Are We Using Too Many Apps in Education?
The answer comes back to the educator’s ultimate decision-making filter.
In 2017, I attended ISTE in San Antonio, Texas. ISTE, or The International Society for Technology in Education, hosts the largest conference for educational technology in the world.
My first visit to the exhibitors’ hall was eye-opening.
Wow, I thought. There are a lot of edtech companies in education right now.
I have mixed feelings about this scene.
On the one hand, it’s awesome. There is money to be made in learning, and I think that’s generally a good thing. It’s clearly incentivizing a whole lot of research and development aimed at improving learning tools and technologies.
On the other hand, warning bells go off in my head. All this commercial activity inevitably creates conflicts of interest.
Almost every person behind every booth in this shot is motivated first and foremost by their company’s bottom line. Although they might claim differently, student learning isn’t really their ultimate concern. What is their top concern is the health and growth of their companies (understandably so, I might add).
Armed with this realization, wise educators and education leaders must proceed with discernment.
