negative effects of technology on education

Is technology good or bad for learning?

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, saro mohammed, ph.d. smp saro mohammed, ph.d. partner - the learning accelerator @edresearchworks.

May 8, 2019

I’ll bet you’ve read something about technology and learning recently. You may have read that device use enhances learning outcomes . Or perhaps you’ve read that screen time is not good for kids . Maybe you’ve read that there’s no link between adolescents’ screen time and their well-being . Or that college students’ learning declines the more devices are present in their classrooms .

If ever there were a case to be made that more research can cloud rather than clarify an issue, technology use and learning seems to fit the bill. This piece covers what the research actually says, some outstanding questions, and how to approach the use of technology in learning environments to maximize opportunities for learning and minimize the risk of doing harm to students.

In my recent posts , I have frequently cited the mixed evidence about blended learning, which strategically integrates in-person learning with technology to enable real-time data use, personalized instruction, and mastery-based progression. One thing that this nascent evidence base does show is that technology can be linked to improved learning . When technology is integrated into lessons in ways that are aligned with good in-person teaching pedagogy, learning can be better than without technology.

A 2018 meta-analysis of dozens of rigorous studies of ed tech , along with the executive summary of a forthcoming update (126 rigorous experiments), indicated that when education technology is used to individualize students’ pace of learning, the results overall show “ enormous promise .” In other words, ed tech can improve learning when used to personalize instruction to each student’s pace.

Further, this same meta-analysis, along with other large but correlational studies (e.g., OECD 2015 ), also found that increased access to technology in school was associated with improved proficiency with, and increased use of, technology overall. This is important in light of the fact that access to technology outside of learning environments is still very unevenly distributed across ethnic, socio-economic, and geographic lines. Technology for learning, when deployed to all students, ensures that no student experiences a “21st-century skills and opportunity” gap.

More practically, technology has been shown to scale and sustain instructional practices that would be too resource-intensive to work in exclusively in-person learning environments, especially those with the highest needs. In multiple , large-scale studies where technology has been incorporated into the learning experiences of hundreds of students across multiple schools and school systems, they have been associated with better academic outcomes than comparable classrooms that did not include technology. Added to these larger bodies of research are dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller , more localized examples of technology being used successfully to improve students’ learning experiences. Further, meta-analyses and syntheses of the research show that blended learning can produce greater learning than exclusively in-person learning.

All of the above suggest that technology, used well, can drive equity in learning opportunities. We are seeing that students and families from privileged backgrounds are able to make choices about technology use that maximize its benefits and minimize its risks , while students and families from marginalized backgrounds do not have opportunities to make the same informed choices. Intentional, thoughtful inclusion of technology in public learning environments can ensure that all students, regardless of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language status, special education status, or other characteristics, have the opportunity to experience learning and develop skills that allow them to fully realize their potential.

On the other hand, the evidence is decidedly mixed on the neurological impact of technology use. In November 2016, the American Association of Pediatrics updated their screen time guidelines for parents, generally relaxing restrictions and increasing the recommended maximum amount of time that children in different age groups spend interacting with screens. These guidelines were revised not because of any new research, but for two far more practical reasons. First, the nuance of the existing evidence–especially the ways in which recommendations change as children get older–was not adequately captured in the previous guidelines. Second, the proliferation of technology in our lives had made the previous guidelines almost impossible to follow.

The truth is that infants, in particular, learn by interacting with our physical world and with other humans, and it is likely that very early (passive) interactions with devices–rather than humans–can disrupt or misinform neural development . As we grow older, time spent on devices often replaces time spent engaging in physical activity or socially with other people, and it can even become a substitute for emotional regulation, which is detrimental to physical, social, and emotional development.

In adolescence and young adulthood, the presence of technology in learning environments has also been associated with (but has not been shown to be the cause of) negative variables such as attention deficits or hyperactivity , feeling lonely , and lower grades . Multitasking is not something our brains can do while learning , and technology often represents not just one more “task” to have to attend to in a learning environment, but multiple additional tasks due to the variety of apps and programs installed on and producing notifications through a single device.

The pragmatic

The current takeaway from the research is that there are potential benefits and risks to deploying technology in learning environments. While we can’t wrap this topic up with a bow just yet–there are still more questions than answers–there is evidence that technology can amplify effective teaching and learning when in the hands of good teachers. The best we can do today is understand how technology can be a valuable tool for educators to do the complex, human work that is teaching by capitalizing on the benefits while remaining fully mindful of the risks as we currently understand them.

We must continue to build our understanding of both the risks and benefits as we proceed. With that in mind, here are some “Dos” and “Don’ts” for using technology in learning environments:

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What 126 studies say about education technology

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In recent years, there has been widespread excitement around the transformative potential of technology in education. In the United States alone, spending on education technology has now exceeded $13 billion . Programs and policies to promote the use of education technology may expand access to quality education, support students’ learning in innovative ways, and help families navigate complex school systems.

However, the rapid development of education technology in the United States is occurring in a context of deep and persistent inequality . Depending on how programs are designed, how they are used, and who can access them, education technologies could alleviate or aggravate existing disparities. To harness education technology’s full potential, education decision-makers, product developers, and funders need to understand the ways in which technology can help — or in some cases hurt — student learning.

To address this need, J-PAL North America recently released a new publication summarizing 126 rigorous evaluations of different uses of education technology. Drawing primarily from research in developed countries, the publication looks at randomized evaluations and regression discontinuity designs across four broad categories: (1) access to technology, (2) computer-assisted learning or educational software, (3) technology-enabled nudges in education, and (4) online learning.

This growing body of evidence suggests some areas of promise and points to four key lessons on education technology.

First, supplying computers and internet alone generally do not improve students’ academic outcomes from kindergarten to 12th grade, but do increase computer usage and improve computer proficiency. Disparities in access to information and communication technologies can exacerbate existing educational inequalities. Students without access at school or at home may struggle to complete web-based assignments and may have a hard time developing digital literacy skills.

Broadly, programs to expand access to technology have been effective at increasing use of computers and improving computer skills. However, computer distribution and internet subsidy programs generally did not improve grades and test scores and in some cases led to adverse impacts on academic achievement. The limited rigorous evidence suggests that distributing computers may have a more direct impact on learning outcomes at the postsecondary level.

Second, educational software (often called “computer-assisted learning”) programs designed to help students develop particular skills have shown enormous promise in improving learning outcomes, particularly in math. Targeting instruction to meet students’ learning levels has been found to be effective in improving student learning, but large class sizes with a wide range of learning levels can make it hard for teachers to personalize instruction. Software has the potential to overcome traditional classroom constraints by customizing activities for each student. Educational software programs range from light-touch homework support tools to more intensive interventions that re-orient the classroom around the use of software.

Most educational software that have been rigorously evaluated help students practice particular skills through personalized tutoring approaches. Computer-assisted learning programs have shown enormous promise in improving academic achievement, especially in math. Of all 30 studies of computer-assisted learning programs, 20 reported statistically significant positive effects, 15 of which were focused on improving math outcomes.

Third, technology-based nudges — such as text message reminders — can have meaningful, if modest, impacts on a variety of education-related outcomes, often at extremely low costs. Low-cost interventions like text message reminders can successfully support students and families at each stage of schooling. Text messages with reminders, tips, goal-setting tools, and encouragement can increase parental engagement in learning activities, such as reading with their elementary-aged children.

Middle and high schools, meanwhile, can help parents support their children by providing families with information about how well their children are doing in school. Colleges can increase application and enrollment rates by leveraging technology to suggest specific action items, streamline financial aid procedures, and/or provide personalized support to high school students.

Online courses are developing a growing presence in education, but the limited experimental evidence suggests that online-only courses lower student academic achievement compared to in-person courses. In four of six studies that directly compared the impact of taking a course online versus in-person only, student performance was lower in the online courses. However, students performed similarly in courses with both in-person and online components compared to traditional face-to-face classes.

The new publication is meant to be a resource for decision-makers interested in learning which uses of education technology go beyond the hype to truly help students learn. At the same time, the publication outlines key open questions about the impacts of education technology, including questions relating to the long-term impacts of education technology and the impacts of education technology on different types of learners.

To help answer these questions, J-PAL North America’s Education, Technology, and Opportunity Initiative is working to build the evidence base on promising uses of education technology by partnering directly with education leaders.

Education leaders are invited to submit letters of interest to partner with J-PAL North America through its  Innovation Competition . Anyone interested in learning more about how to apply is encouraged to contact initiative manager Vincent Quan .

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Can Technology in the Classroom Negatively Impact Learning?

The edtech  sector has lots of generous benefactors, including charitable foundations funded by tech titans like Facebook founder  Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates . 

But do edtech products actually, provably help kids learn?

Anecdotally, the answer is yes. Scientifically, though, it’s more of a maybe. Randomized or quasi-experimental studies supporting edtech products are a rarity, and most edtech products hit the market before their impact on students has been rigorously tested.

In 2015, President Barack Obama moved to change that by signing the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, which laid out research-based criteria for gauging the effectiveness of edtech and other classroom measures.

The highest rating, “Strong,” indicates that a product or curriculum has statistically significantly improved student outcomes in at least one randomized and controlled study. Nonetheless, only a select few edtech products have received that “Strong” rating,  according to  Johns Hopkins University’s Evidence for ESSA site .

Meanwhile, personalized learning software like the  Summit Learning  platform (funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, named for Facebook's Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan) has no ESSA rating. It provides students with personalized curricula and weekly mentorship sessions, a format backed by academic research, Zuckerberg notes . The research to which he refers , however, suggests that humans learn best with one-on-one attention from a tutor — not with Summit specifically. 

That doesn't make Summit unique. Plenty of other edtech products — including those used for student evaluation — are supported by anecdotal case studies , but haven't been subjected to controlled and randomized trials. So while the sector continues to evolve , edtech skepticism abounds. 

What are the potential pitfalls of fusing education and technology? We spoke with three edtech experts to learn more. 

Vincent Quan

Associate director of policy at the Abdul Lateef Jameel Poverty Action Lab  focused on the intersection of education and technology, and co-author of "Education Technology: An Evidence-Based Review."

In your work, you focus on translating academic research into evidence-based policy. Do you feel that the way edtech is implemented in American schools right now is typically evidence-based?

Not so much. I don't know the exact statistic on how many school administrators consult rigorous evidence before adopting a new education technology program, but I recall that a very low percentage of them consult rigorous evidence before making an adoption decision. Generally speaking, my sense is that most school administrators rely on word of mouth from other administrators. So they rely more on anecdotes so far than on evidence. 

Why do you think that is? 

I have some theories about the barriers to evidence. First of all, evidence can be hard to access, and even when it’s available, it's often not written in a way that's accessible to people who don't have a PhD. Academic researchers who publish edtech studies in journals aren't writing for policy makers or practitioners, they're writing for a research audience. So they will use terminology, like “p-values,” that’s not necessarily understandable to folks without a particular background. 

Another barrier is that a lot of education technology companies don't feel like they have incentives to actually have their programs evaluated and the school administrators often feel like they have no choice. A lot of these programs are not backed by evidence, and they feel like they have to implement an education technology program.

Where do you think that perceived pressure comes from? 

I'm not sure. My sense is there might be pressure from the edtech companies themselves. They’re often faced with incentives to scale up rapidly. And then I think that there is sometimes a belief that any technology is better than no technology at all.

When you were working on the evidence-based review of edtech, did you feel that there was an overall dearth of evidence?

We actually found a decent amount of evidence around some form of the education technologies. The review ultimately looked at over 120 experimental studies so there's definitely a decent amount. But I think that a lot of very popular forms of education technology were not included in that review because we couldn't find any rigorous evidence about that specific program. One example is Khan Academy [an online education resource]. We didn't find a randomized evaluation specifically looking at the impacts of Khan Academy versus no Khan Academy. 

Do you think that the lack of research on popular edtech has anything to do with funding? Do investors fund edtech more than research on edtech? 

Yes, I definitely think that there is some disparity between investment in all of those edtech programs versus investment in evidence of their efficacy. That's definitely a cause for concern in the edtech industry more broadly. 

Folks who are investing in for-profit ventures want to be able to see financial returns from the investment, so I think they look more closely at a product’s ability to scale rapidly than evidence of impact. I also think that there's a bit of a misconception that rigorous evaluation takes too long for companies to be able to pull off. 

In your review, did you find any particularly promising technologies?

Educational software designed to help students develop particular skills have shown enormous promise in improving learning outcomes, particularly in math. Technology based nudges, such as text message reminders, can have modest but meaningful impact on a variety of education-related outcomes, often at a low cost.

Kentaro Toyama

Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and author of Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology .

Since you first got interested in edtech, back in 2004, what are some issues you’ve seen proponents of edtech overlook?

I think people who are optimistic about educational technology tend to start from this assumption that education is about absorbing information and knowledge and skills—which makes it seem like technology is the ideal tool for improving education.

But I think education is primarily about motivating kids to do the hard work that is the absorption of information or knowledge or skills. If you think of it as a motivational problem rather than as an informational problem, then technology has some things it can do—but no single technology, or even combination of technologies, has what it takes to keep one child motivated for the full length of an education. You need qualified people teaching, too.

The best analogy I can give is exercise. All of us know we should be getting moderate amounts of exercise, but most of us aren’t. It doesn't make a difference how cool a treadmill we have. We need somebody that's going to get us motivated to do the running. Running is something you can't have any machine do for you.

What do you think of these companies that try to gamify learning? In their apps and software, kids earn stars or some other sort of in-game reward when they master a skill. Do those games motivate kids effectively?

I think gamification is interesting, but we are nowhere near getting a gamified system to the point where it's able to generate, let's say, six hours a day of motivation for 12 years of what might be a basic education. I believe gamification can help motivate a kid for maybe a couple of hours, or maybe even a couple of weeks, but kids get bored very fast. 

And then on top of that, I think there's another, more difficult challenge. Let's say gamification succeeds, and somebody gamifies the entire K through 12 educational system. Kids who come out of such a program can only do work in a gamified environment. It’s not generating students who have their own curiosity and want to learn on their own.

Shifting gears a little bit,  in a 2015 story you wrote for the Atlantic, you refer to “the Law of Amplification,” which basically says that technology amplifies existing human tendencies. Have you seen technology amplifying any darker human tendencies in the classroom?

Absolutely. Just about any teacher who's tried to use technology in the classroom will have experienced the funny paradox, which is that even if you're trying to teach a class on the technology itself — about, let's say, computer programming — your worst enemy is the technology. Most students have an instinctive desire to learn, but they also have an instinctive desire to distract themselves with unproductive stimulation. Technology amplifies that. 

One time I was teaching an after-school class that was specifically about digital literacy for kids in Seattle, and as soon as they opened their laptops, they would go and find games to play. This was after I thought I had removed all the games from the computers and disconnected the internet. They would still somehow find these games. I learned that even in a context where the goal is to teach digital literacy, you had to be very careful about when students were allowed to access their computers.

In the Atlantic story, you mentioned working in rural Uganda. A lot of edtech is made in the U.S., though, and especially in Silicon Valley, by people who don't send their kids to schools that use a lot of technology. Do you feel like there's a disconnect between the people making and using educational technology, and does that pose any problems?

I'm not sure if there's a disconnect, exactly, but there are different sides to people who work in Silicon Valley. When they put on their parent hat, they have a different view of technology in education than when they put on their engineering and marketing hats.

One funny thing about Silicon Valley is that everybody there knows that what makes a startup succeed in the long term is the management team. It’s all about the quality of the team, the human beings that run the company. I've never heard of a venture capitalist investing in a startup because the startup used the right technology. And yet, everything that comes out of Silicon Valley sends this message that “If you use our technology, whatever you're doing will succeed.”

Audrey Watters

Independent edtech scholar and ‘17-’18 Spencer Fellow at Columbia University , writing a book on education technology, Teaching Machines,  and  running the website  Hack Education .

Can you tell me a little about Teaching Machines ?

The book tells the story of the education psychologists who, in the mid-twentieth century, designed machines — not computers — they claimed would automate and individualize education. Their efforts weren’t the first time technologies were used in the classroom — film and radio, for example, were introduced decades prior — but they did help establish some of the ways in which textbook publishers and instructional designers began to think about organizing lesson material and assessing students.

I wanted to write a book about the history of education technology in part because so many of today’s edtech entrepreneurs and advocates seem to know nothing about the industry’s past.  One of the claims you’ll frequently hear these days is that computers will help students move at their own pace through educational materials, giving them immediate feedback. But that’s precisely what the builders of teaching machines in the 1950s and 1960s said their devices would do too.

The subtitle of your book is, “How automatic education became ‘personalized learning.’” Personalized learning is a huge concept in the edtech industry. Why the airquotes? Can you talk a little about your wariness of the phrase?

"Personalized learning" has a lot of appeal, no doubt. It’s often positioned as a counterbalance to what’s perceived as the "mass education" of our public school system. The idea of individualizing education can be traced in part to John Dewey and other early twentieth-century progressive education reformers who sought to encourage more student inquiry in the classroom as an alternative to practices that gave teachers (and textbooks) total control. 

Personalized learning, as designed and marketed by Silicon Valley companies today, might try to invoke some of this legacy. But often, the software has simply shifted the control over what is learned and when from the teacher or textbook to the algorithm. It’s no more “personalized” than are the recommendations that Netflix gives you over what movie to watch next. 

In your ideal classroom, what role would technology play—if any?

I think this is the wrong question. When we talk about technology, we often just focus on specific objects or products, but technology is much more complex than that. It involves practices and values and systems and ways of thinking. Technology is also a site of power and control. We need to talk about what it means to hand over the future of school instruction and school administration to industry.

When people talk about the role of technology in the classroom, promoters of edtech talk about a handful of mostly digital tools. They do not talk about the ways in which windows are a classroom technology, as are metal detectors at the school door or surveillance cameras in the hallways. We should ask more questions about what sorts of practices and what sorts of values lead to certain students having windows and others having no natural light in their school buildings; some students walking through metal detectors each morning and having their every movement tracked and monitored; certain students doing "drill and kill" on computers in large classrooms and other students having small classrooms, human teachers, and opportunities for inquiry—with or without computers.

What do you think drives people to try to create “teaching machines?" What makes them want to mechanize or replace human teachers? 

Since the public school system was established in the nineteenth century, it has been pressured — mostly by the business community and politicians — to run more efficiently. The idea of automating education should be seen in this light — the demand to educate more students, more quickly, for less money. Reformers have often seen teachers, who are mostly female and highly unionized, as standing in the way of school efficiency. Often the arguments made for teaching machines are full of promises that automation will free up teachers’ time from the drudgery of repetitive tasks like drilling and grading. But few of these arguments seem concerned that students’ work is still mostly drudgery. Just because it’s a worksheet on an iPad doesn’t mean it’s transformational or exciting. It’s still a worksheet.

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Is Tech Destroying Kids’ Social Skills? Here’s How Social-Emotional Learning Can Help

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Technology’s effect on children’s social skills and well-being has caused a lot of hand-wringing over the years—and parents’ and educators’ concerns have only grown with the pandemic as students have done more socializing and learning on their digital devices.

Social media, virtual learning, online gaming, and ubiquitous devices present new social challenges for kids. So, what social-emotional skills do they need to flourish in an increasingly tech-centric world, and are schools teaching them?

Many schools are teaching key skills such as empathy, perspective-taking, and self-management, said Kelly Mendoza, the vice president of education programs at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that also provides curricula and ratings on media and technology. However, the wrinkle is that educators are not always explicitly connecting those skills with tech use.

