Writer: Classroom Technology Can't Replace Discipline, Hard Work

In an op-ed in the Washington (DC) Examiner (10/20) Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute derides the notion that simply pouring "interactive whiteboards, iPads, and eye-popping video graphics into the classroom" can "overcome the knowledge gap between US students and our leading economic competitors. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings set out the possibilities in the Wall Street Journal this September." She notes that this notion has caused the education technology sector to flourish, but adds, "to call the results to date disappointing would be generous." She argues that schools must get "back to teaching the basics; restore order and discipline in every classroom; return to a teacher-centered, rather than student-centered, pedagogy; and demand hard work from children and commitment from parents."