Planning School Upgrades? Remember Teacher's Experience & Expertise Affect Usefulness Of Education Technology

In a bid to better service students, schools may look to education technology for upgrades and improvements. Having updated computers, software, apps and other machines could aid and provide students an ideal environment for learning.

But according to an expert, school programs with the latest education technology will not suffice in helping the students if the teacher handling these doesn't have the experience and expertise. Stephen Newton wrote on EdSurge News that sometimes this factor is overlooked whenever school upgrades or evaluation studies of the programs that use these tools are pursued.

Newton underscored that more efficient teachers make use of education technology to personalize the programs in school. They knew how to incorporate the tools in their lessons plans.

Schools cannot expect that students will gain something from simply sitting in front of a full-featured computer, for example, and do their tasks with the most advanced software. They cannot maximize its use without the proper guidance from a well-versed teacher.

Newton also pointed out that efficient teachers using education technology will always have a better grasp of the tools and how these can best help the students. They have logs, notes and records to show the results. On the flipside, these logs, notes and records will also reveal who among the teachers are having difficulties in using the very same tools.

Newton suggests that school leaders must then consider the teacher factor in evaluating a program's effectivity. The teacher factor could also help start-ups and companies who study, develop and create the devices and apps.

Education technology is not cheap and it takes time to measure how this could bring positive outcomes to learning to prove that it is not a waste of investments, according to Samsung Insights. But a teacher using education technology will always impact the students, so school leaders should always remember to consider them.