One reason could be that a lot of SEL curricula uses face-to-face examples in instructional materials and in exercises, said Mendoza.

“And I wonder if there is a generation gap and the adults teaching these skills don’t think of all of the challenges that kids face online or are even aware of them,” she said. “I’m sure they could make the SEL connections, but [these connections] may not be top of mind because adults are not participating online as much.”

But that disconnect, said Mendoza, means that students may not apply or adapt these all-critical social-emotional skills they are learning in school to their digital lives.

Their digital lives, too, are fused with their offline lives in a way that is foreign to many adults, said Michael Rich, a pediatrician and the director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital.

“This generation of young people live in an environment where they move seamlessly from the digital and physical world,” he said. Their teachers and parents, however, often see two worlds: one digital and one real.

How technology influences kids’ social-emotional development

It’s in this hybrid digital and analog world that kids are developing their identities, building relationships, learning to regulate their emotions and actions, and navigating an onslaught of false information. They are also spending a lot more time in the digital realm than they were before the pandemic, a recent survey by Common Sense Media found .

Kids are constantly performing for others on social media, and their identity development is highly subjected to others' feedback.

While the social-emotional skills students need to do well in school and the workplace are many of the same they need to be good digital citizens, technology presents new challenges.

Students need to be self-aware and able to manage their emotions, said Melissa Schlinger, the vice president of practice and programs at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL. There is a lot of emotional content on social media that goads kids (and adults) to click first and think later—commenting or sharing a video, meme, or story without evaluating its accuracy or the repercussions of their actions.

“One component of SEL is to make sure that we are slowing down, and managing those impulses, and understanding what we’re reading,” she said. “Is this something to share? Is it helpful? And that self-management piece is a key strength that we need in this digital space.”

Teachers also need to coach kids to actively pay attention to how they are using media and technology and how it makes them feel, said Mendoza. Do they feel energized or lonely after playing video games? Do they feel confident or bad about themselves after scrolling through social media? Did they miss sleep, or a chance to interact with friends or family in person because of technology?

Maintaining supportive relationships and developing healthy identities can also be more challenging online. People often behave differently when interacting with screens instead of face-to-face, which can lead to cyberbullying and can carry over into in-person interactions.

“What we want to do is bring the personal piece back so that we can tap into our empathy,” said Schlinger. “So, remembering that there are people on the other side of this exchange and trying to focus on being empathic and imagining how different perspectives are reacting and different consequences are affecting different people.”

Building that capacity for empathy in the digital space is important for maintaining healthy relationships online, she said.

Social-emotional learning as it relates to tech shouldn’t focus on just the short-term consequences of hurt feelings or sharing disinformation. Another important skill for students: being able to game out the long-term consequences of actions and how what they say or share online today could derail a job application or scholarship award down the line or destroy a relationship.

This is true, also, for younger children as more of them join social media.

“Young children’s executive function is not developed enough to understand privacy,” said Rich, the pediatrician. “To them, privacy is mom and dad can’t see it. They don’t think about the rest of the world.”

Much of SEL focuses on identity development, said Mendoza, and how students develop healthy identities online should be a part of that exploration in the classroom.

“Kids are constantly performing for others on social media, and their identity development is highly subjected to others’ feedback,” said Mendoza. “Then there is a social comparison, that’s huge, where you’re scrolling and looking and everything is perfect or airbrushed, and kids struggle with this social comparison all of the time.”

While social media is certainly a dominant technology in children’s lives, it’s not the only one creating challenges for kids, families, and educators. There’s online gaming and also a rise in tech use for schoolwork. Families can struggle with the ubiquitous use of digital devices, said Mendoza.

“What I heard from some parents is that they felt like the school is sending this device home, and they felt like, well, it’s not my device, so they felt like they almost had less authority over it,” she said. “I think there is a struggle, and I don’t know what the solution is, around having kids do homework, which is all online nowadays, and then so much of their time is on screens already for their personal use, and it’s just a heck of a lot of screen time.”

There are a few broad ways schools can start being more conscious about teaching social-emotional skills for tech use.

To begin with, “schools can deliberately carve out time for these lessons around explicit skill building around SEL and digital citizenship,” said Nick Woolf, the social and emotional learning coordinator for the Burlington School District in Vermont.

However, as schools do this, educators should be aware that there has been rapid growth of online and app-based social-emotional learning programs during the pandemic, warned Woolf, many of which are not vetted. It’s important for educators to make sure they are using programs that are evidence-based and age-appropriate, he said.

As with much SEL programming, secondary students —especially high schoolers—tend to be an afterthought, said Woolf, and it can be hard to find good curricula and resources geared to older students. This is particularly problematic given that this age group needs these supports the most as they navigate technology.

One way to address this, said Woolf, is to consult high school students on their social-emotional learning needs as it relates to tech. As digital natives, they have a better grasp on their needs than the adults often do, he said.

Schools should also seek student input on tech policies in their school—such as around smartphone use—as a way both to craft more-meaningful policies and to get students involved in the process, Woolf recommends. Student voice, or giving students avenues to have a say in how their school is run, is a tenet of SEL.

Easing the tension between technology and social-emotional development

For a long time, technology and social-emotional learning were thought of as distinct things, sometimes even at odds with one another because technology was seen as undermining students’ social skills.

But the pandemic has forced schools to think about delivering social-emotional learning and other well-being supports in new ways, said Woolf. And while social-emotional learning can help support healthy tech use, the reverse is also true, if often overlooked: tech can also support SEL.

There are app-based check-in tools—such as mood meters—where students tap an emoji that depicts their current mood and, depending upon what they select, link to a related mindfulness activity. This is less work for teachers than the traditional paper mood meters, said Woolf, and it makes it far easier for the district to collect and see trends across the data.

Data management programs with dashboards also make it easier for schools to collect and analyze data important to understanding the social-emotional needs and abilities of students, said Schlinger of CASEL. Survey data on whether students feel engaged, connected, or safe in school can be easily broken down by gender, age, race, income status, and other factors.

As with a lot of other technology products and services, these advancements bring with them significant privacy concerns.

“I have heard from a lot of parents and teachers, if we’re going to ask students about how they are feeling, that could be bringing up sensitive information,” Woolf said.

Technology can help educators in other ways, said Schlinger. Zoom and other video conference tools have made it easier for teachers to meet with parents, building up those all-crucial relationships, said Schlinger and they have made PD opportunities—including those to improve SEL—more accessible to teachers.

While technology has created new challenges for kids’ social-emotional development—and for educators teaching these skills—it’s not helpful to think of the two as distinct or in tension with one another, said Schlinger.

“Technology is not going away so we need to provide our young people with these skills,” she said.

Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.

A version of this article appeared in the April 13, 2022 edition of Education Week as Is Tech Destroying Kids’ Social Skills? Here’s How Social-Emotional Learning Can Help

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• Face the promise and threat of technology in education

The latest large-scale analysis of remote learning and its effects on student achievement underscores what every parent saw with devastating clarity during the pandemic: Children need human connection to thrive.

In fact, according to a New York Times investigation released this week, attending school through a computer screen during the COVID-19 crisis was as deleterious to learning as growing up in poverty.

The takeaway should not be more finger-pointing and blame for officials who kept schools closed. That advances nothing. But a muscular and forward-looking confrontation with questions around technology in education is sorely needed.

One reason is that kids will likely face future emergencies that necessitate remote learning, so it’s imperative to get better at delivering education this way. But even now, with students back in class, the same technology that hijacked their attention at home remains present — cellphones. Before the pandemic, these handheld screens were not a ubiquitous force in every classroom. Now, teachers appear powerless against them.

Seattle Public Schools attempted to take a stand by filing a lawsuit against the social media companies running Facebook, TikTok and the like. That is hardly the most direct approach.

Better to do like the tiny Reardan-Edwall district in Eastern Washington, which this year prohibited younger students from possessing cellphones during the school day (high schoolers may use them during midmorning break and lunch). Or the Peninsula and Aberdeen school districts, which also have strict anti-cellphone policies.

“We’re having actual, human conversations again,” said a relieved Eric Sobotta, superintendent of the Reardan-Edwall schools, “and we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in bullying.”

Taking responsibility this way puts these districts in Washington’s vanguard. It aligns them with other states, like California, Tennessee and Florida, that are facing reality: Technology has enormous power, and its potential in education — for good or ill — must be addressed head-on at the state level, not with limp demurrals about local control.

Rep. Stephanie McClintock, R-Vancouver, attempted to get a law passed during the just-completed legislative session that would have restricted cellphone use in all Washington schools. Her bill never made it out of the Appropriations Committee. But she plans to reintroduce it next year — partly because restricting cellphones in school may be the simplest, least expensive way to improve learning.

A study from the London School of Economics found that the mere presence of a phone in class can hamper student achievement, especially for kids who are already struggling.

None of these tech-based quandaries should come as a surprise. Years before the pandemic, researchers were raising pointed questions about the efficacy of high school credit-recovery programs built solely around online learning. And earlier this year state education Superintendent Chris Reykdal issued guidance on using artificial intelligence in classrooms, urging teachers to embrace it as a tool to power human inquiry.

That’s a welcome step forward. But it’s just a beginning. To protect kids’ developing brains and capitalize on technology’s undeniable promise, all of Washington’s education leaders need to get a lot smarter about managing these tools — fast. The future is not coming at us; it’s already here.

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Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality, U.N. Agency Says

Heavy reliance on online remote learning during the pandemic drew attention away from more equitable ways of teaching children at home, a UNESCO report says.

By Natasha Singer

Natasha Singer has chronicled the growth of online learning in U.S. public schools for more than a decade.

In early 2020, as the coronavirus spread, schools around the world abruptly halted in-person education. To many governments and parents, moving classes online seemed the obvious stopgap solution.

In the United States, school districts scrambled to secure digital devices for students. Almost overnight, videoconferencing software like Zoom became the main platform teachers used to deliver real-time instruction to students at home.

Now a report from UNESCO , the United Nations’ educational and cultural organization, says that overreliance on remote learning technology during the pandemic led to “staggering” education inequality around the world. It was, according to a 655-page report that UNESCO released on Wednesday, a worldwide “ed-tech tragedy.”

The report, from UNESCO’s Future of Education division, is likely to add fuel to the debate over how governments and local school districts handled pandemic restrictions, and whether it would have been better for some countries to reopen schools for in-person instruction sooner.

The UNESCO researchers argued in the report that “unprecedented” dependence on technology — intended to ensure that children could continue their schooling — worsened disparities and learning loss for hundreds of millions of students around the world, including in Kenya, Brazil, Britain and the United States.

The promotion of remote online learning as the primary solution for pandemic schooling also hindered public discussion of more equitable, lower-tech alternatives, such as regularly providing schoolwork packets for every student, delivering school lessons by radio or television — and reopening schools sooner for in-person classes, the researchers said.

“Available evidence strongly indicates that the bright spots of the ed-tech experiences during the pandemic, while important and deserving of attention, were vastly eclipsed by failure,” the UNESCO report said.

The UNESCO researchers recommended that education officials prioritize in-person instruction with teachers, not online platforms, as the primary driver of student learning. And they encouraged schools to ensure that emerging technologies like A.I. chatbots concretely benefitted students before introducing them for educational use.

Education and industry experts welcomed the report, saying more research on the effects of pandemic learning was needed.

“The report’s conclusion — that societies must be vigilant about the ways digital tools are reshaping education — is incredibly important,” said Paul Lekas, the head of global public policy for the Software & Information Industry Association, a group whose members include Amazon, Apple and Google. “There are lots of lessons that can be learned from how digital education occurred during the pandemic and ways in which to lessen the digital divide. ”

Jean-Claude Brizard, the chief executive of Digital Promise, a nonprofit education group that has received funding from Google, HP and Verizon, acknowledged that “technology is not a cure-all.” But he also said that while school systems were largely unprepared for the pandemic, online education tools helped foster “more individualized, enhanced learning experiences as schools shifted to virtual classrooms.”

​Education International, an umbrella organization for about 380 teachers’ unions and 32 million teachers worldwide, said the UNESCO report underlined the importance of in-person, face-to-face teaching.

“The report tells us definitively what we already know to be true, a place called school matters,” said Haldis Holst, the group’s deputy general secretary. “Education is not transactional nor is it simply content delivery. It is relational. It is social. It is human at its core.”

Here are some of the main findings in the report:

The promise of education technology was overstated.

For more than a decade, Silicon Valley tech giants as well as industry-financed nonprofit groups and think tanks have promoted computers, apps and internet access in public schools as innovations that would quickly democratize and modernize student learning.

Many promised that such digital tools would allow schoolchildren to more easily pursue their interests, learn at their own pace and receive instant automated feedback on their work from learning analytics algorithms.

The report’s findings challenge the view that digital technologies are synonymous with educational equality and progress.

The report said that when coronavirus cases began spiking in early 2020, the overselling of ed-tech tools helped make remote online learning seem like the most appealing and effective solution for pandemic schooling even as more equitable, lower-tech options were available.

Remote online learning worsened education disparities.

UNESCO researchers found the shift to remote online learning tended to provide substantial advantages to children in wealthier households while disadvantaging those in lower-income families.

By May 2020, the report said, 60 percent of national remote learning programs “relied exclusively” on internet-connected platforms. But nearly half a billion young people — about half the primary and secondary students worldwide — targeted by those remote learning programs lacked internet connections at home, the report said, excluding them from participating.

According to data and surveys cited in the report, one-third of kindergarten through 12th-grade students in the United States “were cut off from education” in 2020 because of inadequate internet connections or hardware. In 2021 in Pakistan, 30 percent of households said they were aware of remote learning programs while fewer than half of this group had the technology needed to participate.

Learning was hindered and altered.

Student learning outcomes stalled or “declined dramatically” when schools deployed ed tech as a replacement for in-person instruction, the UNESCO researchers said, even when children had access to digital devices and internet connections.

The report also said students learning online spent considerably less time on formal educational tasks — and more time on monotonous digital tasks. It described a daily learning routine “less of discovery and exploration than traversing file-sharing systems, moving through automated learning content, checking for updates on corporate platforms and enduring long video calls.”

Remote online learning also limited or curtailed student opportunities for socialization and nonacademic activities, the report said, causing many students to become disengaged or drop out of school.

The report warned that the shift to remote learning also gave a handful of tech platforms — like Google and Zoom — extraordinary influence in schools. These digital systems often imposed private business values and agendas, the report added, that were at odds with the “humanistic” values of public schooling.

Regulation and guardrails are needed.

To prevent a repeat scenario, the researchers recommended that schools prioritize the best interests of schoolchildren as the central criteria for deploying ed tech.

In practical terms, the researchers called for more regulation and guardrails around online learning tools. They also suggested that districts give teachers more say over which digital tools schools adopt and how they are used.

Natasha Singer writes about technology, business and society. She is currently reporting on the far-reaching ways that tech companies and their tools are reshaping public schools, higher education and job opportunities. More about Natasha Singer

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Impacts of digital technologies on education and factors influencing schools' digital capacity and transformation: A literature review

• Published: 21 November 2022
• Volume 28 , pages 6695–6726, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Stella Timotheou 1 ,
• Ourania Miliou 1 ,
• Yiannis Dimitriadis 2 ,
• Sara Villagrá Sobrino 2 ,
• Nikoleta Giannoutsou 2 ,
• Romina Cachia 3 ,
• Alejandra Martínez Monés 2 &
• Andri Ioannou   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3570-6578 1  

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Digital technologies have brought changes to the nature and scope of education and led education systems worldwide to adopt strategies and policies for ICT integration. The latter brought about issues regarding the quality of teaching and learning with ICTs, especially concerning the understanding, adaptation, and design of the education systems in accordance with current technological trends. These issues were emphasized during the recent COVID-19 pandemic that accelerated the use of digital technologies in education, generating questions regarding digitalization in schools. Specifically, many schools demonstrated a lack of experience and low digital capacity, which resulted in widening gaps, inequalities, and learning losses. Such results have engendered the need for schools to learn and build upon the experience to enhance their digital capacity and preparedness, increase their digitalization levels, and achieve a successful digital transformation. Given that the integration of digital technologies is a complex and continuous process that impacts different actors within the school ecosystem, there is a need to show how these impacts are interconnected and identify the factors that can encourage an effective and efficient change in the school environments. For this purpose, we conducted a non-systematic literature review. The results of the literature review were organized thematically based on the evidence presented about the impact of digital technology on education and the factors that affect the schools’ digital capacity and digital transformation. The findings suggest that ICT integration in schools impacts more than just students’ performance; it affects several other school-related aspects and stakeholders, too. Furthermore, various factors affect the impact of digital technologies on education. These factors are interconnected and play a vital role in the digital transformation process. The study results shed light on how ICTs can positively contribute to the digital transformation of schools and which factors should be considered for schools to achieve effective and efficient change.

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1 Introduction

Digital technologies have brought changes to the nature and scope of education. Versatile and disruptive technological innovations, such as smart devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), blockchain, and software applications have opened up new opportunities for advancing teaching and learning (Gaol & Prasolova-Førland, 2021 ; OECD, 2021 ). Hence, in recent years, education systems worldwide have increased their investment in the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) (Fernández-Gutiérrez et al., 2020 ; Lawrence & Tar, 2018 ) and prioritized their educational agendas to adapt strategies or policies around ICT integration (European Commission, 2019 ). The latter brought about issues regarding the quality of teaching and learning with ICTs (Bates, 2015 ), especially concerning the understanding, adaptation, and design of education systems in accordance with current technological trends (Balyer & Öz, 2018 ). Studies have shown that despite the investment made in the integration of technology in schools, the results have not been promising, and the intended outcomes have not yet been achieved (Delgado et al., 2015 ; Lawrence & Tar, 2018 ). These issues were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced teaching across education levels to move online (Daniel, 2020 ). Online teaching accelerated the use of digital technologies generating questions regarding the process, the nature, the extent, and the effectiveness of digitalization in schools (Cachia et al., 2021 ; König et al., 2020 ). Specifically, many schools demonstrated a lack of experience and low digital capacity, which resulted in widening gaps, inequalities, and learning losses (Blaskó et al., 2021 ; Di Pietro et al, 2020 ). Such results have engendered the need for schools to learn and build upon the experience in order to enhance their digital capacity (European Commission, 2020 ) and increase their digitalization levels (Costa et al., 2021 ). Digitalization offers possibilities for fundamental improvement in schools (OECD, 2021 ; Rott & Marouane, 2018 ) and touches many aspects of a school’s development (Delcker & Ifenthaler, 2021 ) . However, it is a complex process that requires large-scale transformative changes beyond the technical aspects of technology and infrastructure (Pettersson, 2021 ). Namely, digitalization refers to “ a series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce, and technology shifts and operating models ” (Brooks & McCormack, 2020 , p. 3) that brings cultural, organizational, and operational change through the integration of digital technologies (JISC, 2020 ). A successful digital transformation requires that schools increase their digital capacity levels, establishing the necessary “ culture, policies, infrastructure as well as digital competence of students and staff to support the effective integration of technology in teaching and learning practices ” (Costa et al, 2021 , p.163).

Given that the integration of digital technologies is a complex and continuous process that impacts different actors within the school ecosystem (Eng, 2005 ), there is a need to show how the different elements of the impact are interconnected and to identify the factors that can encourage an effective and efficient change in the school environment. To address the issues outlined above, we formulated the following research questions:

a) What is the impact of digital technologies on education?

b) Which factors might affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation?

In the present investigation, we conducted a non-systematic literature review of publications pertaining to the impact of digital technologies on education and the factors that affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation. The results of the literature review were organized thematically based on the evidence presented about the impact of digital technology on education and the factors which affect the schools’ digital capacity and digital transformation.

