Eleven years ago, the Mexican government invested nearly 7 million pesos in a project that was dubious from the start for much of the country. A large part of this investment was allocated to purchase of hundreds of iPads (and other tablets) to reduce the digital divide in schools. All this within the framework of the PIAD (Inclusion and Digital Literacy Program).
On paper and despite the exorbitant figure, the truth is that it could make sense. However, It was a project doomed to failure. Thus, three years later, it was canceled, revealing the malfunction of the plan. A case that now comes to mind is how some European countries are proposing to stop the digitalization of classrooms.
Technology in classrooms is not having the desired impact
We often think that the digitalization of classrooms is beneficial. And in fact, if I can give my opinion in the first person, I will say that I firmly believe that it is important. However, we often see Negative consequences for not having been applied as it should, creating a completely opposite effect.
In the aforementioned program in Mexico, which began in 2013, it ended up exploding in 2016 when it was revealed that few students brought their devices to school. Only 18%, while 15% admit to having never used one. 65% wore it, but not every day, since they only wore it three days or less per week out of the five classes.
Besides the iPad, the program also included the purchase of other cheaper devices like cheap laptops or tablets that sometimes didn’t even have Android or had it in an old version at the time. Overall, it is estimated that almost 60% of all devices eventually fail.
An OECD study in which this data is collected ultimately recognized that there has been no positive impact on the Mexican education system. Instead, Mexican authorities in charge of the matter have proposed other projects that, in the absence of more precise data, appear to have a better impact. And without the need for all students to have an electronic device.
In Sweden, it’s clear: no technology in classrooms
Beyond the ban on smartphones for personal use, which is already regulated even in USA, there are countries in which, like Mexico, we do not clearly see the positive impact of the introduction of technology in classrooms.
Let’s take Sweden as an example, because that’s where they started to examine whether or not the progress of the digitalization plan launched in 2021 was bearing fruit. Finally, it was recommended restrict the use of technology in favor of textbooks. In the vast majority of the country, paper was already residual compared to studies on tablets and computers.
The most conservative believe that there is a risk of “see a generation of functional illiterates”, given that many students demonstrated that they did not know how to navigate outside of the digital system. And so at the end of last year they decided to officially backtrack, which didn’t come cheap either. It is estimated that it will cost the Swedish government around $1.6 million to bring textbooks back into classrooms.
Cover image | Generated with DALL-E 3 and Photoshop
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