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What do you think of the OECD report on technology in education?

Posted 11 years ago

The OECD has just released a report on the success (or otherwise) of technology in education, at least in terms of PISA results.

This report is now being being widely quoted by media. For example, here's a BBC story on it, and another one from the Irish Times. The BBC story references a second BBC story from today, written by OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher himself.

Conrad Wolfram has today responded that the report largely misses the point, which is that computers are being used to teach the wrong subject. You can read his post here: COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION: GREAT MACHINES, WRONG RESULTS

Having read a couple of viewpoints, where do you stand on this issue?

POSTED BY: Richard Asher
11 Replies
POSTED BY: Bill Lewis

Very interesting perspective, Bill. Would you say we are currently in the 'denial' phase of the cycle? Costs are certainly an issue at this stage, but chats I've had with people in the know also remind one of how much influence self-interest and business has got in the educational status quo. The mention of computers and technology in education, for example, gets textbook publishers in a froth of protest. Many believe that teacher jobs would be threatened, although at Computer-Based Maths we've never suggested teachers be removed from the process.

Mathematica is behind some of the Computer-Based Maths modules but not in a scary way. It does remain a specialised tool, and CBM probably isn't aiming to achieve widespread Mathematica literacy any time soon. It's more about the concept of using applicable technology for the purpose of calculating.

POSTED BY: Richard Asher
POSTED BY: Bill Lewis

Cramming for specific test, or the culture of simply coaching students to pass exams, is one of the things CBM wants to re-examine. Agreed, the emphasis should be on skills and outcomes, rather than specifically on the test-passing process.

POSTED BY: Richard Asher

I wasn't thinking so much of the specific PISA test, which I know nothing about, but the whole process of cramming facts and taking tests. Why not write a literate Mathematica notebook exploring some topic and be judged on the quality of that? Do math! I suspect that this isn't cost efficient for universities. Maybe it takes too much time. Maybe a teacher might not be up on the particular topic a student choose. Mathematica allows students to get their hands on much more mathematics and explore it, but it may not mesh well with the present university paradigm.

PISA does seem to be rather outdated - and as for Mathematica, couldn't agree more on making an early start!

POSTED BY: Richard Asher
POSTED BY: Richard Asher

I did read one of the articles. Of course, Mathematica ought to be a tremendous aid to learning mathematics, engineering and science. Here is the approach I would recommend.

1) Forget test generation, scoring and all that stuff for teachers. In fact, forget teachers.

2) Get Mathematica young and start learning it.

3) Write literate (with textual explanations) notebooks on whatever topics you find that interest you. But start with basic ones.

4) Write lots of notebooks.

5) You can make contributions and add value by using Mathematica's active and dynamic features to clarify existing math topics.

6) If you can find anyone to collaborate with or share notebooks that's great - but difficult.

7) Don't take no stinking PISA tests.

Thanks, Richard! Actually the BBC article you linked gives the reference to the OECD report - it is called "Students, Computers and Learning" and is free access. BTW you can click "Reply" to respond to a specific comment - Community has tree-structure of a discussion to see better who replies to who. Cheers, Sam.

POSTED BY: Sam Carrettie

Thanks for pointing out the missing link, it's there now, and I have added a couple more! As for the original report, all I am finding is news stories quoting it, but yet to happen upon the report itself...

POSTED BY: Richard Asher

Hi, Richard, is there a link to the OECD report? I do not see a link to the BBC story either. For those who wonders PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment.

POSTED BY: Sam Carrettie
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