Schools' narrow e-teaching focus worries expert

Dr Gary Stager says he is constantly amazed by what children can achieve when given proper access to technology in schools. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Computers may have opened up boundless opportunities for young people, but schools are squashing those opportunities, a world leading authority says.

Californian Gary Stager, an expert in computers in schools for 27 years, has travelled the world spreading the message of what can be achieved if children get proper access to technology in schools. He is disturbed by the "narrow thinking" he has found from the adults in charge.

"I think one of the trends I am seeing globally is an increasing conservatism, not just in educational policy, but a narrowing of the imagination of what kids can actually do with computers," Dr Stager told the Herald, after speaking to the ULearn education conference in Christchurch.

"If schools lack the resources or the maturity to handle the internet appropriately - to actually provide kids with the access they expect and deserve - then maybe they ought to take a pass on it."

Dr Stager spoke to the conference yesterday after Education Minister Anne Tolley told the audience it was time for the country's education system to "fully commit to the digital age".

However, she added that only a quarter of schools were ready for new ultra-fast broadband internet to be introduced by the Government, and another quarter were still not aware of the opportunities available.

Dr Stager said he was constantly amazed by what children achieved when given the technology. Asked to solve a problem, children often communicated over the internet with world-leading experts in the field.

But computers in schools often did not work "because there are policies put in place that treat teachers and children like imbeciles or felons".

"It would be a shame if all the interesting things that kids do with computers were outside of school, because as a result most of what kids do outside of school isn't very interesting.

"It breaks my heart when I am in schools where kids have laptops and are staring at the screen doing nothing and playing some really mediocre game."

These children could be using their imaginations to create their own video games, symphonies, novels or movies to share with the world.

Dr Stager said he kept hearing the next generation of teachers would embrace the technologies available, and open it up to their pupils.

"Well, first of all, an entire generation of kids have lost out on opportunities that they deserve as a result. And, second of all, there's no evidence whatsoever that new teachers are any bolder or more imaginative ... in fact there's quite a bit of evidence to the contrary."