We’re very used to viewing technology in education as a way to replace teachers, or as something “modern”—whether to communicate with students or to show their parents or the community that the institution (or school district) is up to date.

Technology in education is rarely seen as capable of teaching and learning things that would not be possible without it.

 

In what situations does technology offer an alternative way to teach?

Over the past decade, in higher education, we have seen distance learning as a major force for cost reduction by cutting back on faculty teaching hours, which were replaced by structured content and tutors. On the other hand, this low-cost model of education has opened up opportunities for students who lived far from major urban centers, who had less money to invest in their education, who had stopped studying after high school, and who were already at a stage in life where they had to balance their studies with work, children, elderly parents, and household chores, among other responsibilities.

In Basic Education, however, since the number of in-person class hours could not be changed, technology was introduced to demonstrate modernity: school administrators and mayors liked to showcase the equipment to their communities, highlighting investments in a modern education system, and a very strong argument in favor of these investments was that technology would motivate students to learn more and better, since it utilized a language with which young people were already familiar.

All of these examples—even though they have brought about changes in the way we teach and learn, and have provided new segments of the population with access to higher education—point to strategies for students to learn traditional curricula through technology: higher education courses have shown that it is possible to learn through structured content and tutoring, and this strategy has proven so effective that the acceptance of distance learning courses has only grown over the years—even among students who do not need to rely on them due to cost, geography, age, or the need to manage other life circumstances.

In Basic Education, students have opportunities to use technology in fixed or mobile computer labs, with software designed to help them learn specific subjects (math, reading, writing, ENEM practice tests, among others), under the guidance of regular teachers.

That’s when teachers start to wonder if these resources are actually better than their own lessons. This question is, in fact, a legitimate one: can software teach better than a good teacher? Possibly, yes, but not always—not to mention that attending class with a good teacher and interacting with classmates is usually such a positive experience that it shouldn’t be replaced without a good reason.

In what situations does technology open up learning opportunities that would be impossible without it?

The question of whether teachers are better or worse than technology, or whether technology can replace a teacher, only makes sense when we’re talking about curriculum content. However, when it comes to the need to prepare for a technological world and the development of essential skills that we can only learn through technology, this dichotomy ceases to exist.

Math, Reading, ENEM Skills, History, Science, and Philosophy can be perfectly developed in an offline environment, without any technology. Software may offer incremental improvement (or not even that). On the other hand, learning to type and use editing tools, work with spreadsheets, communicate in different digital spaces, reflect on the implications of social media on our political life, or conduct relevant research in unstructured environments are essential skills for any citizen in today’s world—skills that cannot be learned without technology. It may seem that young people learn all of this on their own, but that is not true either. They need access to technology and specific guidance to develop these skills—and schools must take on this task if they want to prepare students for the world in which they will have to work and live.

We already live in a world where we’ll have to learn throughout our lives—whether by doing quick online searches or taking short or long courses—to ensure we stay up to date, are able to advance in our careers, or even make a career change. This applies to all professionals, not just those with advanced degrees. Schools and universities need to help students conduct independent research, communicate respectfully with others across different media, discover the skills they need to develop, and identify the best way to do so. They need to understand when students learn best through self-directed learning and when human support is essential for their development. They also need to help students work collaboratively, both in person and remotely, sometimes in different languages.

Increasingly, learners of all ages and at every stage of their education and career will need to demonstrate autonomy in learning and know how to seek out what they need. The ability to persevere in achieving a variety of goals will be increasingly valued. So will the ability to contribute to group projects. Since this will be necessary for all of us, throughout our lives, it’s best to start now. And all of this is only possible with technology. Even the best school and the best teacher cannot contain and impart all the knowledge an individual will need to learn throughout their life. The best approach is for them to teach students to develop strategies for lifelong, autonomous learning (which does not mean learning alone), using technological resources as spaces to put these skills into practice.

If the focus of education is to prepare students for lifelong learning, it makes no sense at all to debate whether machines are better than teachers or whether teachers will be replaced. After all, only when machines, teachers, and students work together can we achieve the goal of always learning and always growing—even in unpredictable circumstances—which is the world we live in today.

 

Learn more about the author:

 

Did you like this content? Share it on your social media: