Educational technology: What do edtech advocates want?
Do they want what is best for students? Do they want what is best for teachers? After an analysis of over 50 edtech company and organization websites, my only conclusion is that they want to create an educational agenda that will make educators dependent on technology. It is a form of a Marshall plan for a system that doesn’t need one: at least not the shape theirs seems to be taking. One does the system need? Simple. Higher pay for teachers! 20% of teachers drop out after one year; 50% within five years. In the year 2000, educational technology was already a staple in our culture, yet 5 years later, it has not improved the lot of teachers, not of students either. Who is kidding whom? The edtech people are either real life challenged or tools of corporations as are many members of the medical profession who take their guidance from pharmaceutical companies. When teachers are given messages that their priority should be finding optimal technical solutions, they throw up their hands in frustration: the problem is respect and dignity. How many teachers are treated as pariahs in the affluent neighborhoods in which they teach? Are you one of them?
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