Why Technology Is Important in Schools: 4 Arguments
Why technology is important in schools comes down to two things: students already live digitally, and digital skills are important in many occupations. Good instruction still comes first. The argument here is that device access and coding belong alongside solid teaching, not in place of it, and that schools have been slow to adjust.
Editor's note: this essay was written before the major expansion of one-to-one devices and remote instruction in U.S. schools. The tools it names are a snapshot of the mid-2010s, and some are no longer available as described. Twitter shut down the Periscope app on March 31, 2021. Google Cardboard is a different case: Google stopped selling the viewer through the Google Store in March 2021 and had already wound down development of its VR SDK in 2019, but the Cardboard open-source project continues, and third-party viewers built to the same specs remain available. We've kept the author's argument as he made it, and we've marked his forward-looking predictions where they appear.
Have you ever been in an argument with someone about education, and what we should or should not be doing? It's not hard to argue against someone who believes students should be technology-free in schools. We see technology in almost all jobs and every aspect of our lives. Recently, on the second day of school, we were without electricity for over two hours. I was very pleased to see both staff and students doing creative activities, discussions, read-alouds, and more in the dark. Good instruction is that, good instruction! The argument comes when we say that technology infusion is just as important as these activities that can be done in the dark! I recently had this discussion with a colleague. I found myself wondering how someone could even argue against technology…but his argument was valid: "Good instruction is good instruction!" Here are my four best arguments that I could surmise; do you have more?
1950's vs. 2010's, Times Have Changed, Why Haven't We?
An overhead projector at one time was state-of-the-art technology. You could project information onto a large surface for all students to see. This revolutionized teaching. In fact, document cameras now can do the same thing…the technology may look a little different, but the instructional strategy used by teachers may be pretty close to the same. Other technology that teachers may have at their disposal does show major differences from the 1950's: Web 2.0 tools, new Web 3.0 tools, Swivel, Google Cardboard, Skype, FaceTime, Facebook Live, Periscope, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, to name a few. In fact, the most creative and innovative teachers are still trying to play catch-up and figure out how to successfully use this newest technology in classrooms. The multitude of new devices, social media apps, and programs is rapidly growing to the point where teachers are afraid to learn something new for fear of it being gone in a few months. Sadly, many teachers don't even try. So, shouldn't we be at least experimenting with this technology in our classroom?
Students Have Changed, Why Haven't We?
In the 1980's many of my friends had a party-line phone number at their homes. This specialized phone number allowed many of my friends to talk on their phones (many who had the first push-button phones). Some phone lines were able to split the line so they could add more callers on at once. I was so jealous. While they could talk to many people at once, I was still using my dial up phones in our house. My parents finally did purchase a 20-foot-long cord while I was in high school so I could go into my room instead of having my conversations out in the kitchen in front of them. For me, this changed everything in my social life. My wife and I recently joked with our sophomore son when we found out he had 330,000 Snapchats in a little over a year since we allowed him to have the app! His generation can all be in the same room, next to each other, and not talk for hours other than the occasional, "you gotta see this…!" They repeatedly keep showing each other short videos, posts from friends, funny memes, and more! Students have changed how they communicate, how they access information, and how they have fun. So, shouldn't we be changing how we teach?
Editor's note: the section below contains the author's mid-2010s predictions, not established fact. His forecasts about Web 3.0 taking over mid-level jobs, Google becoming the largest provider of educational resources, public education losing its place as the main provider, and private schools growing more enticing were speculation when he wrote them and should be read that way. The remarks in quotation marks are his recollection of a live keynote rather than a verified transcript. Daggett's museum comparison is documented elsewhere in different wording: a 2017 Wisconsin Association of School Boards account has him describing schools as museums of teaching and learning, with educators serving as the curators.
All Fields Have Continued to Adapt, Adopt, and Assimilate Technology….Why Not Education?