2 Methodology

The non-systematic literature review presented herein covers the main theories and research published over the past 17 years on the topic. It is based on meta-analyses and review papers found in scholarly, peer-reviewed content databases and other key studies and reports related to the concepts studied (e.g., digitalization, digital capacity) from professional and international bodies (e.g., the OECD). We searched the Scopus database, which indexes various online journals in the education sector with an international scope, to collect peer-reviewed academic papers. Furthermore, we used an all-inclusive Google Scholar search to include relevant key terms or to include studies found in the reference list of the peer-reviewed papers, and other key studies and reports related to the concepts studied by professional and international bodies. Lastly, we gathered sources from the Publications Office of the European Union ( https://op.europa.eu/en/home ); namely, documents that refer to policies related to digital transformation in education.

Regarding search terms, we first searched resources on the impact of digital technologies on education by performing the following search queries: “impact” OR “effects” AND “digital technologies” AND “education”, “impact” OR “effects” AND “ICT” AND “education”. We further refined our results by adding the terms “meta-analysis” and “review” or by adjusting the search options based on the features of each database to avoid collecting individual studies that would provide limited contributions to a particular domain. We relied on meta-analyses and review studies as these consider the findings of multiple studies to offer a more comprehensive view of the research in a given area (Schuele & Justice, 2006 ). Specifically, meta-analysis studies provided quantitative evidence based on statistically verifiable results regarding the impact of educational interventions that integrate digital technologies in school classrooms (Higgins et al., 2012 ; Tolani-Brown et al., 2011 ).

However, quantitative data does not offer explanations for the challenges or difficulties experienced during ICT integration in learning and teaching (Tolani-Brown et al., 2011 ). To fill this gap, we analyzed literature reviews and gathered in-depth qualitative evidence of the benefits and implications of technology integration in schools. In the analysis presented herein, we also included policy documents and reports from professional and international bodies and governmental reports, which offered useful explanations of the key concepts of this study and provided recent evidence on digital capacity and transformation in education along with policy recommendations. The inclusion and exclusion criteria that were considered in this study are presented in Table 1 .

To ensure a reliable extraction of information from each study and assist the research synthesis we selected the study characteristics of interest (impact) and constructed coding forms. First, an overview of the synthesis was provided by the principal investigator who described the processes of coding, data entry, and data management. The coders followed the same set of instructions but worked independently. To ensure a common understanding of the process between coders, a sample of ten studies was tested. The results were compared, and the discrepancies were identified and resolved. Additionally, to ensure an efficient coding process, all coders participated in group meetings to discuss additions, deletions, and modifications (Stock, 1994 ). Due to the methodological diversity of the studied documents we began to synthesize the literature review findings based on similar study designs. Specifically, most of the meta-analysis studies were grouped in one category due to the quantitative nature of the measured impact. These studies tended to refer to student achievement (Hattie et al., 2014 ). Then, we organized the themes of the qualitative studies in several impact categories. Lastly, we synthesized both review and meta-analysis data across the categories. In order to establish a collective understanding of the concept of impact, we referred to a previous impact study by Balanskat ( 2009 ) which investigated the impact of technology in primary schools. In this context, the impact had a more specific ICT-related meaning and was described as “ a significant influence or effect of ICT on the measured or perceived quality of (parts of) education ” (Balanskat, 2009 , p. 9). In the study presented herein, the main impacts are in relation to learning and learners, teaching, and teachers, as well as other key stakeholders who are directly or indirectly connected to the school unit.

The study’s results identified multiple dimensions of the impact of digital technologies on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes; on equality, inclusion, and social integration; on teachers’ professional and teaching practices; and on other school-related aspects and stakeholders. The data analysis indicated various factors that might affect the schools’ digital capacity and transformation, such as digital competencies, the teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development, as well as the school’s leadership and management, administration, infrastructure, etc. The impacts and factors found in the literature review are presented below.

3.1 Impacts of digital technologies on students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and emotions

The impact of ICT use on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes has been investigated early in the literature. Eng ( 2005 ) found a small positive effect between ICT use and students' learning. Specifically, the author reported that access to computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs in simulation or tutorial modes—used to supplement rather than substitute instruction – could enhance student learning. The author reported studies showing that teachers acknowledged the benefits of ICT on pupils with special educational needs; however, the impact of ICT on students' attainment was unclear. Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) found a statistically significant positive association between ICT use and higher student achievement in primary and secondary education. The authors also reported improvements in the performance of low-achieving pupils. The use of ICT resulted in further positive gains for students, namely increased attention, engagement, motivation, communication and process skills, teamwork, and gains related to their behaviour towards learning. Evidence from qualitative studies showed that teachers, students, and parents recognized the positive impact of ICT on students' learning regardless of their competence level (strong/weak students). Punie et al. ( 2006 ) documented studies that showed positive results of ICT-based learning for supporting low-achieving pupils and young people with complex lives outside the education system. Liao et al. ( 2007 ) reported moderate positive effects of computer application instruction (CAI, computer simulations, and web-based learning) over traditional instruction on primary school student's achievement. Similarly, Tamim et al. ( 2011 ) reported small to moderate positive effects between the use of computer technology (CAI, ICT, simulations, computer-based instruction, digital and hypermedia) and student achievement in formal face-to-face classrooms compared to classrooms that did not use technology. Jewitt et al., ( 2011 ) found that the use of learning platforms (LPs) (virtual learning environments, management information systems, communication technologies, and information- and resource-sharing technologies) in schools allowed primary and secondary students to access a wider variety of quality learning resources, engage in independent and personalized learning, and conduct self- and peer-review; LPs also provide opportunities for teacher assessment and feedback. Similar findings were reported by Fu ( 2013 ), who documented a list of benefits and opportunities of ICT use. According to the author, the use of ICTs helps students access digital information and course content effectively and efficiently, supports student-centered and self-directed learning, as well as the development of a creative learning environment where more opportunities for critical thinking skills are offered, and promotes collaborative learning in a distance-learning environment. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) found consistent but small positive associations between the use of technology and learning outcomes of school-age learners (5–18-year-olds) in studies linking the provision and use of technology with attainment. Additionally, Chauhan ( 2017 ) reported a medium positive effect of technology on the learning effectiveness of primary school students compared to students who followed traditional learning instruction.

The rise of mobile technologies and hardware devices instigated investigations into their impact on teaching and learning. Sung et al. ( 2016 ) reported a moderate effect on students' performance from the use of mobile devices in the classroom compared to the use of desktop computers or the non-use of mobile devices. Schmid et al. ( 2014 ) reported medium–low to low positive effects of technology integration (e.g., CAI, ICTs) in the classroom on students' achievement and attitude compared to not using technology or using technology to varying degrees. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) found a low statistically significant effect of the use of tablets and other smart devices in educational contexts on students' achievement outcomes. The authors suggested that tablets offered additional advantages to students; namely, they reported improvements in students’ notetaking, organizational and communication skills, and creativity. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported a small positive effect of one-to-one laptop programs on students’ academic achievement across subject areas. Additional reported benefits included student-centered, individualized, and project-based learning enhanced learner engagement and enthusiasm. Additionally, the authors found that students using one-to-one laptop programs tended to use technology more frequently than in non-laptop classrooms, and as a result, they developed a range of skills (e.g., information skills, media skills, technology skills, organizational skills). Haßler et al. ( 2016 ) found that most interventions that included the use of tablets across the curriculum reported positive learning outcomes. However, from 23 studies, five reported no differences, and two reported a negative effect on students' learning outcomes. Similar results were indicated by Kalati and Kim ( 2022 ) who investigated the effect of touchscreen technologies on young students’ learning. Specifically, from 53 studies, 34 advocated positive effects of touchscreen devices on children’s learning, 17 obtained mixed findings and two studies reported negative effects.

More recently, approaches that refer to the impact of gamification with the use of digital technologies on teaching and learning were also explored. A review by Pan et al. ( 2022 ) that examined the role of learning games in fostering mathematics education in K-12 settings, reported that gameplay improved students’ performance. Integration of digital games in teaching was also found as a promising pedagogical practice in STEM education that could lead to increased learning gains (Martinez et al., 2022 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). However, although Talan et al. ( 2020 ) reported a medium effect of the use of educational games (both digital and non-digital) on academic achievement, the effect of non-digital games was higher.

Over the last two years, the effects of more advanced technologies on teaching and learning were also investigated. Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) found that AR applications had a medium effect on students' learning outcomes compared to traditional lectures. Similarly, Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) showed that AR had a medium impact on students' learning gains. VR applications integrated into various subjects were also found to have a moderate effect on students’ learning compared to control conditions (traditional classes, e.g., lectures, textbooks, and multimedia use, e.g., images, videos, animation, CAI) (Chen et al., 2022b ). Villena-Taranilla et al. ( 2022 ) noted the moderate effect of VR technologies on students’ learning when these were applied in STEM disciplines. In the same meta-analysis, Villena-Taranilla et al. ( 2022 ) highlighted the role of immersive VR, since its effect on students’ learning was greater (at a high level) across educational levels (K-6) compared to semi-immersive and non-immersive integrations. In another meta-analysis study, the effect size of the immersive VR was small and significantly differentiated across educational levels (Coban et al., 2022 ). The impact of AI on education was investigated by Su and Yang ( 2022 ) and Su et al. ( 2022 ), who showed that this technology significantly improved students’ understanding of AI computer science and machine learning concepts.

It is worth noting that the vast majority of studies referred to learning gains in specific subjects. Specifically, several studies examined the impact of digital technologies on students’ literacy skills and reported positive effects on language learning (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Grgurović et al., 2013 ; Friedel et al., 2013 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ; Chen et al., 2022b ; Savva et al., 2022 ). Also, several studies documented positive effects on specific language learning areas, namely foreign language learning (Kao, 2014 ), writing (Higgins et al., 2012 ; Wen & Walters, 2022 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ), as well as reading and comprehension (Cheung & Slavin, 2011 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Schwabe et al., 2022 ). ICTs were also found to have a positive impact on students' performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines (Arztmann et al., 2022 ; Bado, 2022 ; Villena-Taranilla et al., 2022 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Specifically, a number of studies reported positive impacts on students’ achievement in mathematics (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Hillmayr et al., 2020 ; Li & Ma, 2010 ; Pan et al., 2022 ; Ran et al., 2022 ; Verschaffel et al., 2019 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, studies documented positive effects of ICTs on science learning (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ; Hillmayr et al., 2020 ; Kalemkuş & Kalemkuş, 2022 ; Lei et al., 2022a ). Çelik ( 2022 ) also noted that computer simulations can help students understand learning concepts related to science. Furthermore, some studies documented that the use of ICTs had a positive impact on students’ achievement in other subjects, such as geography, history, music, and arts (Chauhan, 2017 ; Condie & Munro, 2007 ), and design and technology (Balanskat et al., 2006 ).

More specific positive learning gains were reported in a number of skills, e.g., problem-solving skills and pattern exploration skills (Higgins et al., 2012 ), metacognitive learning outcomes (Verschaffel et al., 2019 ), literacy skills, computational thinking skills, emotion control skills, and collaborative inquiry skills (Lu et al., 2022 ; Su & Yang, 2022 ; Su et al., 2022 ). Additionally, several investigations have reported benefits from the use of ICT on students’ creativity (Fielding & Murcia, 2022 ; Liu et al., 2022 ; Quah & Ng, 2022 ). Lastly, digital technologies were also found to be beneficial for enhancing students’ lifelong learning skills (Haleem et al., 2022 ).

Apart from gaining knowledge and skills, studies also reported improvement in motivation and interest in mathematics (Higgins et. al., 2019 ; Fadda et al., 2022 ) and increased positive achievement emotions towards several subjects during interventions using educational games (Lei et al., 2022a ). Chen et al. ( 2022a ) also reported a small but positive effect of digital health approaches in bullying and cyberbullying interventions with K-12 students, demonstrating that technology-based approaches can help reduce bullying and related consequences by providing emotional support, empowerment, and change of attitude. In their meta-review study, Su et al. ( 2022 ) also documented that AI technologies effectively strengthened students’ attitudes towards learning. In another meta-analysis, Arztmann et al. ( 2022 ) reported positive effects of digital games on motivation and behaviour towards STEM subjects.

3.2 Impacts of digital technologies on equality, inclusion and social integration

Although most of the reviewed studies focused on the impact of ICTs on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, reports were also made on other aspects in the school context, such as equality, inclusion, and social integration. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) documented research interventions investigating how ICT can support pupils with additional or special educational needs. While those interventions were relatively small scale and mostly based on qualitative data, their findings indicated that the use of ICTs enabled the development of communication, participation, and self-esteem. A recent meta-analysis (Baragash et al., 2022 ) with 119 participants with different disabilities, reported a significant overall effect size of AR on their functional skills acquisition. Koh’s meta-analysis ( 2022 ) also revealed that students with intellectual and developmental disabilities improved their competence and performance when they used digital games in the lessons.

Istenic Starcic and Bagon ( 2014 ) found that the role of ICT in inclusion and the design of pedagogical and technological interventions was not sufficiently explored in educational interventions with people with special needs; however, some benefits of ICT use were found in students’ social integration. The issue of gender and technology use was mentioned in a small number of studies. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported a statistically significant positive interaction between one-to-one laptop programs and gender. Specifically, the results showed that girls and boys alike benefitted from the laptop program, but the effect on girls’ achievement was smaller than that on boys’. Along the same lines, Arztmann et al. ( 2022 ) reported no difference in the impact of game-based learning between boys and girls, arguing that boys and girls equally benefited from game-based interventions in STEM domains. However, results from a systematic review by Cussó-Calabuig et al. ( 2018 ) found limited and low-quality evidence on the effects of intensive use of computers on gender differences in computer anxiety, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. Based on their view, intensive use of computers can reduce gender differences in some areas and not in others, depending on contextual and implementation factors.

3.3 Impacts of digital technologies on teachers’ professional and teaching practices

Various research studies have explored the impact of ICT on teachers’ instructional practices and student assessment. Friedel et al. ( 2013 ) found that the use of mobile devices by students enabled teachers to successfully deliver content (e.g., mobile serious games), provide scaffolding, and facilitate synchronous collaborative learning. The integration of digital games in teaching and learning activities also gave teachers the opportunity to study and apply various pedagogical practices (Bado, 2022 ). Specifically, Bado ( 2022 ) found that teachers who implemented instructional activities in three stages (pre-game, game, and post-game) maximized students’ learning outcomes and engagement. For instance, during the pre-game stage, teachers focused on lectures and gameplay training, at the game stage teachers provided scaffolding on content, addressed technical issues, and managed the classroom activities. During the post-game stage, teachers organized activities for debriefing to ensure that the gameplay had indeed enhanced students’ learning outcomes.

Furthermore, ICT can increase efficiency in lesson planning and preparation by offering possibilities for a more collaborative approach among teachers. The sharing of curriculum plans and the analysis of students’ data led to clearer target settings and improvements in reporting to parents (Balanskat et al., 2006 ).

Additionally, the use and application of digital technologies in teaching and learning were found to enhance teachers’ digital competence. Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) documented studies that revealed that the use of digital technologies in education had a positive effect on teachers’ basic ICT skills. The greatest impact was found on teachers with enough experience in integrating ICTs in their teaching and/or who had recently participated in development courses for the pedagogical use of technologies in teaching. Punie et al. ( 2006 ) reported that the provision of fully equipped multimedia portable computers and the development of online teacher communities had positive impacts on teachers’ confidence and competence in the use of ICTs.

Moreover, online assessment via ICTs benefits instruction. In particular, online assessments support the digitalization of students’ work and related logistics, allow teachers to gather immediate feedback and readjust to new objectives, and support the improvement of the technical quality of tests by providing more accurate results. Additionally, the capabilities of ICTs (e.g., interactive media, simulations) create new potential methods of testing specific skills, such as problem-solving and problem-processing skills, meta-cognitive skills, creativity and communication skills, and the ability to work productively in groups (Punie et al., 2006 ).

3.4 Impacts of digital technologies on other school-related aspects and stakeholders

There is evidence that the effective use of ICTs and the data transmission offered by broadband connections help improve administration (Balanskat et al., 2006 ). Specifically, ICTs have been found to provide better management systems to schools that have data gathering procedures in place. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) reported impacts from the use of ICTs in schools in the following areas: attendance monitoring, assessment records, reporting to parents, financial management, creation of repositories for learning resources, and sharing of information amongst staff. Such data can be used strategically for self-evaluation and monitoring purposes which in turn can result in school improvements. Additionally, they reported that online access to other people with similar roles helped to reduce headteachers’ isolation by offering them opportunities to share insights into the use of ICT in learning and teaching and how it could be used to support school improvement. Furthermore, ICTs provided more efficient and successful examination management procedures, namely less time-consuming reporting processes compared to paper-based examinations and smooth communications between schools and examination authorities through electronic data exchange (Punie et al., 2006 ).

Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported that the use of ICTs improved home-school relationships. Additionally, Escueta et al. ( 2017 ) reported several ICT programs that had improved the flow of information from the school to parents. Particularly, they documented that the use of ICTs (learning management systems, emails, dedicated websites, mobile phones) allowed for personalized and customized information exchange between schools and parents, such as attendance records, upcoming class assignments, school events, and students’ grades, which generated positive results on students’ learning outcomes and attainment. Such information exchange between schools and families prompted parents to encourage their children to put more effort into their schoolwork.

The above findings suggest that the impact of ICT integration in schools goes beyond students’ performance in school subjects. Specifically, it affects a number of school-related aspects, such as equality and social integration, professional and teaching practices, and diverse stakeholders. In Table 2 , we summarize the different impacts of digital technologies on school stakeholders based on the literature review, while in Table 3 we organized the tools/platforms and practices/policies addressed in the meta-analyses, literature reviews, EU reports, and international bodies included in the manuscript.

Additionally, based on the results of the literature review, there are many types of digital technologies with different affordances (see, for example, studies on VR vs Immersive VR), which evolve over time (e.g. starting from CAIs in 2005 to Augmented and Virtual reality 2020). Furthermore, these technologies are linked to different pedagogies and policy initiatives, which are critical factors in the study of impact. Table 3 summarizes the different tools and practices that have been used to examine the impact of digital technologies on education since 2005 based on the review results.

3.5 Factors that affect the integration of digital technologies

Although the analysis of the literature review demonstrated different impacts of the use of digital technology on education, several authors highlighted the importance of various factors, besides the technology itself, that affect this impact. For example, Liao et al. ( 2007 ) suggested that future studies should carefully investigate which factors contribute to positive outcomes by clarifying the exact relationship between computer applications and learning. Additionally, Haßler et al., ( 2016 ) suggested that the neutral findings regarding the impact of tablets on students learning outcomes in some of the studies included in their review should encourage educators, school leaders, and school officials to further investigate the potential of such devices in teaching and learning. Several other researchers suggested that a number of variables play a significant role in the impact of ICTs on students’ learning that could be attributed to the school context, teaching practices and professional development, the curriculum, and learners’ characteristics (Underwood, 2009 ; Tamim et al., 2011 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Archer et al., 2014 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Haßler et al., 2016 ; Chauhan, 2017 ; Lee et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2022 ).

3.5.1 Digital competencies

One of the most common challenges reported in studies that utilized digital tools in the classroom was the lack of students’ skills on how to use them. Fu ( 2013 ) found that students’ lack of technical skills is a barrier to the effective use of ICT in the classroom. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) reported that students faced challenges when using tablets and smart mobile devices, associated with the technical issues or expertise needed for their use and the distracting nature of the devices and highlighted the need for teachers’ professional development. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) reported that skills training about the use of digital technologies is essential for learners to fully exploit the benefits of instruction.

