A quality education is more about the relationship
between an instructor and motivated students than the technology used in the
classroom. That, according to a post from Insider Higher Ed tech blogger Joshua Kim, is why technology will never really
lower the costs of education.
Technology can complement the relationship-based method
of learning by providing tools the instructor can use to help students achieve
their goals. What technology can’t do is become a substitute for the teacher.
“The
idea that technology can lower the cost of education while improving quality—or
improve quality while keeping costs steady, or lower costs while keeping
quality steady—is anchored in a basic misconception about how technology
behaves,” Kim wrote. “This misconception is that new technologies substitute
for existing actions or for existing technologies. The reality is that new
technologies most often end up complementing existing practices and technologies.
New and old technologies exist side by side.”