The following was included in the recent Principals' Digest Newsletter:

John Hattie’s research shows that what produces truly meaningful results in schools is teachers’ collective sense of efficacy, constant feedback to students, and other low-tech factors. Individualisation and web-based learning do quite poorly in Hattie’s meta-analysis – 0.23 and 0.18 effect sizes, respectively.

In order for learning to be personal, it must be meaningful and transferable which only comes when human connection is at the centre of what we do. He suggests four guiding questions for tech in the classroom:

• Does the technology help to minimise complexity?
• Does the technology help to maximise the individual power and potential of all learners in the room?
• Will the technology help us to do something previously unimaginable?
• Will the technology preserve or enhance human connection in the classroom?

If the answer to all four questions is yes, you’ve chosen effective technology. If not, keep looking or go low-tech.

“Why Are We Still Personalizing Learning If It’s Not Personal?” by Paul Emerich France in EdSurge News, July 2, 2018