Technology Negatively Impacts Student Learning, According To New Research

The use of iPads and laptops in classroom settings may not be as useful as we think.  According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey on 15-year-old students across Europe, technology can lower a student's educational performance.

The firm gathered the data with Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) and analyses Government policies to boost access to technology for students and teachers in the classroom. Teachers who have access to technology have more positive results:

In some countries, adding one teacher computer per classroom had more than 10 times the impact on improving educational performance of adding a student computer to that same classroom.

Allowing students access to e-books, tablet computers, and laptops during class significantly lowered their educational performance, according to the report. It's not all bad news though. The results only evaluate the presence of hardware in the classroom and not the benefits of the software.The research finds that technology supports students outside of school but inside the classroom, it's an issue.

The study found that students learning abilities do not reflect their social economic status. A students "mindset" is key to performance abilities, according to the research. The results indicate that students from working-class backgrounds were focused on perfecting their tasks and students from upper class or affluent areas had poor motivation.

In terms of teaching practices, the results indicate that "inquiry-based teaching" works best. In this example, the teacher would lead the demonstrations of scientific ideas, discuss questions and lead classroom discussions. According to the Mc Kinsey research, this type of education would increase test scores across Europe.

The changes to the current Junior Cert will reflect these teaching practices in order to improve student learning.