Q&A: Is It Possible To Have Too Much Technology in Classrooms?

I do not learn well with flags and alerts and 10 screens and 20 kinds of software to figure out; I will not perform at my best. I’ll get anxiety. I’ll get stressed. If I’m overwhelmed, I am not going to be at my best.

TAMMINEN: I agree you can have too much digital technology in the classroom. I would also focus on the social aspect of learning.

You don’t want your kids sitting at a device, much like we as parents don’t want our children on their devices all day long at home. You want them out playing and interacting, and to grow up in an environment where they’re going to collaborate, not only with other students but also with the teacher.

You want to have those analog, traditional interactions that are not based on the technology. It’s got to be a balanced approach. If we feel comfortable working with those around us, we work better.

EDTECH: How can schools balance analog and digital learning tools?

TAMMINEN: We see schools taking a couple of different approaches.

One is a blended approach, where they’re deliberately using a combination of analog traditional teaching methods and digital tools throughout the coursework and the planning. That’s the most common approach — the National Education Association has reported that about 72% of schools use blended learning strategies — and it’s becoming more prevalent. I think it’s an easier adoption path to take that step and naturally integrate technology as it evolves.

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And then the other approach is the flipped classroom model, which is a digital-first approach. In this model, students are reading online content and looking at the coursework and fundamentals in the digital format first. They then have a more hands-on, analog, face-to-face experience as they take a deeper dive with their peers and teachers.

EDTECH: Why do school leaders and teachers need to understand the importance of this balance?

HENRIKSEN: We don’t all learn the same way. It doesn’t depend on the grade level. Some of us are visual learners, some are tangible learners.

Learning math is a great example of this. Kudos to elementary teachers because they get very creative. They’ll use our LearnFit sit-stand desks on wheels and say, “OK, second graders, what’s 2 plus 2?” And the students learn better when they actually move the desks together and can count: 1, 2, 3, 4. Then, when it’s time to take the test, the students can recall that activity to figure out the math problem.

EDTECH: What products or tools help teachers balance digital and analog learning?

HENRIKSEN: We’re seeing a lot of success with our LearnFit desks. A school district will buy these desks for all the teachers, but it benefits the students as well.

The reason for mobility in any situation, even outside of education, is to eliminate human error. These products stemmed from hospitals: A nurse in a patient’s room, for example, has to memorize all the patient’s health metrics. There’s room for human error. But with a mobile cart, the nurse can bring a computer right to the patient. That reduces the possibility for human error.

So, if a teacher can walk up with the laptop to the student’s desk and give them that one-on-one attention — versus standing in the back, walking back and forth — it really helps with grades and relationships.

TAMMINEN: Something that’s really important in helping teachers maintain this balance is making sure student devices are always charged up and ready to go. Our YES charging carts keep devices charged for a full day.

We realized that teachers don’t have enough time in their day to grade papers, let alone charge and sync and update a device. Now, they can charge up to 40 devices at once, instantly.  We also offer carts that come prewired with 65-watt USB-C power adapters to further simplify device management.

HENRIKSEN: These products future-proof the classroom.

Technology develops the way student learning develops. Someone might come out with a new product everyone wants. Now, schools no longer have to replace all the furniture and redo the classrooms and spend that budget. It’s a totally modular class. And it doesn’t just save schools the cost of the furniture; it also saves the downtime and bandwidth of the IT departments and the facilities personnel who would have to spend time and money to rearrange the classroom.

When they get into these products, they can rearrange the whole classroom with their existing assets. They just have to move the teacher and the students, and they can do it together. It builds rapport among the students, and between the students and their teacher.

MORE ON EDTECH: Give teachers the power to work from anywhere.

EDTECH: Who is responsible for balancing the use of technology in the K–12 classroom?

HENRIKSEN: Parents’ concerns are more and more influential, but ultimately teachers are the one who designs how the students learn. Their role is to deliver the content in the way an individual student or classroom absorbs that information best.

We need those scores. Scores can turn into revenue because student achievement can lead to more money for the district.

TAMMINEN: I would add that it’s important for the teacher to have a certain degree of autonomy in using the tools in the classroom in ways that will best meet the individual students’ needs. What technology they can use, though, is decided at the district level based on the expense budget.

EDTECH: What advice do you have for school administrators and teachers who might be struggling with this balance?

HENRIKSEN: Think outside of the software and the analog or digital devices you’re using. Look at what you can do beyond those to support that balance.

LEARN FROM EXPERTS: Make design and technology choices that support all students.

Those devices aren’t going away. They’ll improve, but it’s just going to get bigger and bigger. How many apps are on our smartphones now versus when we first got one?

Schools can instead look at, how do I hold this smartphone better, so that it’s more ergonomic or comfortable? We encourage things like that. Ergotron innovates in that way, to supplement other challenges that we can’t fix. We’re not going to develop a smartphone or tablet, but we’re going to be that interface to make the experience better.

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