Delgado et al. ( 2015 ), meanwhile, reported studies that showed a strong positive association between teachers’ computer skills and students’ use of computers. Teachers’ lack of ICT skills and familiarization with technologies can become a constraint to the effective use of technology in the classroom (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Delgado et al., 2015 ).

It is worth noting that the way teachers are introduced to ICTs affects the impact of digital technologies on education. Previous studies have shown that teachers may avoid using digital technologies due to limited digital skills (Balanskat, 2006 ), or they prefer applying “safe” technologies, namely technologies that their own teachers used and with which they are familiar (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). In this regard, the provision of digital skills training and exposure to new digital tools might encourage teachers to apply various technologies in their lessons (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). Apart from digital competence, technical support in the school setting has also been shown to affect teachers’ use of technology in their classrooms (Delgado et al., 2015 ). Ferrari et al. ( 2011 ) found that while teachers’ use of ICT is high, 75% stated that they needed more institutional support and a shift in the mindset of educational actors to achieve more innovative teaching practices. The provision of support can reduce time and effort as well as cognitive constraints, which could cause limited ICT integration in the school lessons by teachers (Escueta et al., 2017 ).

3.5.2 Teachers’ personal characteristics, training approaches, and professional development

Teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development affect the impact of digital technologies on education. Specifically, Cheok and Wong ( 2015 ) found that teachers’ personal characteristics (e.g., anxiety, self-efficacy) are associated with their satisfaction and engagement with technology. Bingimlas ( 2009 ) reported that lack of confidence, resistance to change, and negative attitudes in using new technologies in teaching are significant determinants of teachers’ levels of engagement in ICT. The same author reported that the provision of technical support, motivation support (e.g., awards, sufficient time for planning), and training on how technologies can benefit teaching and learning can eliminate the above barriers to ICT integration. Archer et al. ( 2014 ) found that comfort levels in using technology are an important predictor of technology integration and argued that it is essential to provide teachers with appropriate training and ongoing support until they are comfortable with using ICTs in the classroom. Hillmayr et al. ( 2020 ) documented that training teachers on ICT had an important effecton students’ learning.

According to Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ), the impact of ICTs on students’ learning is highly dependent on the teachers’ capacity to efficiently exploit their application for pedagogical purposes. Results obtained from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) (OECD, 2021 ) revealed that although schools are open to innovative practices and have the capacity to adopt them, only 39% of teachers in the European Union reported that they are well or very well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching. Li and Ma ( 2010 ) and Hardman ( 2019 ) showed that the positive effect of technology on students’ achievement depends on the pedagogical practices used by teachers. Schmid et al. ( 2014 ) reported that learning was best supported when students were engaged in active, meaningful activities with the use of technological tools that provided cognitive support. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) compared two different pedagogical uses of tablets and found a significant moderate effect when the devices were used in a student-centered context and approach rather than within teacher-led environments. Similarly, Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) and Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) reported that the positive results from the integration of AR applications could be attributed to the existence of different variables which could influence AR interventions (e.g., pedagogical approach, learning environment, and duration of the intervention). Additionally, Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) suggested that the pedagogical resources that teachers used to complement their lectures and the pedagogical approaches they applied were crucial to the effective integration of AR on students’ learning gains. Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) also emphasized that the success of a technology-enhanced intervention is based on both the technology per se and its characteristics and on the pedagogical strategies teachers choose to implement. For instance, their results indicated that the collaborative learning approach had the highest impact on students’ learning gains among other approaches (e.g., inquiry-based learning, situated learning, or project-based learning). Ran et al. ( 2022 ) also found that the use of technology to design collaborative and communicative environments showed the largest moderator effects among the other approaches.

Hattie ( 2008 ) reported that the effective use of computers is associated with training teachers in using computers as a teaching and learning tool. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) noted that in addition to the strategies teachers adopt in teaching, ongoing professional development is also vital in ensuring the success of technology implementation programs. Sung et al. ( 2016 ) found that research on the use of mobile devices to support learning tends to report that the insufficient preparation of teachers is a major obstacle in implementing effective mobile learning programs in schools. Friedel et al. ( 2013 ) found that providing training and support to teachers increased the positive impact of the interventions on students’ learning gains. Trucano ( 2005 ) argued that positive impacts occur when digital technologies are used to enhance teachers’ existing pedagogical philosophies. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) found that the types of technologies used and how they are used could also affect students’ learning. The authors suggested that training and professional development of teachers that focuses on the effective pedagogical use of technology to support teaching and learning is an important component of successful instructional approaches (Higgins et al., 2012 ). Archer et al. ( 2014 ) found that studies that reported ICT interventions during which teachers received training and support had moderate positive effects on students’ learning outcomes, which were significantly higher than studies where little or no detail about training and support was mentioned. Fu ( 2013 ) reported that the lack of teachers’ knowledge and skills on the technical and instructional aspects of ICT use in the classroom, in-service training, pedagogy support, technical and financial support, as well as the lack of teachers’ motivation and encouragement to integrate ICT on their teaching were significant barriers to the integration of ICT in education.

3.5.3 School leadership and management

Management and leadership are important cornerstones in the digital transformation process (Pihir et al., 2018 ). Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) documented leadership among the factors positively affecting the successful implementation of technology integration in schools. Strong leadership, strategic planning, and systematic integration of digital technologies are prerequisites for the digital transformation of education systems (Ređep, 2021 ). Management and leadership play a significant role in formulating policies that are translated into practice and ensure that developments in ICT become embedded into the life of the school and in the experiences of staff and pupils (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). Policy support and leadership must include the provision of an overall vision for the use of digital technologies in education, guidance for students and parents, logistical support, as well as teacher training (Conrads et al., 2017 ). Unless there is a commitment throughout the school, with accountability for progress at key points, it is unlikely for ICT integration to be sustained or become part of the culture (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). To achieve this, principals need to adopt and promote a whole-institution strategy and build a strong mutual support system that enables the school’s technological maturity (European Commission, 2019 ). In this context, school culture plays an essential role in shaping the mindsets and beliefs of school actors towards successful technology integration. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) emphasized the importance of the principal’s enthusiasm and work as a source of inspiration for the school staff and the students to cultivate a culture of innovation and establish sustainable digital change. Specifically, school leaders need to create conditions in which the school staff is empowered to experiment and take risks with technology (Elkordy & Lovinelli, 2020 ).

In order for leaders to achieve the above, it is important to develop capacities for learning and leading, advocating professional learning, and creating support systems and structures (European Commission, 2019 ). Digital technology integration in education systems can be challenging and leadership needs guidance to achieve it. Such guidance can be introduced through the adoption of new methods and techniques in strategic planning for the integration of digital technologies (Ređep, 2021 ). Even though the role of leaders is vital, the relevant training offered to them has so far been inadequate. Specifically, only a third of the education systems in Europe have put in place national strategies that explicitly refer to the training of school principals (European Commission, 2019 , p. 16).

3.5.4 Connectivity, infrastructure, and government and other support

The effective integration of digital technologies across levels of education presupposes the development of infrastructure, the provision of digital content, and the selection of proper resources (Voogt et al., 2013 ). Particularly, a high-quality broadband connection in the school increases the quality and quantity of educational activities. There is evidence that ICT increases and formalizes cooperative planning between teachers and cooperation with managers, which in turn has a positive impact on teaching practices (Balanskat et al., 2006 ). Additionally, ICT resources, including software and hardware, increase the likelihood of teachers integrating technology into the curriculum to enhance their teaching practices (Delgado et al., 2015 ). For example, Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) found that the use of one-on-one laptop programs resulted in positive changes in teaching and learning, which would not have been accomplished without the infrastructure and technical support provided to teachers. Delgado et al. ( 2015 ) reported that limited access to technology (insufficient computers, peripherals, and software) and lack of technical support are important barriers to ICT integration. Access to infrastructure refers not only to the availability of technology in a school but also to the provision of a proper amount and the right types of technology in locations where teachers and students can use them. Effective technical support is a central element of the whole-school strategy for ICT (Underwood, 2009 ). Bingimlas ( 2009 ) reported that lack of technical support in the classroom and whole-school resources (e.g., failing to connect to the Internet, printers not printing, malfunctioning computers, and working on old computers) are significant barriers that discourage the use of ICT by teachers. Moreover, poor quality and inadequate hardware maintenance, and unsuitable educational software may discourage teachers from using ICTs (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Bingimlas, 2009 ).

Government support can also impact the integration of ICTs in teaching. Specifically, Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) reported that government interventions and training programs increased teachers’ enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards ICT and led to the routine use of embedded ICT.

Lastly, another important factor affecting digital transformation is the development and quality assurance of digital learning resources. Such resources can be support textbooks and related materials or resources that focus on specific subjects or parts of the curriculum. Policies on the provision of digital learning resources are essential for schools and can be achieved through various actions. For example, some countries are financing web portals that become repositories, enabling teachers to share resources or create their own. Additionally, they may offer e-learning opportunities or other services linked to digital education. In other cases, specific agencies of projects have also been set up to develop digital resources (Eurydice, 2019 ).

3.5.5 Administration and digital data management

The digital transformation of schools involves organizational improvements at the level of internal workflows, communication between the different stakeholders, and potential for collaboration. Vuorikari et al. ( 2020 ) presented evidence that digital technologies supported the automation of administrative practices in schools and reduced the administration’s workload. There is evidence that digital data affects the production of knowledge about schools and has the power to transform how schooling takes place. Specifically, Sellar ( 2015 ) reported that data infrastructure in education is developing due to the demand for “ information about student outcomes, teacher quality, school performance, and adult skills, associated with policy efforts to increase human capital and productivity practices ” (p. 771). In this regard, practices, such as datafication which refers to the “ translation of information about all kinds of things and processes into quantified formats” have become essential for decision-making based on accountability reports about the school’s quality. The data could be turned into deep insights about education or training incorporating ICTs. For example, measuring students’ online engagement with the learning material and drawing meaningful conclusions can allow teachers to improve their educational interventions (Vuorikari et al., 2020 ).

3.5.6 Students’ socioeconomic background and family support

Research show that the active engagement of parents in the school and their support for the school’s work can make a difference to their children’s attitudes towards learning and, as a result, their achievement (Hattie, 2008 ). In recent years, digital technologies have been used for more effective communication between school and family (Escueta et al., 2017 ). The European Commission ( 2020 ) presented data from a Eurostat survey regarding the use of computers by students during the pandemic. The data showed that younger pupils needed additional support and guidance from parents and the challenges were greater for families in which parents had lower levels of education and little to no digital skills.

In this regard, the socio-economic background of the learners and their socio-cultural environment also affect educational achievements (Punie et al., 2006 ). Trucano documented that the use of computers at home positively influenced students’ confidence and resulted in more frequent use at school, compared to students who had no home access (Trucano, 2005 ). In this sense, the socio-economic background affects the access to computers at home (OECD, 2015 ) which in turn influences the experience of ICT, an important factor for school achievement (Punie et al., 2006 ; Underwood, 2009 ). Furthermore, parents from different socio-economic backgrounds may have different abilities and availability to support their children in their learning process (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ).

3.5.7 Schools’ socioeconomic context and emergency situations

The socio-economic context of the school is closely related to a school’s digital transformation. For example, schools in disadvantaged, rural, or deprived areas are likely to lack the digital capacity and infrastructure required to adapt to the use of digital technologies during emergency periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ). Data collected from school principals confirmed that in several countries, there is a rural/urban divide in connectivity (OECD, 2015 ).

Emergency periods also affect the digitalization of schools. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of schools and forced them to seek appropriate and connective ways to keep working on the curriculum (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ). The sudden large-scale shift to distance and online teaching and learning also presented challenges around quality and equity in education, such as the risk of increased inequalities in learning, digital, and social, as well as teachers facing difficulties coping with this demanding situation (European Commission, 2020 ).

Looking at the findings of the above studies, we can conclude that the impact of digital technologies on education is influenced by various actors and touches many aspects of the school ecosystem. Figure  1 summarizes the factors affecting the digital technologies’ impact on school stakeholders based on the findings from the literature review.

Factors that affect the impact of ICTs on education

4 Discussion

The findings revealed that the use of digital technologies in education affects a variety of actors within a school’s ecosystem. First, we observed that as technologies evolve, so does the interest of the research community to apply them to school settings. Figure  2 summarizes the trends identified in current research around the impact of digital technologies on schools’ digital capacity and transformation as found in the present study. Starting as early as 2005, when computers, simulations, and interactive boards were the most commonly applied tools in school interventions (e.g., Eng, 2005 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Moran et al., 2008 ; Tamim et al., 2011 ), moving towards the use of learning platforms (Jewitt et al., 2011 ), then to the use of mobile devices and digital games (e.g., Tamim et al., 2015 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Talan et al., 2020 ), as well as e-books (e.g., Savva et al., 2022 ), to the more recent advanced technologies, such as AR and VR applications (e.g., Garzón & Acevedo, 2019 ; Garzón et al., 2020 ; Kalemkuş & Kalemkuş, 2022 ), or robotics and AI (e.g., Su & Yang, 2022 ; Su et al., 2022 ). As this evolution shows, digital technologies are a concept in flux with different affordances and characteristics. Additionally, from an instructional perspective, there has been a growing interest in different modes and models of content delivery such as online, blended, and hybrid modes (e.g., Cheok & Wong, 2015 ; Kazu & Yalçin, 2022 ; Ulum, 2022 ). This is an indication that the value of technologies to support teaching and learning as well as other school-related practices is increasingly recognized by the research and school community. The impact results from the literature review indicate that ICT integration on students’ learning outcomes has effects that are small (Coban et al., 2022 ; Eng, 2005 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Schmid et al., 2014 ; Tamim et al., 2015 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ) to moderate (Garzón & Acevedo, 2019 ; Garzón et al., 2020 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Talan et al., 2020 ; Wen & Walters, 2022 ). That said, a number of recent studies have reported high effect sizes (e.g., Kazu & Yalçin, 2022 ).

Current work and trends in the study of the impact of digital technologies on schools’ digital capacity

Based on these findings, several authors have suggested that the impact of technology on education depends on several variables and not on the technology per se (Tamim et al., 2011 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Archer et al., 2014 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Haßler et al., 2016 ; Chauhan, 2017 ; Lee et al., 2020 ; Lei et al., 2022a ). While the impact of ICTs on student achievement has been thoroughly investigated by researchers, other aspects related to school life that are also affected by ICTs, such as equality, inclusion, and social integration have received less attention. Further analysis of the literature review has revealed a greater investment in ICT interventions to support learning and teaching in the core subjects of literacy and STEM disciplines, especially mathematics, and science. These were the most common subjects studied in the reviewed papers often drawing on national testing results, while studies that investigated other subject areas, such as social studies, were limited (Chauhan, 2017 ; Condie & Munro, 2007 ). As such, research is still lacking impact studies that focus on the effects of ICTs on a range of curriculum subjects.

The qualitative research provided additional information about the impact of digital technologies on education, documenting positive effects and giving more details about implications, recommendations, and future research directions. Specifically, the findings regarding the role of ICTs in supporting learning highlight the importance of teachers’ instructional practice and the learning context in the use of technologies and consequently their impact on instruction (Çelik, 2022 ; Schmid et al., 2014 ; Tamim et al., 2015 ). The review also provided useful insights regarding the various factors that affect the impact of digital technologies on education. These factors are interconnected and play a vital role in the transformation process. Specifically, these factors include a) digital competencies; b) teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development; c) school leadership and management; d) connectivity, infrastructure, and government support; e) administration and data management practices; f) students’ socio-economic background and family support and g) the socioeconomic context of the school and emergency situations. It is worth noting that we observed factors that affect the integration of ICTs in education but may also be affected by it. For example, the frequent use of ICTs and the use of laptops by students for instructional purposes positively affect the development of digital competencies (Zheng et al., 2016 ) and at the same time, the digital competencies affect the use of ICTs (Fu, 2013 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ). As a result, the impact of digital technologies should be explored more as an enabler of desirable and new practices and not merely as a catalyst that improves the output of the education process i.e. namely student attainment.

5 Conclusions

Digital technologies offer immense potential for fundamental improvement in schools. However, investment in ICT infrastructure and professional development to improve school education are yet to provide fruitful results. Digital transformation is a complex process that requires large-scale transformative changes that presuppose digital capacity and preparedness. To achieve such changes, all actors within the school’s ecosystem need to share a common vision regarding the integration of ICTs in education and work towards achieving this goal. Our literature review, which synthesized quantitative and qualitative data from a list of meta-analyses and review studies, provided useful insights into the impact of ICTs on different school stakeholders and showed that the impact of digital technologies touches upon many different aspects of school life, which are often overlooked when the focus is on student achievement as the final output of education. Furthermore, the concept of digital technologies is a concept in flux as technologies are not only different among them calling for different uses in the educational practice but they also change through time. Additionally, we opened a forum for discussion regarding the factors that affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation. We hope that our study will inform policy, practice, and research and result in a paradigm shift towards more holistic approaches in impact and assessment studies.

6 Study limitations and future directions

We presented a review of the study of digital technologies' impact on education and factors influencing schools’ digital capacity and transformation. The study results were based on a non-systematic literature review grounded on the acquisition of documentation in specific databases. Future studies should investigate more databases to corroborate and enhance our results. Moreover, search queries could be enhanced with key terms that could provide additional insights about the integration of ICTs in education, such as “policies and strategies for ICT integration in education”. Also, the study drew information from meta-analyses and literature reviews to acquire evidence about the effects of ICT integration in schools. Such evidence was mostly based on the general conclusions of the studies. It is worth mentioning that, we located individual studies which showed different, such as negative or neutral results. Thus, further insights are needed about the impact of ICTs on education and the factors influencing the impact. Furthermore, the nature of the studies included in meta-analyses and reviews is different as they are based on different research methodologies and data gathering processes. For instance, in a meta-analysis, the impact among the studies investigated is measured in a particular way, depending on policy or research targets (e.g., results from national examinations, pre-/post-tests). Meanwhile, in literature reviews, qualitative studies offer additional insights and detail based on self-reports and research opinions on several different aspects and stakeholders who could affect and be affected by ICT integration. As a result, it was challenging to draw causal relationships between so many interrelating variables.

Despite the challenges mentioned above, this study envisaged examining school units as ecosystems that consist of several actors by bringing together several variables from different research epistemologies to provide an understanding of the integration of ICTs. However, the use of other tools and methodologies and models for evaluation of the impact of digital technologies on education could give more detailed data and more accurate results. For instance, self-reflection tools, like SELFIE—developed on the DigCompOrg framework- (Kampylis et al., 2015 ; Bocconi & Lightfoot, 2021 ) can help capture a school’s digital capacity and better assess the impact of ICTs on education. Furthermore, the development of a theory of change could be a good approach for documenting the impact of digital technologies on education. Specifically, theories of change are models used for the evaluation of interventions and their impact; they are developed to describe how interventions will work and give the desired outcomes (Mayne, 2015 ). Theory of change as a methodological approach has also been used by researchers to develop models for evaluation in the field of education (e.g., Aromatario et al., 2019 ; Chapman & Sammons, 2013 ; De Silva et al., 2014 ).

