education Revolution Stalls Out."
• That same month, we saw the headline "Chromebooks to Break Out of US Schools: Netbook 2.0 Comeback not Just for Children." The key quote here was “… demand for Chromebooks is mainly driven by the American education sector … 85 per cent of Chromebook sales in 2013. North America accounted for 2.9 million Chromebooks sold during 2013…”
• By the last two months of 2014, the new revolution was well underway: "Google’s Chromebooks Rule Schools As IDC Pegs Them As Top Sellers In K-12"; "Chromebooks Outsell iPads – in Education, at Least"; and"Google's Chromebook Is Killing The iPad In One Key Market."

And here is why Chromebooks are education’s new device of choice, apparently: Chromebooks Are Cheap, Fast, Secure and Work Well. As the article says, "Really, what more do you need for your classroom computer?" Really? REALLY? From an IT perspective perhaps the author is correct. But who rules the roost in schools? IT? What about that thing called "pedagogy"?

Over the last 20 years, techies have continuously promised a revolution in K-12 education as a function of laptops, IWBs, iPads, and most recently, Chromebooks. Before we get to the NEXT REVOUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY there is another article title from way back in 2011 that is … interesting: "Research Says… One-to-One Laptop Programs Are No Silver Bullet."

Actually, the article should be entitled "Research Will Say… [Fill in the Latest Hot Technology] Is No Silver Bullet."

Elliot: BUT, BUT, smartphones are cheap, prevalent and oh-so-cool!! And those wonderful 3D printers: OMG OMG!!

Cathie: Perhaps you missed that last paragraph, so I'll repeat it: "Research Will Say… [Fill in the Latest Hot Technology] Is No Silver Bullet."

Elliot: OH, OH, IT HURTS!!!

Cathie: Oh please….