When Web 2.0 became more accessible and usable for companies, an explosion began. Many 2.0 tools were replacing low-entry-level jobs. What was once done by a person is now automated. We haven't seen anything yet…Web 3.0 will start to take over mid-level jobs and so much more. Listening to Dr. Bill Daggett, Founder and Chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education, reconfirmed my thoughts on how far we are behind in education. He said all fields and industries have taken the challenge and are finding ways to use these 2.0 and now 3.0 tools to their advantage. He speaks of Web 3.0 being the "artificial intelligence" revolution. Cars are currently being equipped to detect upcoming potholes and adjust the ride so you don't feel them. Doctors are using virtual tools to practice impossible surgeries without even cutting anything. Dr. Daggett profoundly states that there are two domains that remain behind, without much substantial change, "education and government." In the next couple of years, Google will soon be the largest provider of educational resources. We need to heed these warning signs, as public education may soon no longer be the main provider of education, and this competition may provide education more cheaply. He continued by telling us that "schools are merely museums" right now. We can walk down the hallways much like a museum, seeing old technology. I will always believe that a human connects better with kids, and we can teach more effectively than anything "artificial." I am just saying, private schools are going to be more enticing for some parents who ride the fence on public education. We, public educators, can do much better. Will we step up and infuse technology with our students?
Coding - "It's What's for Dinner!
The amount of Web 2.0, and soon-to-be Web 3.0, tools our world will create will change how we live, what we buy, who we hang out with, and how we have fun. The number of jobs that require coding will multiply exponentially in the next decade. We must start building a workforce that can sustain this change, or we will forsake these positions to other countries. Coding should be an option in all schools starting in elementary grades. Will we change our technology curriculum, and will coding be a part of what we do every day?
Editor's note: the forecast that coding jobs would multiply exponentially over the following decade was the author's own, not a figure from any labor source, and that decade has now passed. Readers who want to weigh the employment argument should check current projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook rather than treat this sentence as data.
Each of these arguments have their pros and cons for society, and specifically for our students in education. You can argue that good instruction in the 1950's would be good instruction in 2010's, but I argue that isn't true or prudent. We can't look the other way as technology in all other work domains changes and we choose to remain stagnant with our instruction. We know our kids are different, and subsequently, the way our teachers instruct must also be different. Change is tough for so many, but when we have technology staring at us in our face…we cannot withhold the infusion into how we teach!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is technology important in schools?
Technology is important in schools for two reasons that carry most of the weight. Students already research, communicate, and create digitally outside school, so a classroom without those tools asks them to work in a way they don't recognize. And most jobs now assume basic digital fluency, which makes device skills part of what a school owes its graduates. Neither reason argues that technology improves instruction on its own.
Does classroom technology actually improve learning?
Research suggests outcomes depend substantially on how technology is integrated into instruction, not on access by itself. That's the tension this essay names, and it's why the colleague who told the author "good instruction is good instruction" was making a fair point rather than a stubborn one.
What about students without devices or internet at home?
Access at home varies, and that variation shapes what a teacher can reasonably assign. Rather than assuming a level of access, check what your own students actually have before assigning anything that needs a connection outside school, and build an offline option into the plan rather than bolting one on later. Your district's technology office is usually the best source for what access looks like across your attendance area.
Should schools teach coding?
Many states now include computer science in their K-12 academic standards, and some require districts to offer at least one course at the high school level. Requirements vary a lot by state, grade band, and district, so the answer for any given teacher depends on local standards and course offerings. Check your state's academic standards for computer science, and verify with your state's educator-licensing or credentialing agency whether teaching it calls for a separate endorsement.
- Access expanded, the question shifted - Technology access expanded substantially after this essay was written, shifting much of the debate toward how technology should be used effectively.
- Access is not instruction - Devices change what students can do, not what they're asked to do. Instructional design still decides whether a tool helps.
- Student habits changed first - How students communicate has clearly shifted, which supports teaching digital literacy and using technology where it fits. It doesn't establish that every effective instructional method has to change.
- Equity sits underneath all of it - Access at home varies from one attendance area to the next, so check what your own students have before assigning anything that needs a connection.
- Coding rules vary by state - Computer science standards and any endorsement needed to teach the subject are set at the state level, so verify locally rather than assuming.
If this essay pushed you toward teaching, or toward a degree that would let you lead technology work in a building, the program format matters as much as the coursework. The sponsored programs on this page include online and hybrid options, and several are built for teachers who are already working full time.
As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award.
Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)
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