We also propose that future studies aim at similar investigations by applying more holistic approaches for impact assessment that can provide in-depth data about the impact of digital technologies on education. For instance, future studies could focus on different research questions about the technologies that are used during the interventions or the way the implementation takes place (e.g., What methodologies are used for documenting impact? How are experimental studies implemented? How can teachers be taken into account and trained on the technology and its functions? What are the elements of an appropriate and successful implementation? How is the whole intervention designed? On which learning theories is the technology implementation based?).

Future research could also focus on assessing the impact of digital technologies on various other subjects since there is a scarcity of research related to particular subjects, such as geography, history, arts, music, and design and technology. More research should also be done about the impact of ICTs on skills, emotions, and attitudes, and on equality, inclusion, social interaction, and special needs education. There is also a need for more research about the impact of ICTs on administration, management, digitalization, and home-school relationships. Additionally, although new forms of teaching and learning with the use of ICTs (e.g., blended, hybrid, and online learning) have initiated several investigations in mainstream classrooms, only a few studies have measured their impact on students’ learning. Additionally, our review did not document any study about the impact of flipped classrooms on K-12 education. Regarding teaching and learning approaches, it is worth noting that studies referred to STEM or STEAM did not investigate the impact of STEM/STEAM as an interdisciplinary approach to learning but only investigated the impact of ICTs on learning in each domain as a separate subject (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics). Hence, we propose future research to also investigate the impact of the STEM/STEAM approach on education. The impact of emerging technologies on education, such as AR, VR, robotics, and AI has also been investigated recently, but more work needs to be done.

Finally, we propose that future studies could focus on the way in which specific factors, e.g., infrastructure and government support, school leadership and management, students’ and teachers’ digital competencies, approaches teachers utilize in the teaching and learning (e.g., blended, online and hybrid learning, flipped classrooms, STEM/STEAM approach, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning), affect the impact of digital technologies on education. We hope that future studies will give detailed insights into the concept of schools’ digital transformation through further investigation of impacts and factors which influence digital capacity and transformation based on the results and the recommendations of the present study.

Data availability statement

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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This project has received funding under Grant Agreement No Ref Ares (2021) 339036 7483039 as well as funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No 739578 and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy. The UVa co-authors would like also to acknowledge funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the National Research Agency of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under project grant PID2020-112584RB-C32.

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Timotheou, S., Miliou, O., Dimitriadis, Y. et al. Impacts of digital technologies on education and factors influencing schools' digital capacity and transformation: A literature review. Educ Inf Technol 28 , 6695–6726 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11431-8

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Stanford Graduate School of Education Dean Dan Schwartz and other education scholars weigh in on what's next for some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom.

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New advances in technology are upending education, from the recent debut of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing accessibility of virtual-reality tools that expand the boundaries of the classroom. For educators, at the heart of it all is the hope that every learner gets an equal chance to develop the skills they need to succeed. But that promise is not without its pitfalls.

“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is also a professor of educational technology at the GSE and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . “But there are a lot of ways we teach that aren’t great, and a big fear with AI in particular is that we just get more efficient at teaching badly. This is a moment to pay attention, to do things differently.”

For K-12 schools, this year also marks the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program, which has provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. With these funds running out in September 2024, schools are trying to determine their best use of technology as they face the prospect of diminishing resources.

Here, Schwartz and other Stanford education scholars weigh in on some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom this year.

AI in the classroom

In 2023, the big story in technology and education was generative AI, following the introduction of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce text seemingly written by a human in response to a question or prompt. Educators immediately worried that students would use the chatbot to cheat by trying to pass its writing off as their own. As schools move to adopt policies around students’ use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore potential opportunities – for example, to generate reading assignments or coach students during the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing teachers to do the human work that drew them into the profession in the first place, said Victor Lee, an associate professor at the GSE and faculty lead for the AI + Education initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “I’m heartened to see some movement toward creating AI tools that make teachers’ lives better – not to replace them, but to give them the time to do the work that only teachers are able to do,” he said. “I hope to see more on that front.”

He also emphasized the need to teach students now to begin questioning and critiquing the development and use of AI. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also director of CRAFT (Classroom-Ready Resources about AI for Teaching), which provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students across subject areas. “We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology.”

Immersive environments

The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom, especially as new high-profile devices integrating these realities hit the marketplace in 2024.

The educational possibilities now go beyond putting on a headset and experiencing life in a distant location. With new technologies, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios, using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

“This is an area that’s really going to explode over the next couple of years,” said Kristen Pilner Blair, director of research for the Digital Learning initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which runs a program exploring the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the effects of climate change, say, by virtually experiencing the impact on a particular environment. But they can also become creators, documenting and sharing immersive media that shows the effects where they live.”

Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”

Gamification

Another trend expected to intensify this year is the gamification of learning activities, often featuring dynamic videos with interactive elements to engage and hold students’ attention.

“Gamification is a good motivator, because one key aspect is reward, which is very powerful,” said Schwartz. The downside? Rewards are specific to the activity at hand, which may not extend to learning more generally. “If I get rewarded for doing math in a space-age video game, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be motivated to do math anywhere else.”

Gamification sometimes tries to make “chocolate-covered broccoli,” Schwartz said, by adding art and rewards to make speeded response tasks involving single-answer, factual questions more fun. He hopes to see more creative play patterns that give students points for rethinking an approach or adapting their strategy, rather than only rewarding them for quickly producing a correct response.

Data-gathering and analysis

The growing use of technology in schools is producing massive amounts of data on students’ activities in the classroom and online. “We’re now able to capture moment-to-moment data, every keystroke a kid makes,” said Schwartz – data that can reveal areas of struggle and different learning opportunities, from solving a math problem to approaching a writing assignment.

But outside of research settings, he said, that type of granular data – now owned by tech companies – is more likely used to refine the design of the software than to provide teachers with actionable information.

The promise of personalized learning is being able to generate content aligned with students’ interests and skill levels, and making lessons more accessible for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Realizing that promise requires that educators can make sense of the data that’s being collected, said Schwartz – and while advances in AI are making it easier to identify patterns and findings, the data also needs to be in a system and form educators can access and analyze for decision-making. Developing a usable infrastructure for that data, Schwartz said, is an important next step.

With the accumulation of student data comes privacy concerns: How is the data being collected? Are there regulations or guidelines around its use in decision-making? What steps are being taken to prevent unauthorized access? In 2023 K-12 schools experienced a rise in cyberattacks, underscoring the need to implement strong systems to safeguard student data.

Technology is “requiring people to check their assumptions about education,” said Schwartz, noting that AI in particular is very efficient at replicating biases and automating the way things have been done in the past, including poor models of instruction. “But it’s also opening up new possibilities for students producing material, and for being able to identify children who are not average so we can customize toward them. It’s an opportunity to think of entirely new ways of teaching – this is the path I hope to see.”

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Waffa Qurbani

[email protected] Ontario Tech University

This chapter analyzes the negative impact on students when using technology in higher education classrooms. In addition to this, it looks at how educators can balance the use of technology in higher education classrooms to avoid these impacts, and the implications they can make in the curriculum to promote healthy use of technology. This paper will focus on highlighting the cons of technology use in the classroom. According to research, there has been an increase in mental health issues amongst students which has led to anxiety, depression, and challenges with learning, which are associated with their use of technology (Lynch, 2018). Using technology for academic purposes is a major distraction for students, making it hard for them to multitask.  According to research, students are not the only ones who feel a sense of stress or anxiety when having to learn to use technology in the classroom. During the pandemic, “many instructors experienced stress when learning new technology and having to work extra hours” (Sharaievska et al., 2022).  Teaching students how to use technology efficiently is an integral role of every educator, however, educators need to lead by example when it comes to using technology within the classroom. They should avoid excessive use of technology within the classroom when students are working individually, especially for the use of email or even instant messaging a colleague. With technology offering many benefits to educators and students experience of learning, helping students find a medium between a healthy usage of technology compared to the negative impacts it may cause is extremely essential.

higher education, digital citizen, instructional approaches

Introduction

The use of technologies has increased in every classroom within higher education. With instructors integrating different aspects of their lessons using computers to support their students, the impact is often forgotten. According to research, many students “don’t easily gain proficiency with computer technologies” (McCoy, 2010). During the pandemic, students had no choice but to complete their classes online, without having any experience. One student mentioned that staring at a computer all day gave them a massive headache daily (Moralista, 2020). Obviously, these types of illnesses can lead to bigger issues. In addition to this, students within higher education may feel intimidated when they are introduced to the use of technology, especially if they have no prior experience. While teachers use technology within lessons, it is essential that they are aware of the negative impacts it leaves on students within higher education.

The use of technologies in higher education classrooms includes both positive and negative impacts. Although the positive impacts outweigh the negative ones, it is important that the negatives are not disregarded because they can be detrimental. That being said, the major impact students face with having to use social media for the purposes of academics is feeling information overload (Gao et al., 2012). When students are in the process of learning, it is important that they feel they are required to review every material that is being posted. Furthermore, research shows that the use of technologies for the purposes of learning also leaves negative impacts on a student’s skills development and psychological outcomes (Ewelina, 2012). Some skills that may be negatively impacted include the students’ abilities to improve their reading and writing abilities.

Regardless of all the benefits of technology, it is evident that using technology for academic purposes has a harmful effect on students. In addition to this, research shows that these harmful effects lead to detrimental behaviors (Whitaker, 2016). When analyzing the use of technology in classrooms, instructors are put in a tough situation of deciding whether or not to use technologies within the classroom. This chapter will analyze the impact of using technology, regarding information overload, the effects it has on developing certain skills, and suggestions for the use of technologies in the classroom.

Background Information

No new instructional approaches introduced.

Research shows that often times when technology was introduced to the higher education classroom, “they were used to enhance the existing instructional approaches, rather than supplant them” (Flavin, 2016, p.5) For instance, when a lecture was presented with some graphics on the computer, there was no change in the lesson and it was presented in its fundamental form. While this may not seem like a concern, not making any changes to the traditional instructional practices, will have teachers more concerned about the technical aspect rather than the quality of their teaching material (Flavin, 2016, p.5).

Furthermore, it is important for teachers to note that integrating technology into their curriculum and lessons “is not a magic wand” where students will easily remember or understand the material better (Gumport, 2015, p.23)

That being said, it is essential that students within higher education are provided with teaching material that is good quality and most up-to-date. This requires educators to offer high-quality lessons, paying less attention to using technologies in the classroom.

Increases Mental Health Issues

Overexposure and overuse of technologies can cause major mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, suicide, and behavioral issues (Becker, 2015). The findings of the negative impacts of using technologies in the higher education classroom have been increasing throughout the years, making it questionable if using technologies within lessons is commendable or looked down on. For instance, having English language learners use technology in classrooms can make it challenging for them not only have to learn a language but also to learn how to use a computer and technology.

As a result, this can make them feel anxious and overwhelmed, where they are spending more time trying to learn how to work around the technology than the material within the lesson itself.

Multi Tasking

Educators use technology in the classroom in hopes of improving the academic performance of students. However, using technologies can be seen as distracting where students have a difficult time juggling between learning the material of the lesson and trying to maneuver around having to use technology. According to research, when students have access to laptops in the classroom, they are often juggling with having to multi-task, which reduces their academic performance (Fried, 2008).

That being said, having a balance between students using technology and learning new material wouldn’t lead to a successful learning experience. Therefore, it would probably be better for educators to use technology throughout materials that students are familiar with.

Applications

Not being able to introduce new instructional approaches with the use of technologies, increased mental health issues, and a difficult time multi-tasking while using technology in the classrooms are all linked to students having a poor learning experience. That being said, educators within higher education should discuss the impacts while raising awareness among students about these long-term effects. In order to educate students about the negative impacts technology can cause them, it is essential to teach them how to promote a healthy environment, and how to avoid burnout.

Some alternatives other than using technology that teachers can depend on is having students meet in the traditional classroom for meetings, group work and presentations, while not having to manage the use of technology while in class. However, if needed, technology can be used at the student’s own time to have access to course information.

Promoting Students To Be Healthy Digital Citizens

While teaching students how to effectively use digital technologies in an appropriate manner, it is essential to incorporate the negative impacts, especially mental health issues it can cause. To promote students to be healthy digital citizens, encouraging students to step away from technology every 30 minutes or less to avoid feelings of anxiety or depression should be taught.

Having students be aware of these impacts will allow them to have an idea of what over usage of technology can cause them and how to avoid getting to this point of feeling any symptoms of mental health issues. It is important to note that technology that is used amongst students where collaboration is required, such as having them play Kahoot! (2022) is definitely more distracting than technology led by the teacher such as a PowerPoint (Microsoft, 2022) presentation.

While promoting the importance of being a healthy digital citizen, having students complete smaller exercises for multi-tasking between using technology and learning the lesson material will ensure students are confident and comfortable. Research recommends that having a visual reminder and posting it when students are feeling like they can’t multitask because they are distracted by technology, is a healthy way to promote staying on track (Lettrick, 2016).

Another way educators can promote students to be healthy digital citizens is to lead by example. With having the access to technologies at one’s fingertips, it is often easily accessible to respond to emails while teaching a lesson, or messaging another colleague for some information. Trying to avoid these instances will help students realize when technology should be used and when it should not.

Agreement On Using Technology

Educators should have an agreement they present to students in the classroom that elaborates on the importance of certain aspects of using technology. Some protocols they can touch upon are students reaching out to their teachers or fellow colleagues when they feel they cannot figure out how to find something or how to use it. Educators should present this agreement to students before using technology in the classroom to help encourage a healthy learning environment for them.

Conclusions and Future Recommendations

Before using certain technologies in the classroom, it is important for educators and schools to do extensive research on certain computer programs used. This will help them decide if the impacts of these programs are in fact are a positive or negative influence on students. As technology is rapidly changing, it is essential for educators to be constantly aware of the negative impacts it can cause, making it the most important priority.

Becker, S. (2015, March). This is your brain online: The impact of technology on mental health [PDF file]. https://spartanyouth.msu.edu/precollege/documents/ThisisyourbrainonlineforPre-CollegeFacultyandStaffMarch2015.pdf

Flavin, M. (2016). Disruptive conduct: the impact of disruptive technologies on social relations in higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 53 (1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.866330

Fried, C. (2008). In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning. Computers and Education, 50 (3), 906–914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2006.09.006

Gao, F., Luo, T. & Zhang, K. (2012). Tweeting for Learning: A Critical Analysis of Research on Microblogging in Education Published in 2008–2011. British Journal of Educational Technology 43 (5): 783–801. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01357.x

Gumport, P. & Chun, M. (2015). Technology and Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges for the New Era. INSANIA: Jurnal Pemikiran Alternatif Kependidikan, 12 (2), 263–283. https://ejournal.uinsaizu.ac.id/index.php/insania/article/view/255

Kahoot! (2022). https://kahoot.com/schools-u/

Lettrick, S. (2016, May 16). The clash of brain development and classroom technology. [Web log post]. Learning and the Brain. https://www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/brain-development-and-classroom-technology/

Lynch, M. (2018, July 6). Consequences of the new digital childhood. [Web log post]. The Tech Advocate . https://www.thetechedvocate.org/consequences-of-the-new-digital-childhood/

McCoy, C. (2010). Perceived self-efficacy and technology proficiency in undergraduate college students. Computers and Education, 55 (4), 1614–1617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.003

Microsoft (2022). PowerPoint . https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/powerpoint

Moralista, R., & Oducado, M. (2020). Faculty Perception toward Online Education in a State College in the Philippines during the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) Pandemic. Universal Journal of Educational Research 8(10): 4736-4742.

Sharaievska, I., McAnirlin, O., Browning, M., Larson, L. R., Mullenbach, L., Rigolon, A., D’Antonio, A., Cloutier, S., Thomsen, J., Metcalf, E. C., & Reigner, N. (2022). “Messy transitions”: Students’ perspectives on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education. Higher education, 1–18. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00843-7

Whitaker, J., New, J., & Ireland, R. (2016). MOOCS and the Online Delivery of Business Education What’s New? What’s Not? What Now? Academy of Management Learning & Education 15 (2): 345–65. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2013.0021

Technology and the Curriculum: Summer 2022 Copyright © 2022 by Waffa Qurbani is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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12 Negative Effects of Technology in Education

Last Updated on March 4, 2024

Table of Contents

In the present-day, human beings are living in a world where technology has already surpassed humanity. Technology is playing a very important role in every aspect of the lives of human beings.

There are many education experts who believe that that technology has upgraded the system of education in the world, which is true to some extent, but there are many other people who thoroughly believe that this advancement of technology also has a bad effect on education.

The students are becoming highly dependent on the devices to complete their work rather than depending on their own knowledge and this is obviously a negative signal towards the growth of education and humanity in the modern world. There are many positive and negative effects of technology in education , however, today we will discuss briefly the negative side of technology toward education growth.

1. Huge Expenditure

In the present day, students are not dependent on pen and paper. In this modern era of technology, computers and other devices have substituted the use of pen and paper.

These high tech devices offer many advanced features to the user which is much more helpful than using pen and paper, but the maintenance of these devices costs a fortune to the owner. The maintenance requires a huge amount of money and the update of the outdated software also takes a fair amount of money. So we can say that technology has made education expensive.

2. Insufficient Teaching Methods

With the advancement of technology, teachers are incapable of teaching students with modern techniques. The teachers know the primitive way of teaching the students by interacting with them. Research has proved that interactive teaching is the best way for students to learn.

With the use of technology and advanced devices, the interaction part is totally eliminated. The students only study the topics by themselves and do not discuss any topic. This has a bad impact on the students.

3. Waste of Time

Software and hardware devices are made by human beings, as humans can make errors, so the technology or devices made by human beings can also have some errors in it. These errors cause a loss of time. Problems like server issues and connectivity problems take a huge amount of time to get fixed, hence it disturbs the normal flow of teaching and causes frustration for both the teacher and the student.

Wasting time due to these kinds of unnecessary problems is not advisable in any educational institution or in schools where every second is important for the students.

4. Misguided due to Wrong Information

With speedy development and improvement in the technology, website owners are eager to rank their websites higher on different search engines . So the owners are mostly concerned about ranking and are least concerned about the contents on the website.

This is the reason many websites contain wrong information on various topics that are pasted or copied from different sources without verifying the authenticity of the content. Due to this wrong information, the learners are often misguided which can severely harm their educational development.

5. Major Source of Distraction

Research has revealed that more than 60% of schools and colleges in the world are using modern devices like laptops and tablets as a means of teaching. So the students are also using the same devices to be on par with the teachings of the teachers.

In the present day, social media has evolved leaps and bounds, with 90% of the world’s population using social media. So the devices which are provided to the students for studying are instead used to be active on social media .

Students are not studying with the help of these devices, they are interested in checking the posts and status updates of their near and dear ones and many other things. This is how technology is becoming a huge distraction for the learners, thus increasing the gap between students and educators.

6. Creates Enough Opportunities for Cheating

The advancement of technology is making the student lazy. It gives them the power and the opportunity to control everything with a few clicks of the mouse. Cheating is illegal, but technology has made it easy with all the resources contained in it.

There are many situations where the students can cheat very easily without getting caught, e.g. in an examination hall students can use their smartphones for cheating.

With the advancement of technology, smartphones are provided with many developed features and with internet accessibility so it becomes easy for the students to find the answers with the help of the internet .

7. Learners Get Disconnected from the Real World

In the present day, due to the huge advancement of technology, teachers are educating the students with different online tools instead of physically communicating with them, hence the students are unable to interact with the students and also cannot share problems with them.

Teachers miserably fail to draw the attention of the student. It is recommended to use verbal communication with the students along with using online tools. So the students can learn the topics as well as they can share their problems with the teacher.

