A reflection on Halverson and Collins’ Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology.

As a technology skeptic, who also understands that we are in the midst of the most profound tech revolution to disrupt not just education but society at large, Halverson and Collins speak to me in how they lay out the history of the pro and con side of technology in education[i].

 By laying out the point of view of the technology optimist, the authors as far back as 2009, identify different areas where technology has the potential and ability to change education. In 2017, their words have proven to be prescient. Online learning is expanding and gaming has become a mainstay of education across different educational settings[ii]. In addition, scaffolding and distance learning have become mainstays at the higher educational levels[iii] where they are main selling points in recruiting and retaining students. there is also a battle royal going on between all the  major technology companies; Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others to control the educational technology space.

While technology is gradually fulfilling the optimist’s utopia, significant problems as identified by Halverson and Collins still remain. Some of these include cost, the lack of training for instructors and the continued co-option and marginalization of technology by schools. The problem of solving primary access to technology to provide a 1:1 ratio of equipment to students has for the most part been solved[iv]. However, what is becoming increasingly clear, is the fact that, there is a second level technology divide which is increasing inequality contrary to the promise of technology in the educational and by extension, social realms[v].

In the end, while normally a skeptic, I do understand and appreciate the great promise of technology. This promise is being fulfilled in the continued democratization, expansion and access to education and information facilitated by technology since 2009 when the authors published this piece. In addition, I believe technology is slowly winning the battle to become a core functionality of education as argued by skeptics. However, as has been outlined by Cuban and numerous others, technology still faces a lot of challenges the least of which is the unintended expansion of the inequality gap it is exacerbating.

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[i] (Collins & Halverson, 2009)

[ii] (Allen & Seaman, 2017; Ho et al., 2014)

[iii] (Vlachopoulos & Makri, 2017)

[iv] (Dolan, 2015; Miller & Norris, 2016; Yelland & Neal, 2013)

[v] (Büchi, Just, & Latzer, 2016; Helsper, 2012; Meyers-Martin & Lampert, 2013; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010)