In the last decade, many industries have been changed fundamentally by innovative applications of digital technology tools. This state of affairs has led to the erroneous assumption that these pace of change will maintain and also that no specific industry will remain the same. Many people view the growth of Google, Apple, Amazon and mobile telephony and assume that digital technology must therefore transform every industry from energy, education, publishing and so forth. As already stated, the Internet and these new applications of digital technologies have had profound effects on industries by creating new value and made entrepreneurs very wealthy.
However, it is clear that there are industries in which the amazing effect of digital technologies seems to be overstated. Konstantin Kokaes makes a strong argument in this article in Slate Magazine that in education generally and mathematics in particular, the fact that technology is superior is more an article of faith than a demonstrated result. Among the more profound points that he makes are that the rush to introduce digital tools into education is an expensive experiment without evidence that it is either useful or cost effective. This argument is real because it is not based on a preference for what is familiar and known but is based on the fact these new tools are being pushed by interested marketers.
I am not surprised that these new tools are not proven to be better but are incorporated into education policy by the fact that the education departments are buying them as symbols of modern ways of teaching science and mathematics. The point that I made in a blog post here remains valid.
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