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Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
Home›Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech›K-12 Schools Need to Stop Wasting Money on Tech They Don’t Need

K-12 Schools Need to Stop Wasting Money on Tech They Don’t Need

By Matthew Lynch
April 13, 2018
3
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Our current academic model is falling very short of where learners will need to be in order to graduate with digital literacy. The K-12 schools across the nation are determined to help make up for this deficit by purchasing every piece of technology that comes their way. It is reassuring to see that so many teachers and administrators are dedicated to giving students the tools they will need in the real world upon graduation. Unfortunately, there is an underside to these noble intentions that could be doing more harm than good.

School budgets are notoriously underfunded. Administrators must constantly search for new ways to cut corners in the budget without sacrificing the integrity of the education for students. Compared to other countries, Americans do spend quite a bit on education each year. Just last year, the Department of Education budget proposed $139.7 billion on spending and reforms.

Many companies are taking advantage of this spending trend, marketing products that are referred to as edtech (short for education technology). However, K-12 schools are really spending way too much money on tech that isn’t necessary to teach students digital literacy. For example, one school district in Texas was responsible for $2.7 million in technology funding that was misspent.

What is the culprit behind all of the misspent money on edtech?

K-12 schools don’t always appreciate what type of technology they really need. They don’t attend industry conferences that help them to stay abreast of all the latest developments in technology.  This means that they can be easily swayed by representatives who do not have the students’ best interests in mind. Instead, they are only looking at how many sales they can make for their bottom line.

Administrators are also tempted to purchase by brand name when they are uneducated on the products themselves. This can lead to lots of technology that might be clunky for educators, too expensive for the district to truly afford, and ineffective for students. The brand name isn’t necessarily an indicator that technology is going to be right for K-12 schools.

One of the other key issues with edtech is that there are very few studies being done on the overall effectiveness of edtech interventions. This means that administrators can’t see what has produced better learning outcomes for students as a result of their purchases. While edtech has the potential to generate better grades and more educated students, K-12 schools don’t always think through their purchases to select items that are the best for students.

It’s a common misconception that simply having the technology available to educators will lead to more learning in the classroom setting. The availability of technology is not the problem. The real issue is that K-12 schools are spending far too much money on products that may or may not be the best choice based on the school’s current curriculum and student population.

K-12 schools need to do better at saving their budget for products that will truly contribute to the classroom experience. Edtech definitely deserves a small sliver of the budget, but the purchase needs to be thought through with care. We need to change the way money is frivolously spent to generate a façade of tech-savviness in the K-12 classroom and start focusing on actual change with more meaningful products.

 

 

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3 comments

  1. K-12 Schools Need to Stop Wasting Money on Tech They Don't Need | The Online Teachers Club 13 April, 2018 at 19:34 Reply

    […] K-12 Schools Need to Stop Wasting Money on Tech They Don’t Need  The Tech Edvocate (press release) (blog) […]

  2. Ron Abate 14 April, 2018 at 09:40 Reply

    I believe that ed tech programs should be developed at the highest organizational level. This means the superintendent with the advice of an expert in the field. Too many districts end up with a variety of hardware and software, usually due to the preference of one or more of their teachers. Also, educators should realize that we are dealing with a fluid resource and they may have to adapt to a changing environment.

  3. Tech. Tool #3: StickK – A More in-Depth Review – Melissa Blake ~ Education & Technology 30 March, 2019 at 16:06 Reply

    […] but far too many teachers and districts have fallen into the trap of being blinded by the novel and ignoring what’s effective. In this case, StickK does help achieve goals and is a case where technology is used to improve […]

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Since technology is not going anywhere and does more good than harm, adapting is the best course of action. That is where The Tech Edvocate comes in. We plan to cover the PreK-12 and Higher Education EdTech sectors and provide our readers with the latest news and opinion on the subject. From time to time, I will invite other voices to weigh in on important issues in EdTech. We hope to provide a well-rounded, multi-faceted look at the past, present, the future of EdTech in the US and internationally.

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