The number of initiatives to use more electronic devices and social and other media in education is difficult to ignore. Almost everyday new plans and new ideas pop up. With every new online tool, it is just a matter of time before articles are published on how to use the new tool in the classroom or how it will change education forever, again.

I want to take a look at the reasons why you should implement computers, smartphones, video, and all those tools. I would like to make a distinction between what I believe to be possible wrong thinking from possible right thinking. The first list will sound negative, but please do read on, as I will end on several clearly positive notes.

One of the weakest arguments I have come across is the novelty aspect, luckily not the most heard reason. Why is this weak as an argument? Simply because novelty wears off. Quite often you can hear very positive reactions when something is implemented at the start, but it’s much more important to look at the outcomes on the long term. Are they still so happy about it?

Another argument more often heard and read is that because young people use so much internet and technology in their daily lives, they expect the same thing from their schools. In actual fact, there is some research that really contradicts this, e.g. this report by the Canadian Higher Education Strategy Associates.

From my own research I’ve learned that young people tend to dislike the fact that elements of their informal lives are being used for educational purposes. It doesn’t mean they don’t use Facebook for school, actually they do. But there is a huge difference between having your teacher tell you to use it as opposed to just discussing school online with your class mates.

A third flawed reason is the argument that using technology in the classroom is more effective. The comparison of different meta-researches in “Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement” published by John Hattie’s in 2009 again contradicts the belief that instruction through technology is more effective.

But is this a reason not to use everything ‘e’ and ‘i’ in education? No, not at all! I believe there are several good reasons to use technology in education. Our present world is dominated by technology. Schools need to prepare their pupils for this world and society in the future, so ICT and media need to be a part of the curriculum and school context of every pupil. Technology can also help to visualise content in a way that never has been possible before. Augmented reality app’s who can show the working powers on a bridge, how insightful can something become?

Also the flipped classroom idea can benefit a number of different topics or goals. Videos in which teacher experts explain and the teacher coaches can be helpful for several topics. What is important in this case is for the people in the videos to be not only experts in the field, but also expert in how to translate their expertise to pupils.

Technology won’t change education, it’s the way in which we use technology that can possibly alter how we educate. It can be painful to see how expensive digital boards are being used as traditional beamers. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) in the classroom can provide pupils with an opportunity to look up and construct knowledge, to experiment and to broaden the classroom to a bigger world. But if they are merely a replacement for classical textbooks with some animations – then nothing will change! So, the good news for us teachers is that it’s up to us! (thanks to Sally Reynolds to correct my English)