8. Losing Assignment of the Students

This is one of the major drawbacks of using devices like laptops and computers for educational purposes. Laptops and computers are devices made by human beings and these devices can malfunction due to internal or external causes.

In the present day students tend to do all their assignments on their laptops or computers, even the schools and colleges also want this assignment as soft copies. E.g. a student completed his or her assignment with a lot of hard work and patience.

If the laptop of the student suddenly malfunctions at the last moment, then the student will be in great trouble. All the efforts and hard work will go in vain. So due to the malfunction of a device the entire effort of the student will become a waste.

It is advised to the students to always have a backup or a hardcopy of the required documents. So we can say that these devices are not fully dependable.

9. Difficult to Deal with the Online Courses

It is said that knowledge has no age and no limit. There are many students who have an urge to continue learning on a regular basis, but sometimes it becomes very difficult for them to attain all the lecture classes on a regular basis.

These difficulties can occur due to many reasons; it can be health issues, family issues, or any other issues.  Advancement of technology has solved this problem, and now students can learn the missed topic from the websites present on the internet and they can access those sites whenever and from wherever they want.

The solution is a bit faulty itself, the contents and the lecture videos on the Internet require good internet speed so it cannot be accessed smoothly if the internet is slow. These online lectures also fail to motivate the students compared to the physical lectures.

10. Extinction of Good Handwriting

Devices like laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones have already replaced the use of a normal pen and paper. Due to this, all the important assignments and documents are typed and saved into the respective folders, hence the writing down on paper is more or less eliminated.

Due to no writing or very little writing, people lose the habit to write , hence the handwriting becomes worse than it was before. Research has also revealed that using these machines instead of writing has slowed down the thinking process of the students and also brings a fair amount of lethargy in the students.

11. Partial to the Low Income Group of People

Advancement in technology has also made education expensive. Advancement has given birth to different kind of modern devices which are very costly and also require a lot of money for maintenance.

This has made education difficult for people with less income; these people cannot afford this kind of education for themselves or for their children so it is partial for people with low income.

Every person in this world has the right to educate themselves, but the increase in cost has stolen this right, people with less income cannot afford this.

12. EBooks Replacing Physical Books

Ebooks are basically electronic books. Ebooks are the electronic versions of the normal books so these are easy to store and a person does not have to buy this book from the store, he or she can easily download it from the internet.

The problem is that these books are not compatible with all the devices and also constantly looking towards the screen of the laptop or a smartphone can cause eye problems to the user. So it is recommended to the students to use normal books.

One way to handle the compatibility issue is to convert eBooks into a more universal format like PDF . A robust PDF editor like  PDFelement  will let you convert EPUB and other eBook formats into PDF. This format will look the same no matter what OS or device the user views it on, so you can have a mix of text and other rich media content when using PDF without worrying about layout issues. As a matter of fact, PDFelement also lets you convert printed materials into editable PDFs from image or scanned PDF files, giving you even more flexibility.

Final Summary

Even though technology has some negative effect on education, it is undeniable that technology also has made the education system simple and flexible:

• Students can take the help of the internet for their studies
• The implementation of smart classes in every school and colleges is very good result of the technology
• It eliminates all the educational limitations and boundaries faced by a learner
• Students can access their work and assignments with the help of these advanced devices whenever and from wherever they want.

So these are some ways in which technology has greatly benefited the education system.

Posted by: Igor Ovsyannnykov

Igor is an SEO specialist, designer, photographer, writer and music producer. He believes that knowledge can change the world and be used to inspire and empower young people to build the life of their dreams. When he is not writing in his favorite coffee shop, Igor spends most of his time reading books, taking photos, producing house music, and learning about cinematography. He is a sucker for good coffee, Indian food, and video games.

Four of the biggest problems facing education—and four trends that could make a difference

Eduardo velez bustillo, harry a. patrinos.

In 2022, we published, Lessons for the education sector from the COVID-19 pandemic , which was a follow up to,  Four Education Trends that Countries Everywhere Should Know About , which summarized views of education experts around the world on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the education sector then. We focused on neuroscience, the role of the private sector, education technology, inequality, and pedagogy.

Unfortunately, we think the four biggest problems facing education today in developing countries are the same ones we have identified in the last decades .

1. The learning crisis was made worse by COVID-19 school closures

Low quality instruction is a major constraint and prior to COVID-19, the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries was 57% (6 out of 10 children could not read and understand basic texts by age 10). More dramatic is the case of Sub-Saharan Africa with a rate even higher at 86%. Several analyses show that the impact of the pandemic on student learning was significant, leaving students in low- and middle-income countries way behind in mathematics, reading and other subjects.  Some argue that learning poverty may be close to 70% after the pandemic , with a substantial long-term negative effect in future earnings. This generation could lose around $21 trillion in future salaries, with the vulnerable students affected the most.

2. Countries are not paying enough attention to early childhood care and education (ECCE)

At the pre-school level about two-thirds of countries do not have a proper legal framework to provide free and compulsory pre-primary education. According to UNESCO, only a minority of countries, mostly high-income, were making timely progress towards SDG4 benchmarks on early childhood indicators prior to the onset of COVID-19. And remember that ECCE is not only preparation for primary school. It can be the foundation for emotional wellbeing and learning throughout life; one of the best investments a country can make.

3. There is an inadequate supply of high-quality teachers

Low quality teaching is a huge problem and getting worse in many low- and middle-income countries.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the percentage of trained teachers fell from 84% in 2000 to 69% in 2019 . In addition, in many countries teachers are formally trained and as such qualified, but do not have the minimum pedagogical training. Globally, teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are the biggest shortfalls.

4. Decision-makers are not implementing evidence-based or pro-equity policies that guarantee solid foundations

It is difficult to understand the continued focus on non-evidence-based policies when there is so much that we know now about what works. Two factors contribute to this problem. One is the short tenure that top officials have when leading education systems. Examples of countries where ministers last less than one year on average are plentiful. The second and more worrisome deals with the fact that there is little attention given to empirical evidence when designing education policies.

To help improve on these four fronts, we see four supporting trends:

1. Neuroscience should be integrated into education policies

Policies considering neuroscience can help ensure that students get proper attention early to support brain development in the first 2-3 years of life. It can also help ensure that children learn to read at the proper age so that they will be able to acquire foundational skills to learn during the primary education cycle and from there on. Inputs like micronutrients, early child stimulation for gross and fine motor skills, speech and language and playing with other children before the age of three are cost-effective ways to get proper development. Early grade reading, using the pedagogical suggestion by the Early Grade Reading Assessment model, has improved learning outcomes in many low- and middle-income countries. We now have the tools to incorporate these advances into the teaching and learning system with AI , ChatGPT , MOOCs and online tutoring.

2. Reversing learning losses at home and at school

There is a real need to address the remaining and lingering losses due to school closures because of COVID-19.  Most students living in households with incomes under the poverty line in the developing world, roughly the bottom 80% in low-income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries, do not have the minimum conditions to learn at home . These students do not have access to the internet, and, often, their parents or guardians do not have the necessary schooling level or the time to help them in their learning process. Connectivity for poor households is a priority. But learning continuity also requires the presence of an adult as a facilitator—a parent, guardian, instructor, or community worker assisting the student during the learning process while schools are closed or e-learning is used.

To recover from the negative impact of the pandemic, the school system will need to develop at the student level: (i) active and reflective learning; (ii) analytical and applied skills; (iii) strong self-esteem; (iv) attitudes supportive of cooperation and solidarity; and (v) a good knowledge of the curriculum areas. At the teacher (instructor, facilitator, parent) level, the system should aim to develop a new disposition toward the role of teacher as a guide and facilitator. And finally, the system also needs to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and be active part in the solution of the children’s problems. The Escuela Nueva Learning Circles or the Pratham Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) are models that can be used.

3. Use of evidence to improve teaching and learning

We now know more about what works at scale to address the learning crisis. To help countries improve teaching and learning and make teaching an attractive profession, based on available empirical world-wide evidence , we need to improve its status, compensation policies and career progression structures; ensure pre-service education includes a strong practicum component so teachers are well equipped to transition and perform effectively in the classroom; and provide high-quality in-service professional development to ensure they keep teaching in an effective way. We also have the tools to address learning issues cost-effectively. The returns to schooling are high and increasing post-pandemic. But we also have the cost-benefit tools to make good decisions, and these suggest that structured pedagogy, teaching according to learning levels (with and without technology use) are proven effective and cost-effective .

4. The role of the private sector

When properly regulated the private sector can be an effective education provider, and it can help address the specific needs of countries. Most of the pedagogical models that have received international recognition come from the private sector. For example, the recipients of the Yidan Prize on education development are from the non-state sector experiences (Escuela Nueva, BRAC, edX, Pratham, CAMFED and New Education Initiative). In the context of the Artificial Intelligence movement, most of the tools that will revolutionize teaching and learning come from the private sector (i.e., big data, machine learning, electronic pedagogies like OER-Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, etc.). Around the world education technology start-ups are developing AI tools that may have a good potential to help improve quality of education .

After decades asking the same questions on how to improve the education systems of countries, we, finally, are finding answers that are very promising.  Governments need to be aware of this fact.

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The Negative Impact of Technology on Education

Article by florimond krins.

posted by UK, May 16, 2022

Technology is not something new and specific to our industrial civilisation, but has been present ever since mankind began to walk the earth, as a tool to “harness nature and defy its unconquerable forces”. However, over the last century it has become ever more present, to a point where it is not a mere add-on, but rather indispensable to our lifestyles. For example, 300 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube every minute, and almost 5 billion videos are watched every single day [2] . Digital devices such as computers, tablets, iPads, word processors, e-mails and the Internet have entered the classroom and altered the face of teaching and learning. Teachers are encouraged to use technology as frequently as they can and students are daily exposed to large amounts of information reaching them via a variety of technological devices. And if there is a stockpile of research eulogizing the unequivocally-positive effect of inserting technologies into the normal course of instruction on students’ performance, there isn’t much related to the negative effect it might also bring.

It is a fact that more and more students have access to more technology throughout the world. For example, in the US in 2015 more than 80% of 8 th graders a say they use computers at home for schoolwork.

Source : Comin & Hobijn(2004) and others

However, various studies have shown that the use of technology does not necessarily improve the performance or learning skills of students. There have been signs of negative impacts on writing skills amongst students using digital tools, as they have a tendency to write fast and carelessly, using more and more abbreviations in their writings than they would when communicating electronically. A Canadian institute showed that 51% of high school students in a survey acknowledged having cheated during exams, and that technology had its part to play by making it easier to cheat.

As the title of her paper suggests, Dr Alhumaid describes four main ways technology can impact negatively on the education process: the deterioration of students’ competencies in reading, writing, and arithmetic, which are the basic three skills any student is expected to master; the dehumanization of education in many environments and the distortion of the relationship between teachers and students; the isolation of students in a digital and virtual world that distances them from any form of social interaction; and the deepening of social inequalities between the haves and the have-nots, that is, students who can possess technology and those who cannot.

This is not to say that technology does not improve students’ academic achievement or enhance their motivation to accomplish their tasks, yet too much reliance on technology also seems to affect negatively on their reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Which is normal when typing is preferred to writing, or when reading PDF and Word files is preferred to paper books or magazines. The proper use of punctuation is a good example where texting has had a negative influence. Regarding arithmetic, the use of calculators has negatively impacted the ability of the students to reach the right conclusion. Maths and arithmetic are, in their purest forms, subjects which promote discovery, exploration and critical thinking.

The over-reliance on technology in classrooms has created a barrier between teachers and their students, as they communicate directly via a machine. It is therefore difficult for teachers to entertain a healthy relationship with their students and have an impact on them. This generates a higher level of anxiety among high-school and university students. Overall, it leads to “eroding the social relationships involved in teaching, thereby eroding one of the main aims of education”.

As Dr Alhumaid puts it so well: “One distinctive feature of face-to-face teaching is collectivism and collaboration, whilst the most distinctive feature of technology-based teaching is the lack of any feeling of collectivism or togetherness”. A natural defence mechanism of the mind is isolation, as it might develop a sense of safety and security when students are “wired to their gadgets”. Technology has a cocooning effect and gives us the illusion of comfort while depriving us of our need for social interaction and collaboration, leading to a feeling of loneliness.

Regarding the use and possession of technology, there is a gap between social classes. The lack of equipment in developing countries generates issues with students finding well-paid jobs and competing in the global market. Even in developed countries there is a “digital divide” between different social backgrounds. And this divide is even greater within poorer countries.

While our use and continued integration of technology has led to substantial changes in our society and in the way students learn and teachers teach, there is still time to mitigate the negative effects and “harness the good”. This could be done by promoting human interaction, communication and collaboration, by sharing and comparing works and projects to help better connect learners around the world and by encouraging “tech-savvy students” to design interactive content that would enrich their learning.

Our obsession with technology needs supervision and reflection, otherwise it can lead to numerous problems that can in some cases be extreme. We should be careful not to be so blinded by the good aspects brought by technology that we fail to pay attention to its negative consequences. The purpose of Dr Alhumaid’s article was to shed a light on the often-omitted negative aspects of technology in education and to give a few clues as to how these can be mitigated.

Image Credits: By pxhere | CC0

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Impacts of digital technologies on education and factors influencing schools' digital capacity and transformation: A literature review

Stella timotheou.

1 CYENS Center of Excellence & Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus Interaction Lab), Cyprus, CYENS Center of Excellence & Cyprus University of Technology, Nicosia-Limassol, Cyprus

Ourania Miliou

Yiannis dimitriadis.

2 Universidad de Valladolid (UVA), Spain, Valladolid, Spain

Sara Villagrá Sobrino

Nikoleta giannoutsou, romina cachia.

3 JRC - Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Seville, Spain

Alejandra Martínez Monés

Andri ioannou, associated data.

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Digital technologies have brought changes to the nature and scope of education and led education systems worldwide to adopt strategies and policies for ICT integration. The latter brought about issues regarding the quality of teaching and learning with ICTs, especially concerning the understanding, adaptation, and design of the education systems in accordance with current technological trends. These issues were emphasized during the recent COVID-19 pandemic that accelerated the use of digital technologies in education, generating questions regarding digitalization in schools. Specifically, many schools demonstrated a lack of experience and low digital capacity, which resulted in widening gaps, inequalities, and learning losses. Such results have engendered the need for schools to learn and build upon the experience to enhance their digital capacity and preparedness, increase their digitalization levels, and achieve a successful digital transformation. Given that the integration of digital technologies is a complex and continuous process that impacts different actors within the school ecosystem, there is a need to show how these impacts are interconnected and identify the factors that can encourage an effective and efficient change in the school environments. For this purpose, we conducted a non-systematic literature review. The results of the literature review were organized thematically based on the evidence presented about the impact of digital technology on education and the factors that affect the schools’ digital capacity and digital transformation. The findings suggest that ICT integration in schools impacts more than just students’ performance; it affects several other school-related aspects and stakeholders, too. Furthermore, various factors affect the impact of digital technologies on education. These factors are interconnected and play a vital role in the digital transformation process. The study results shed light on how ICTs can positively contribute to the digital transformation of schools and which factors should be considered for schools to achieve effective and efficient change.

Introduction

Digital technologies have brought changes to the nature and scope of education. Versatile and disruptive technological innovations, such as smart devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), blockchain, and software applications have opened up new opportunities for advancing teaching and learning (Gaol & Prasolova-Førland, 2021 ; OECD, 2021 ). Hence, in recent years, education systems worldwide have increased their investment in the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) (Fernández-Gutiérrez et al., 2020 ; Lawrence & Tar, 2018 ) and prioritized their educational agendas to adapt strategies or policies around ICT integration (European Commission, 2019 ). The latter brought about issues regarding the quality of teaching and learning with ICTs (Bates, 2015 ), especially concerning the understanding, adaptation, and design of education systems in accordance with current technological trends (Balyer & Öz, 2018 ). Studies have shown that despite the investment made in the integration of technology in schools, the results have not been promising, and the intended outcomes have not yet been achieved (Delgado et al., 2015 ; Lawrence & Tar, 2018 ). These issues were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced teaching across education levels to move online (Daniel, 2020 ). Online teaching accelerated the use of digital technologies generating questions regarding the process, the nature, the extent, and the effectiveness of digitalization in schools (Cachia et al., 2021 ; König et al., 2020 ). Specifically, many schools demonstrated a lack of experience and low digital capacity, which resulted in widening gaps, inequalities, and learning losses (Blaskó et al., 2021 ; Di Pietro et al, 2020 ). Such results have engendered the need for schools to learn and build upon the experience in order to enhance their digital capacity (European Commission, 2020 ) and increase their digitalization levels (Costa et al., 2021 ). Digitalization offers possibilities for fundamental improvement in schools (OECD, 2021 ; Rott & Marouane, 2018 ) and touches many aspects of a school’s development (Delcker & Ifenthaler, 2021 ) . However, it is a complex process that requires large-scale transformative changes beyond the technical aspects of technology and infrastructure (Pettersson, 2021 ). Namely, digitalization refers to “ a series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce, and technology shifts and operating models ” (Brooks & McCormack, 2020 , p. 3) that brings cultural, organizational, and operational change through the integration of digital technologies (JISC, 2020 ). A successful digital transformation requires that schools increase their digital capacity levels, establishing the necessary “ culture, policies, infrastructure as well as digital competence of students and staff to support the effective integration of technology in teaching and learning practices ” (Costa et al, 2021 , p.163).

Given that the integration of digital technologies is a complex and continuous process that impacts different actors within the school ecosystem (Eng, 2005 ), there is a need to show how the different elements of the impact are interconnected and to identify the factors that can encourage an effective and efficient change in the school environment. To address the issues outlined above, we formulated the following research questions:

a) What is the impact of digital technologies on education?

b) Which factors might affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation?

In the present investigation, we conducted a non-systematic literature review of publications pertaining to the impact of digital technologies on education and the factors that affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation. The results of the literature review were organized thematically based on the evidence presented about the impact of digital technology on education and the factors which affect the schools’ digital capacity and digital transformation.

Methodology

The non-systematic literature review presented herein covers the main theories and research published over the past 17 years on the topic. It is based on meta-analyses and review papers found in scholarly, peer-reviewed content databases and other key studies and reports related to the concepts studied (e.g., digitalization, digital capacity) from professional and international bodies (e.g., the OECD). We searched the Scopus database, which indexes various online journals in the education sector with an international scope, to collect peer-reviewed academic papers. Furthermore, we used an all-inclusive Google Scholar search to include relevant key terms or to include studies found in the reference list of the peer-reviewed papers, and other key studies and reports related to the concepts studied by professional and international bodies. Lastly, we gathered sources from the Publications Office of the European Union ( https://op.europa.eu/en/home ); namely, documents that refer to policies related to digital transformation in education.

Regarding search terms, we first searched resources on the impact of digital technologies on education by performing the following search queries: “impact” OR “effects” AND “digital technologies” AND “education”, “impact” OR “effects” AND “ICT” AND “education”. We further refined our results by adding the terms “meta-analysis” and “review” or by adjusting the search options based on the features of each database to avoid collecting individual studies that would provide limited contributions to a particular domain. We relied on meta-analyses and review studies as these consider the findings of multiple studies to offer a more comprehensive view of the research in a given area (Schuele & Justice, 2006 ). Specifically, meta-analysis studies provided quantitative evidence based on statistically verifiable results regarding the impact of educational interventions that integrate digital technologies in school classrooms (Higgins et al., 2012 ; Tolani-Brown et al., 2011 ).

