Editorial | Technology, AI in schools

There may indeed be a need for balance between digital technologies and old-style teaching systems in the delivery of education globally.

But, even in the absence of credible data on the availability and use of smart systems by Jamaican children, this newspaper suspects that technological overload is hardly a problem in the island’s classrooms – neither is it likely to be in the near term.

So, while not dismissing the concerns about the potential harm an over-reliance on technology in pedagogy can have on the development of children, as was recently noted by influential educators Linvern Wright and Mark Malabver, The Gleaner urges caution on any policy that would, in the absence of rigorous research and analysis, keep tablets, smart boards and artificial intelligence systems out of classrooms or away from children.

Which, of course, is not the argument we assume Messrs Wright and Malabver to be making. That would be tantamount to inviting Luddites to run things in the 21st century.

In that regard, Mr Malabver and Mr Wright should leverage their critical positions in the education system to ensure a deep national conversation on the prospects for appropriate digital technologies in education and training in Jamaica and their impact, insofar as they are now used, on outcomes. This implies, among other things, doing the work to accumulate hard data.

Mr Malabver is principal of the Yallahs High School in Jamaica’s southeastern parish of St Thomas, as well as president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), the teachers’ union. Mr Wright is principal of the William Knibb High School in the northwestern parish of Trelawny and principal of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS).

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Last week, this newspaper quoted Mr Wright as identifying the proliferation of technological teaching and learning tools among the potential problems that could impact Jamaica’s educational outcomes going forward.

“There are disagreements about this, but I really believe that one of the things that we are recognising at schools is that gadgets are presenting more challenges than they are solving problems in schools,’ Mr Wright said. “All the research is showing that these things are more of a distraction than they are of assistance, especially if things are not properly organised pedagogically.”

He went on: “Because technology is attractive and it is something that gets the dopamine (a neurotransmitter that is sometimes called the brain’s feel-good chemical) in children going, I think we have mistaken that kind of dopamine response for effectiveness.

“However, I think it has more effects on the brain that are adverse where education and child development are concerned, that I don’t think we are paying sufficient attention to.”

With the advent of computer technologies, Mr Wright explained, children were writing less, negatively affecting memory and brain development.

“... If you invest more money in teacher competence, the gains that you would get in education would be far more than we are spending now in technology instead of teacher development,” he said.

Mr Malabver subsequently addressed the issue at the opening of the JTA’s western regional office in Montego Bay.

“... There is now a debate in education circles, particularly in Europe … about the technology in the classroom and whether or not we should go back to pen and paper. And I support it,” Malabver said.

According to Malabver, “research is saying that many students are too distracted by technology, and … it robs them of critical thinking and problem-solving skills”.

NEW EMPHASIS

It is indeed true that, recently, some Scandinavian countries, including Sweden and Denmark, have placed new emphasis, especially for younger children, on printed books, quiet reading and practising handwriting.

In Sweden, where even the youngest children had access to tablets in classrooms, the return to more traditional methods of teaching and learning doesn’t mean a total abandonment of digital systems in schools. Rather, the policy is aimed at achieving what this newspaper has insisted should be the critical mission of Jamaica’s primary education system, which annually leaves over a third of its graduates functionally illiterate.

Sweden explains: “The Swedish Government’s school policy aims to get back to basics and re-establish a strong knowledge-based school system with the focus of early grades being on basic skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Digital learning aids should only be introduced in teaching at an age when they encourage, rather than hinder, pupils’ learning.”

Nonetheless, several other countries and regions, especially in Asia, are betting on the application of computer and AI in the education system to further accelerate their growth and development. China, Japan and South Korea are among them.

“China aims to introduce AI education in all primary and secondary schools by 2030,” noted UNESCO’s latest Global Education Monitoring Report, launched last August.

In 2024, China’s education ministry identified 184 primary and secondary schools as AI education bases for the implementation of AI education. Several policy documents have been published encouraging school leaders to use AI-supported education, building on programmes that are already in place.

In 2020, eight per cent of Japan’s public schools used at least one digital textbook. By 2024, the number had risen to 88 per cent. South Korea expects to fully roll out AI-powered textbooks by 2028.

There must be something in these developments for Jamaica, if it looks hard enough.