Assignment One readings 1-22-17

In reading an article in the Washington Post titled "Technology won't fix America's neediest schools. It makes bad education worse" by Kentaro Toyama, the reader is given a contrasting perspective that differs from what most in the education field hear, technology didn't help improve education. The argument presented throughout the article is very practical as it builds off the assumption that technology really should only work off the present system and not try to re-invent the wheel as it takes much time and effort to support the technology used within the classroom. This includes having teachers and staff members knowledgeable about maintenance and programming, which in the education system is very slow growing from rural communities and schools, so only one person per school really has that expertise. The article just goes to show that the transition to relying on technological approaches to education takes awhile to transition In reading the second article for this assignment, which was titled "In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores" by Matt Richtel. The article talks about the continued transitional troubles that schools are facing with technology as we try to find a balance between the traditional styles of teaching, and the new innovations that are presented with the use of technological advances. Much of the trouble also comes with a shortage of quantitative proof that technological services within the classroom setting actually help improve learning retention and test scores. Many of the schools that were included within this article had declining test numbers even with an increase in technological assistance. Though the correlation is not believed to be a wide spread phenomenon, it does present an interesting chance for individuals to continue having an intellectual discussion/debate on where education needs to move forward/back to improve student learning. Personally I believe a balance between traditional practices and precision technology is the way to move to helping our students meet their greatest potential.