However, quantitative data does not offer explanations for the challenges or difficulties experienced during ICT integration in learning and teaching (Tolani-Brown et al., 2011 ). To fill this gap, we analyzed literature reviews and gathered in-depth qualitative evidence of the benefits and implications of technology integration in schools. In the analysis presented herein, we also included policy documents and reports from professional and international bodies and governmental reports, which offered useful explanations of the key concepts of this study and provided recent evidence on digital capacity and transformation in education along with policy recommendations. The inclusion and exclusion criteria that were considered in this study are presented in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of resources on the impact of digital technologies on education

To ensure a reliable extraction of information from each study and assist the research synthesis we selected the study characteristics of interest (impact) and constructed coding forms. First, an overview of the synthesis was provided by the principal investigator who described the processes of coding, data entry, and data management. The coders followed the same set of instructions but worked independently. To ensure a common understanding of the process between coders, a sample of ten studies was tested. The results were compared, and the discrepancies were identified and resolved. Additionally, to ensure an efficient coding process, all coders participated in group meetings to discuss additions, deletions, and modifications (Stock, 1994 ). Due to the methodological diversity of the studied documents we began to synthesize the literature review findings based on similar study designs. Specifically, most of the meta-analysis studies were grouped in one category due to the quantitative nature of the measured impact. These studies tended to refer to student achievement (Hattie et al., 2014 ). Then, we organized the themes of the qualitative studies in several impact categories. Lastly, we synthesized both review and meta-analysis data across the categories. In order to establish a collective understanding of the concept of impact, we referred to a previous impact study by Balanskat ( 2009 ) which investigated the impact of technology in primary schools. In this context, the impact had a more specific ICT-related meaning and was described as “ a significant influence or effect of ICT on the measured or perceived quality of (parts of) education ” (Balanskat, 2009 , p. 9). In the study presented herein, the main impacts are in relation to learning and learners, teaching, and teachers, as well as other key stakeholders who are directly or indirectly connected to the school unit.

The study’s results identified multiple dimensions of the impact of digital technologies on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes; on equality, inclusion, and social integration; on teachers’ professional and teaching practices; and on other school-related aspects and stakeholders. The data analysis indicated various factors that might affect the schools’ digital capacity and transformation, such as digital competencies, the teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development, as well as the school’s leadership and management, administration, infrastructure, etc. The impacts and factors found in the literature review are presented below.

Impacts of digital technologies on students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and emotions

The impact of ICT use on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes has been investigated early in the literature. Eng ( 2005 ) found a small positive effect between ICT use and students' learning. Specifically, the author reported that access to computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs in simulation or tutorial modes—used to supplement rather than substitute instruction – could enhance student learning. The author reported studies showing that teachers acknowledged the benefits of ICT on pupils with special educational needs; however, the impact of ICT on students' attainment was unclear. Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) found a statistically significant positive association between ICT use and higher student achievement in primary and secondary education. The authors also reported improvements in the performance of low-achieving pupils. The use of ICT resulted in further positive gains for students, namely increased attention, engagement, motivation, communication and process skills, teamwork, and gains related to their behaviour towards learning. Evidence from qualitative studies showed that teachers, students, and parents recognized the positive impact of ICT on students' learning regardless of their competence level (strong/weak students). Punie et al. ( 2006 ) documented studies that showed positive results of ICT-based learning for supporting low-achieving pupils and young people with complex lives outside the education system. Liao et al. ( 2007 ) reported moderate positive effects of computer application instruction (CAI, computer simulations, and web-based learning) over traditional instruction on primary school student's achievement. Similarly, Tamim et al. ( 2011 ) reported small to moderate positive effects between the use of computer technology (CAI, ICT, simulations, computer-based instruction, digital and hypermedia) and student achievement in formal face-to-face classrooms compared to classrooms that did not use technology. Jewitt et al., ( 2011 ) found that the use of learning platforms (LPs) (virtual learning environments, management information systems, communication technologies, and information- and resource-sharing technologies) in schools allowed primary and secondary students to access a wider variety of quality learning resources, engage in independent and personalized learning, and conduct self- and peer-review; LPs also provide opportunities for teacher assessment and feedback. Similar findings were reported by Fu ( 2013 ), who documented a list of benefits and opportunities of ICT use. According to the author, the use of ICTs helps students access digital information and course content effectively and efficiently, supports student-centered and self-directed learning, as well as the development of a creative learning environment where more opportunities for critical thinking skills are offered, and promotes collaborative learning in a distance-learning environment. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) found consistent but small positive associations between the use of technology and learning outcomes of school-age learners (5–18-year-olds) in studies linking the provision and use of technology with attainment. Additionally, Chauhan ( 2017 ) reported a medium positive effect of technology on the learning effectiveness of primary school students compared to students who followed traditional learning instruction.

The rise of mobile technologies and hardware devices instigated investigations into their impact on teaching and learning. Sung et al. ( 2016 ) reported a moderate effect on students' performance from the use of mobile devices in the classroom compared to the use of desktop computers or the non-use of mobile devices. Schmid et al. ( 2014 ) reported medium–low to low positive effects of technology integration (e.g., CAI, ICTs) in the classroom on students' achievement and attitude compared to not using technology or using technology to varying degrees. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) found a low statistically significant effect of the use of tablets and other smart devices in educational contexts on students' achievement outcomes. The authors suggested that tablets offered additional advantages to students; namely, they reported improvements in students’ notetaking, organizational and communication skills, and creativity. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported a small positive effect of one-to-one laptop programs on students’ academic achievement across subject areas. Additional reported benefits included student-centered, individualized, and project-based learning enhanced learner engagement and enthusiasm. Additionally, the authors found that students using one-to-one laptop programs tended to use technology more frequently than in non-laptop classrooms, and as a result, they developed a range of skills (e.g., information skills, media skills, technology skills, organizational skills). Haßler et al. ( 2016 ) found that most interventions that included the use of tablets across the curriculum reported positive learning outcomes. However, from 23 studies, five reported no differences, and two reported a negative effect on students' learning outcomes. Similar results were indicated by Kalati and Kim ( 2022 ) who investigated the effect of touchscreen technologies on young students’ learning. Specifically, from 53 studies, 34 advocated positive effects of touchscreen devices on children’s learning, 17 obtained mixed findings and two studies reported negative effects.

More recently, approaches that refer to the impact of gamification with the use of digital technologies on teaching and learning were also explored. A review by Pan et al. ( 2022 ) that examined the role of learning games in fostering mathematics education in K-12 settings, reported that gameplay improved students’ performance. Integration of digital games in teaching was also found as a promising pedagogical practice in STEM education that could lead to increased learning gains (Martinez et al., 2022 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). However, although Talan et al. ( 2020 ) reported a medium effect of the use of educational games (both digital and non-digital) on academic achievement, the effect of non-digital games was higher.

Over the last two years, the effects of more advanced technologies on teaching and learning were also investigated. Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) found that AR applications had a medium effect on students' learning outcomes compared to traditional lectures. Similarly, Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) showed that AR had a medium impact on students' learning gains. VR applications integrated into various subjects were also found to have a moderate effect on students’ learning compared to control conditions (traditional classes, e.g., lectures, textbooks, and multimedia use, e.g., images, videos, animation, CAI) (Chen et al., 2022b ). Villena-Taranilla et al. ( 2022 ) noted the moderate effect of VR technologies on students’ learning when these were applied in STEM disciplines. In the same meta-analysis, Villena-Taranilla et al. ( 2022 ) highlighted the role of immersive VR, since its effect on students’ learning was greater (at a high level) across educational levels (K-6) compared to semi-immersive and non-immersive integrations. In another meta-analysis study, the effect size of the immersive VR was small and significantly differentiated across educational levels (Coban et al., 2022 ). The impact of AI on education was investigated by Su and Yang ( 2022 ) and Su et al. ( 2022 ), who showed that this technology significantly improved students’ understanding of AI computer science and machine learning concepts.

It is worth noting that the vast majority of studies referred to learning gains in specific subjects. Specifically, several studies examined the impact of digital technologies on students’ literacy skills and reported positive effects on language learning (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Grgurović et al., 2013 ; Friedel et al., 2013 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ; Chen et al., 2022b ; Savva et al., 2022 ). Also, several studies documented positive effects on specific language learning areas, namely foreign language learning (Kao, 2014 ), writing (Higgins et al., 2012 ; Wen & Walters, 2022 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ), as well as reading and comprehension (Cheung & Slavin, 2011 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Schwabe et al., 2022 ). ICTs were also found to have a positive impact on students' performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines (Arztmann et al., 2022 ; Bado, 2022 ; Villena-Taranilla et al., 2022 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Specifically, a number of studies reported positive impacts on students’ achievement in mathematics (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Hillmayr et al., 2020 ; Li & Ma, 2010 ; Pan et al., 2022 ; Ran et al., 2022 ; Verschaffel et al., 2019 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, studies documented positive effects of ICTs on science learning (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ; Hillmayr et al., 2020 ; Kalemkuş & Kalemkuş, 2022 ; Lei et al., 2022a ). Çelik ( 2022 ) also noted that computer simulations can help students understand learning concepts related to science. Furthermore, some studies documented that the use of ICTs had a positive impact on students’ achievement in other subjects, such as geography, history, music, and arts (Chauhan, 2017 ; Condie & Munro, 2007 ), and design and technology (Balanskat et al., 2006 ).

More specific positive learning gains were reported in a number of skills, e.g., problem-solving skills and pattern exploration skills (Higgins et al., 2012 ), metacognitive learning outcomes (Verschaffel et al., 2019 ), literacy skills, computational thinking skills, emotion control skills, and collaborative inquiry skills (Lu et al., 2022 ; Su & Yang, 2022 ; Su et al., 2022 ). Additionally, several investigations have reported benefits from the use of ICT on students’ creativity (Fielding & Murcia, 2022 ; Liu et al., 2022 ; Quah & Ng, 2022 ). Lastly, digital technologies were also found to be beneficial for enhancing students’ lifelong learning skills (Haleem et al., 2022 ).

Apart from gaining knowledge and skills, studies also reported improvement in motivation and interest in mathematics (Higgins et. al., 2019 ; Fadda et al., 2022 ) and increased positive achievement emotions towards several subjects during interventions using educational games (Lei et al., 2022a ). Chen et al. ( 2022a ) also reported a small but positive effect of digital health approaches in bullying and cyberbullying interventions with K-12 students, demonstrating that technology-based approaches can help reduce bullying and related consequences by providing emotional support, empowerment, and change of attitude. In their meta-review study, Su et al. ( 2022 ) also documented that AI technologies effectively strengthened students’ attitudes towards learning. In another meta-analysis, Arztmann et al. ( 2022 ) reported positive effects of digital games on motivation and behaviour towards STEM subjects.

Impacts of digital technologies on equality, inclusion and social integration

Although most of the reviewed studies focused on the impact of ICTs on students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, reports were also made on other aspects in the school context, such as equality, inclusion, and social integration. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) documented research interventions investigating how ICT can support pupils with additional or special educational needs. While those interventions were relatively small scale and mostly based on qualitative data, their findings indicated that the use of ICTs enabled the development of communication, participation, and self-esteem. A recent meta-analysis (Baragash et al., 2022 ) with 119 participants with different disabilities, reported a significant overall effect size of AR on their functional skills acquisition. Koh’s meta-analysis ( 2022 ) also revealed that students with intellectual and developmental disabilities improved their competence and performance when they used digital games in the lessons.

Istenic Starcic and Bagon ( 2014 ) found that the role of ICT in inclusion and the design of pedagogical and technological interventions was not sufficiently explored in educational interventions with people with special needs; however, some benefits of ICT use were found in students’ social integration. The issue of gender and technology use was mentioned in a small number of studies. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported a statistically significant positive interaction between one-to-one laptop programs and gender. Specifically, the results showed that girls and boys alike benefitted from the laptop program, but the effect on girls’ achievement was smaller than that on boys’. Along the same lines, Arztmann et al. ( 2022 ) reported no difference in the impact of game-based learning between boys and girls, arguing that boys and girls equally benefited from game-based interventions in STEM domains. However, results from a systematic review by Cussó-Calabuig et al. ( 2018 ) found limited and low-quality evidence on the effects of intensive use of computers on gender differences in computer anxiety, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. Based on their view, intensive use of computers can reduce gender differences in some areas and not in others, depending on contextual and implementation factors.

Impacts of digital technologies on teachers’ professional and teaching practices

Various research studies have explored the impact of ICT on teachers’ instructional practices and student assessment. Friedel et al. ( 2013 ) found that the use of mobile devices by students enabled teachers to successfully deliver content (e.g., mobile serious games), provide scaffolding, and facilitate synchronous collaborative learning. The integration of digital games in teaching and learning activities also gave teachers the opportunity to study and apply various pedagogical practices (Bado, 2022 ). Specifically, Bado ( 2022 ) found that teachers who implemented instructional activities in three stages (pre-game, game, and post-game) maximized students’ learning outcomes and engagement. For instance, during the pre-game stage, teachers focused on lectures and gameplay training, at the game stage teachers provided scaffolding on content, addressed technical issues, and managed the classroom activities. During the post-game stage, teachers organized activities for debriefing to ensure that the gameplay had indeed enhanced students’ learning outcomes.

Furthermore, ICT can increase efficiency in lesson planning and preparation by offering possibilities for a more collaborative approach among teachers. The sharing of curriculum plans and the analysis of students’ data led to clearer target settings and improvements in reporting to parents (Balanskat et al., 2006 ).

Additionally, the use and application of digital technologies in teaching and learning were found to enhance teachers’ digital competence. Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) documented studies that revealed that the use of digital technologies in education had a positive effect on teachers’ basic ICT skills. The greatest impact was found on teachers with enough experience in integrating ICTs in their teaching and/or who had recently participated in development courses for the pedagogical use of technologies in teaching. Punie et al. ( 2006 ) reported that the provision of fully equipped multimedia portable computers and the development of online teacher communities had positive impacts on teachers’ confidence and competence in the use of ICTs.

Moreover, online assessment via ICTs benefits instruction. In particular, online assessments support the digitalization of students’ work and related logistics, allow teachers to gather immediate feedback and readjust to new objectives, and support the improvement of the technical quality of tests by providing more accurate results. Additionally, the capabilities of ICTs (e.g., interactive media, simulations) create new potential methods of testing specific skills, such as problem-solving and problem-processing skills, meta-cognitive skills, creativity and communication skills, and the ability to work productively in groups (Punie et al., 2006 ).

Impacts of digital technologies on other school-related aspects and stakeholders

There is evidence that the effective use of ICTs and the data transmission offered by broadband connections help improve administration (Balanskat et al., 2006 ). Specifically, ICTs have been found to provide better management systems to schools that have data gathering procedures in place. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) reported impacts from the use of ICTs in schools in the following areas: attendance monitoring, assessment records, reporting to parents, financial management, creation of repositories for learning resources, and sharing of information amongst staff. Such data can be used strategically for self-evaluation and monitoring purposes which in turn can result in school improvements. Additionally, they reported that online access to other people with similar roles helped to reduce headteachers’ isolation by offering them opportunities to share insights into the use of ICT in learning and teaching and how it could be used to support school improvement. Furthermore, ICTs provided more efficient and successful examination management procedures, namely less time-consuming reporting processes compared to paper-based examinations and smooth communications between schools and examination authorities through electronic data exchange (Punie et al., 2006 ).

Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) reported that the use of ICTs improved home-school relationships. Additionally, Escueta et al. ( 2017 ) reported several ICT programs that had improved the flow of information from the school to parents. Particularly, they documented that the use of ICTs (learning management systems, emails, dedicated websites, mobile phones) allowed for personalized and customized information exchange between schools and parents, such as attendance records, upcoming class assignments, school events, and students’ grades, which generated positive results on students’ learning outcomes and attainment. Such information exchange between schools and families prompted parents to encourage their children to put more effort into their schoolwork.

The above findings suggest that the impact of ICT integration in schools goes beyond students’ performance in school subjects. Specifically, it affects a number of school-related aspects, such as equality and social integration, professional and teaching practices, and diverse stakeholders. In Table ​ Table2, 2 , we summarize the different impacts of digital technologies on school stakeholders based on the literature review, while in Table ​ Table3 3 we organized the tools/platforms and practices/policies addressed in the meta-analyses, literature reviews, EU reports, and international bodies included in the manuscript.

The impact of digital technologies on schools’ stakeholders based on the literature review

Tools/platforms and practices/policies addressed in the meta-analyses, literature reviews, EU reports, and international bodies included in the manuscript

Additionally, based on the results of the literature review, there are many types of digital technologies with different affordances (see, for example, studies on VR vs Immersive VR), which evolve over time (e.g. starting from CAIs in 2005 to Augmented and Virtual reality 2020). Furthermore, these technologies are linked to different pedagogies and policy initiatives, which are critical factors in the study of impact. Table ​ Table3 3 summarizes the different tools and practices that have been used to examine the impact of digital technologies on education since 2005 based on the review results.

Factors that affect the integration of digital technologies

Although the analysis of the literature review demonstrated different impacts of the use of digital technology on education, several authors highlighted the importance of various factors, besides the technology itself, that affect this impact. For example, Liao et al. ( 2007 ) suggested that future studies should carefully investigate which factors contribute to positive outcomes by clarifying the exact relationship between computer applications and learning. Additionally, Haßler et al., ( 2016 ) suggested that the neutral findings regarding the impact of tablets on students learning outcomes in some of the studies included in their review should encourage educators, school leaders, and school officials to further investigate the potential of such devices in teaching and learning. Several other researchers suggested that a number of variables play a significant role in the impact of ICTs on students’ learning that could be attributed to the school context, teaching practices and professional development, the curriculum, and learners’ characteristics (Underwood, 2009 ; Tamim et al., 2011 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Archer et al., 2014 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Haßler et al., 2016 ; Chauhan, 2017 ; Lee et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2022 ).

Digital competencies

One of the most common challenges reported in studies that utilized digital tools in the classroom was the lack of students’ skills on how to use them. Fu ( 2013 ) found that students’ lack of technical skills is a barrier to the effective use of ICT in the classroom. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) reported that students faced challenges when using tablets and smart mobile devices, associated with the technical issues or expertise needed for their use and the distracting nature of the devices and highlighted the need for teachers’ professional development. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) reported that skills training about the use of digital technologies is essential for learners to fully exploit the benefits of instruction.

Delgado et al. ( 2015 ), meanwhile, reported studies that showed a strong positive association between teachers’ computer skills and students’ use of computers. Teachers’ lack of ICT skills and familiarization with technologies can become a constraint to the effective use of technology in the classroom (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Delgado et al., 2015 ).

It is worth noting that the way teachers are introduced to ICTs affects the impact of digital technologies on education. Previous studies have shown that teachers may avoid using digital technologies due to limited digital skills (Balanskat, 2006 ), or they prefer applying “safe” technologies, namely technologies that their own teachers used and with which they are familiar (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). In this regard, the provision of digital skills training and exposure to new digital tools might encourage teachers to apply various technologies in their lessons (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). Apart from digital competence, technical support in the school setting has also been shown to affect teachers’ use of technology in their classrooms (Delgado et al., 2015 ). Ferrari et al. ( 2011 ) found that while teachers’ use of ICT is high, 75% stated that they needed more institutional support and a shift in the mindset of educational actors to achieve more innovative teaching practices. The provision of support can reduce time and effort as well as cognitive constraints, which could cause limited ICT integration in the school lessons by teachers (Escueta et al., 2017 ).

Teachers’ personal characteristics, training approaches, and professional development

Teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development affect the impact of digital technologies on education. Specifically, Cheok and Wong ( 2015 ) found that teachers’ personal characteristics (e.g., anxiety, self-efficacy) are associated with their satisfaction and engagement with technology. Bingimlas ( 2009 ) reported that lack of confidence, resistance to change, and negative attitudes in using new technologies in teaching are significant determinants of teachers’ levels of engagement in ICT. The same author reported that the provision of technical support, motivation support (e.g., awards, sufficient time for planning), and training on how technologies can benefit teaching and learning can eliminate the above barriers to ICT integration. Archer et al. ( 2014 ) found that comfort levels in using technology are an important predictor of technology integration and argued that it is essential to provide teachers with appropriate training and ongoing support until they are comfortable with using ICTs in the classroom. Hillmayr et al. ( 2020 ) documented that training teachers on ICT had an important effecton students’ learning.

According to Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ), the impact of ICTs on students’ learning is highly dependent on the teachers’ capacity to efficiently exploit their application for pedagogical purposes. Results obtained from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) (OECD, 2021 ) revealed that although schools are open to innovative practices and have the capacity to adopt them, only 39% of teachers in the European Union reported that they are well or very well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching. Li and Ma ( 2010 ) and Hardman ( 2019 ) showed that the positive effect of technology on students’ achievement depends on the pedagogical practices used by teachers. Schmid et al. ( 2014 ) reported that learning was best supported when students were engaged in active, meaningful activities with the use of technological tools that provided cognitive support. Tamim et al. ( 2015 ) compared two different pedagogical uses of tablets and found a significant moderate effect when the devices were used in a student-centered context and approach rather than within teacher-led environments. Similarly, Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) and Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) reported that the positive results from the integration of AR applications could be attributed to the existence of different variables which could influence AR interventions (e.g., pedagogical approach, learning environment, and duration of the intervention). Additionally, Garzón et al. ( 2020 ) suggested that the pedagogical resources that teachers used to complement their lectures and the pedagogical approaches they applied were crucial to the effective integration of AR on students’ learning gains. Garzón and Acevedo ( 2019 ) also emphasized that the success of a technology-enhanced intervention is based on both the technology per se and its characteristics and on the pedagogical strategies teachers choose to implement. For instance, their results indicated that the collaborative learning approach had the highest impact on students’ learning gains among other approaches (e.g., inquiry-based learning, situated learning, or project-based learning). Ran et al. ( 2022 ) also found that the use of technology to design collaborative and communicative environments showed the largest moderator effects among the other approaches.

Hattie ( 2008 ) reported that the effective use of computers is associated with training teachers in using computers as a teaching and learning tool. Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) noted that in addition to the strategies teachers adopt in teaching, ongoing professional development is also vital in ensuring the success of technology implementation programs. Sung et al. ( 2016 ) found that research on the use of mobile devices to support learning tends to report that the insufficient preparation of teachers is a major obstacle in implementing effective mobile learning programs in schools. Friedel et al. ( 2013 ) found that providing training and support to teachers increased the positive impact of the interventions on students’ learning gains. Trucano ( 2005 ) argued that positive impacts occur when digital technologies are used to enhance teachers’ existing pedagogical philosophies. Higgins et al. ( 2012 ) found that the types of technologies used and how they are used could also affect students’ learning. The authors suggested that training and professional development of teachers that focuses on the effective pedagogical use of technology to support teaching and learning is an important component of successful instructional approaches (Higgins et al., 2012 ). Archer et al. ( 2014 ) found that studies that reported ICT interventions during which teachers received training and support had moderate positive effects on students’ learning outcomes, which were significantly higher than studies where little or no detail about training and support was mentioned. Fu ( 2013 ) reported that the lack of teachers’ knowledge and skills on the technical and instructional aspects of ICT use in the classroom, in-service training, pedagogy support, technical and financial support, as well as the lack of teachers’ motivation and encouragement to integrate ICT on their teaching were significant barriers to the integration of ICT in education.

School leadership and management

Management and leadership are important cornerstones in the digital transformation process (Pihir et al., 2018 ). Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) documented leadership among the factors positively affecting the successful implementation of technology integration in schools. Strong leadership, strategic planning, and systematic integration of digital technologies are prerequisites for the digital transformation of education systems (Ređep, 2021 ). Management and leadership play a significant role in formulating policies that are translated into practice and ensure that developments in ICT become embedded into the life of the school and in the experiences of staff and pupils (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). Policy support and leadership must include the provision of an overall vision for the use of digital technologies in education, guidance for students and parents, logistical support, as well as teacher training (Conrads et al., 2017 ). Unless there is a commitment throughout the school, with accountability for progress at key points, it is unlikely for ICT integration to be sustained or become part of the culture (Condie & Munro, 2007 ). To achieve this, principals need to adopt and promote a whole-institution strategy and build a strong mutual support system that enables the school’s technological maturity (European Commission, 2019 ). In this context, school culture plays an essential role in shaping the mindsets and beliefs of school actors towards successful technology integration. Condie and Munro ( 2007 ) emphasized the importance of the principal’s enthusiasm and work as a source of inspiration for the school staff and the students to cultivate a culture of innovation and establish sustainable digital change. Specifically, school leaders need to create conditions in which the school staff is empowered to experiment and take risks with technology (Elkordy & Lovinelli, 2020 ).

In order for leaders to achieve the above, it is important to develop capacities for learning and leading, advocating professional learning, and creating support systems and structures (European Commission, 2019 ). Digital technology integration in education systems can be challenging and leadership needs guidance to achieve it. Such guidance can be introduced through the adoption of new methods and techniques in strategic planning for the integration of digital technologies (Ređep, 2021 ). Even though the role of leaders is vital, the relevant training offered to them has so far been inadequate. Specifically, only a third of the education systems in Europe have put in place national strategies that explicitly refer to the training of school principals (European Commission, 2019 , p. 16).

Connectivity, infrastructure, and government and other support

The effective integration of digital technologies across levels of education presupposes the development of infrastructure, the provision of digital content, and the selection of proper resources (Voogt et al., 2013 ). Particularly, a high-quality broadband connection in the school increases the quality and quantity of educational activities. There is evidence that ICT increases and formalizes cooperative planning between teachers and cooperation with managers, which in turn has a positive impact on teaching practices (Balanskat et al., 2006 ). Additionally, ICT resources, including software and hardware, increase the likelihood of teachers integrating technology into the curriculum to enhance their teaching practices (Delgado et al., 2015 ). For example, Zheng et al. ( 2016 ) found that the use of one-on-one laptop programs resulted in positive changes in teaching and learning, which would not have been accomplished without the infrastructure and technical support provided to teachers. Delgado et al. ( 2015 ) reported that limited access to technology (insufficient computers, peripherals, and software) and lack of technical support are important barriers to ICT integration. Access to infrastructure refers not only to the availability of technology in a school but also to the provision of a proper amount and the right types of technology in locations where teachers and students can use them. Effective technical support is a central element of the whole-school strategy for ICT (Underwood, 2009 ). Bingimlas ( 2009 ) reported that lack of technical support in the classroom and whole-school resources (e.g., failing to connect to the Internet, printers not printing, malfunctioning computers, and working on old computers) are significant barriers that discourage the use of ICT by teachers. Moreover, poor quality and inadequate hardware maintenance, and unsuitable educational software may discourage teachers from using ICTs (Balanskat et al., 2006 ; Bingimlas, 2009 ).

Government support can also impact the integration of ICTs in teaching. Specifically, Balanskat et al. ( 2006 ) reported that government interventions and training programs increased teachers’ enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards ICT and led to the routine use of embedded ICT.

Lastly, another important factor affecting digital transformation is the development and quality assurance of digital learning resources. Such resources can be support textbooks and related materials or resources that focus on specific subjects or parts of the curriculum. Policies on the provision of digital learning resources are essential for schools and can be achieved through various actions. For example, some countries are financing web portals that become repositories, enabling teachers to share resources or create their own. Additionally, they may offer e-learning opportunities or other services linked to digital education. In other cases, specific agencies of projects have also been set up to develop digital resources (Eurydice, 2019 ).

Administration and digital data management

The digital transformation of schools involves organizational improvements at the level of internal workflows, communication between the different stakeholders, and potential for collaboration. Vuorikari et al. ( 2020 ) presented evidence that digital technologies supported the automation of administrative practices in schools and reduced the administration’s workload. There is evidence that digital data affects the production of knowledge about schools and has the power to transform how schooling takes place. Specifically, Sellar ( 2015 ) reported that data infrastructure in education is developing due to the demand for “ information about student outcomes, teacher quality, school performance, and adult skills, associated with policy efforts to increase human capital and productivity practices ” (p. 771). In this regard, practices, such as datafication which refers to the “ translation of information about all kinds of things and processes into quantified formats” have become essential for decision-making based on accountability reports about the school’s quality. The data could be turned into deep insights about education or training incorporating ICTs. For example, measuring students’ online engagement with the learning material and drawing meaningful conclusions can allow teachers to improve their educational interventions (Vuorikari et al., 2020 ).

Students’ socioeconomic background and family support

Research show that the active engagement of parents in the school and their support for the school’s work can make a difference to their children’s attitudes towards learning and, as a result, their achievement (Hattie, 2008 ). In recent years, digital technologies have been used for more effective communication between school and family (Escueta et al., 2017 ). The European Commission ( 2020 ) presented data from a Eurostat survey regarding the use of computers by students during the pandemic. The data showed that younger pupils needed additional support and guidance from parents and the challenges were greater for families in which parents had lower levels of education and little to no digital skills.

In this regard, the socio-economic background of the learners and their socio-cultural environment also affect educational achievements (Punie et al., 2006 ). Trucano documented that the use of computers at home positively influenced students’ confidence and resulted in more frequent use at school, compared to students who had no home access (Trucano, 2005 ). In this sense, the socio-economic background affects the access to computers at home (OECD, 2015 ) which in turn influences the experience of ICT, an important factor for school achievement (Punie et al., 2006 ; Underwood, 2009 ). Furthermore, parents from different socio-economic backgrounds may have different abilities and availability to support their children in their learning process (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ).

Schools’ socioeconomic context and emergency situations

The socio-economic context of the school is closely related to a school’s digital transformation. For example, schools in disadvantaged, rural, or deprived areas are likely to lack the digital capacity and infrastructure required to adapt to the use of digital technologies during emergency periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ). Data collected from school principals confirmed that in several countries, there is a rural/urban divide in connectivity (OECD, 2015 ).

Emergency periods also affect the digitalization of schools. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of schools and forced them to seek appropriate and connective ways to keep working on the curriculum (Di Pietro et al., 2020 ). The sudden large-scale shift to distance and online teaching and learning also presented challenges around quality and equity in education, such as the risk of increased inequalities in learning, digital, and social, as well as teachers facing difficulties coping with this demanding situation (European Commission, 2020 ).

Looking at the findings of the above studies, we can conclude that the impact of digital technologies on education is influenced by various actors and touches many aspects of the school ecosystem. Figure  1 summarizes the factors affecting the digital technologies’ impact on school stakeholders based on the findings from the literature review.

Factors that affect the impact of ICTs on education

The findings revealed that the use of digital technologies in education affects a variety of actors within a school’s ecosystem. First, we observed that as technologies evolve, so does the interest of the research community to apply them to school settings. Figure  2 summarizes the trends identified in current research around the impact of digital technologies on schools’ digital capacity and transformation as found in the present study. Starting as early as 2005, when computers, simulations, and interactive boards were the most commonly applied tools in school interventions (e.g., Eng, 2005 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Moran et al., 2008 ; Tamim et al., 2011 ), moving towards the use of learning platforms (Jewitt et al., 2011 ), then to the use of mobile devices and digital games (e.g., Tamim et al., 2015 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Talan et al., 2020 ), as well as e-books (e.g., Savva et al., 2022 ), to the more recent advanced technologies, such as AR and VR applications (e.g., Garzón & Acevedo, 2019 ; Garzón et al., 2020 ; Kalemkuş & Kalemkuş, 2022 ), or robotics and AI (e.g., Su & Yang, 2022 ; Su et al., 2022 ). As this evolution shows, digital technologies are a concept in flux with different affordances and characteristics. Additionally, from an instructional perspective, there has been a growing interest in different modes and models of content delivery such as online, blended, and hybrid modes (e.g., Cheok & Wong, 2015 ; Kazu & Yalçin, 2022 ; Ulum, 2022 ). This is an indication that the value of technologies to support teaching and learning as well as other school-related practices is increasingly recognized by the research and school community. The impact results from the literature review indicate that ICT integration on students’ learning outcomes has effects that are small (Coban et al., 2022 ; Eng, 2005 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Schmid et al., 2014 ; Tamim et al., 2015 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ) to moderate (Garzón & Acevedo, 2019 ; Garzón et al., 2020 ; Liao et al., 2007 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Talan et al., 2020 ; Wen & Walters, 2022 ). That said, a number of recent studies have reported high effect sizes (e.g., Kazu & Yalçin, 2022 ).

Current work and trends in the study of the impact of digital technologies on schools’ digital capacity

Based on these findings, several authors have suggested that the impact of technology on education depends on several variables and not on the technology per se (Tamim et al., 2011 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ; Archer et al., 2014 ; Sung et al., 2016 ; Haßler et al., 2016 ; Chauhan, 2017 ; Lee et al., 2020 ; Lei et al., 2022a ). While the impact of ICTs on student achievement has been thoroughly investigated by researchers, other aspects related to school life that are also affected by ICTs, such as equality, inclusion, and social integration have received less attention. Further analysis of the literature review has revealed a greater investment in ICT interventions to support learning and teaching in the core subjects of literacy and STEM disciplines, especially mathematics, and science. These were the most common subjects studied in the reviewed papers often drawing on national testing results, while studies that investigated other subject areas, such as social studies, were limited (Chauhan, 2017 ; Condie & Munro, 2007 ). As such, research is still lacking impact studies that focus on the effects of ICTs on a range of curriculum subjects.

The qualitative research provided additional information about the impact of digital technologies on education, documenting positive effects and giving more details about implications, recommendations, and future research directions. Specifically, the findings regarding the role of ICTs in supporting learning highlight the importance of teachers’ instructional practice and the learning context in the use of technologies and consequently their impact on instruction (Çelik, 2022 ; Schmid et al., 2014 ; Tamim et al., 2015 ). The review also provided useful insights regarding the various factors that affect the impact of digital technologies on education. These factors are interconnected and play a vital role in the transformation process. Specifically, these factors include a) digital competencies; b) teachers’ personal characteristics and professional development; c) school leadership and management; d) connectivity, infrastructure, and government support; e) administration and data management practices; f) students’ socio-economic background and family support and g) the socioeconomic context of the school and emergency situations. It is worth noting that we observed factors that affect the integration of ICTs in education but may also be affected by it. For example, the frequent use of ICTs and the use of laptops by students for instructional purposes positively affect the development of digital competencies (Zheng et al., 2016 ) and at the same time, the digital competencies affect the use of ICTs (Fu, 2013 ; Higgins et al., 2012 ). As a result, the impact of digital technologies should be explored more as an enabler of desirable and new practices and not merely as a catalyst that improves the output of the education process i.e. namely student attainment.

Conclusions

Digital technologies offer immense potential for fundamental improvement in schools. However, investment in ICT infrastructure and professional development to improve school education are yet to provide fruitful results. Digital transformation is a complex process that requires large-scale transformative changes that presuppose digital capacity and preparedness. To achieve such changes, all actors within the school’s ecosystem need to share a common vision regarding the integration of ICTs in education and work towards achieving this goal. Our literature review, which synthesized quantitative and qualitative data from a list of meta-analyses and review studies, provided useful insights into the impact of ICTs on different school stakeholders and showed that the impact of digital technologies touches upon many different aspects of school life, which are often overlooked when the focus is on student achievement as the final output of education. Furthermore, the concept of digital technologies is a concept in flux as technologies are not only different among them calling for different uses in the educational practice but they also change through time. Additionally, we opened a forum for discussion regarding the factors that affect a school’s digital capacity and transformation. We hope that our study will inform policy, practice, and research and result in a paradigm shift towards more holistic approaches in impact and assessment studies.

Study limitations and future directions

We presented a review of the study of digital technologies' impact on education and factors influencing schools’ digital capacity and transformation. The study results were based on a non-systematic literature review grounded on the acquisition of documentation in specific databases. Future studies should investigate more databases to corroborate and enhance our results. Moreover, search queries could be enhanced with key terms that could provide additional insights about the integration of ICTs in education, such as “policies and strategies for ICT integration in education”. Also, the study drew information from meta-analyses and literature reviews to acquire evidence about the effects of ICT integration in schools. Such evidence was mostly based on the general conclusions of the studies. It is worth mentioning that, we located individual studies which showed different, such as negative or neutral results. Thus, further insights are needed about the impact of ICTs on education and the factors influencing the impact. Furthermore, the nature of the studies included in meta-analyses and reviews is different as they are based on different research methodologies and data gathering processes. For instance, in a meta-analysis, the impact among the studies investigated is measured in a particular way, depending on policy or research targets (e.g., results from national examinations, pre-/post-tests). Meanwhile, in literature reviews, qualitative studies offer additional insights and detail based on self-reports and research opinions on several different aspects and stakeholders who could affect and be affected by ICT integration. As a result, it was challenging to draw causal relationships between so many interrelating variables.

Despite the challenges mentioned above, this study envisaged examining school units as ecosystems that consist of several actors by bringing together several variables from different research epistemologies to provide an understanding of the integration of ICTs. However, the use of other tools and methodologies and models for evaluation of the impact of digital technologies on education could give more detailed data and more accurate results. For instance, self-reflection tools, like SELFIE—developed on the DigCompOrg framework- (Kampylis et al., 2015 ; Bocconi & Lightfoot, 2021 ) can help capture a school’s digital capacity and better assess the impact of ICTs on education. Furthermore, the development of a theory of change could be a good approach for documenting the impact of digital technologies on education. Specifically, theories of change are models used for the evaluation of interventions and their impact; they are developed to describe how interventions will work and give the desired outcomes (Mayne, 2015 ). Theory of change as a methodological approach has also been used by researchers to develop models for evaluation in the field of education (e.g., Aromatario et al., 2019 ; Chapman & Sammons, 2013 ; De Silva et al., 2014 ).

We also propose that future studies aim at similar investigations by applying more holistic approaches for impact assessment that can provide in-depth data about the impact of digital technologies on education. For instance, future studies could focus on different research questions about the technologies that are used during the interventions or the way the implementation takes place (e.g., What methodologies are used for documenting impact? How are experimental studies implemented? How can teachers be taken into account and trained on the technology and its functions? What are the elements of an appropriate and successful implementation? How is the whole intervention designed? On which learning theories is the technology implementation based?).

Future research could also focus on assessing the impact of digital technologies on various other subjects since there is a scarcity of research related to particular subjects, such as geography, history, arts, music, and design and technology. More research should also be done about the impact of ICTs on skills, emotions, and attitudes, and on equality, inclusion, social interaction, and special needs education. There is also a need for more research about the impact of ICTs on administration, management, digitalization, and home-school relationships. Additionally, although new forms of teaching and learning with the use of ICTs (e.g., blended, hybrid, and online learning) have initiated several investigations in mainstream classrooms, only a few studies have measured their impact on students’ learning. Additionally, our review did not document any study about the impact of flipped classrooms on K-12 education. Regarding teaching and learning approaches, it is worth noting that studies referred to STEM or STEAM did not investigate the impact of STEM/STEAM as an interdisciplinary approach to learning but only investigated the impact of ICTs on learning in each domain as a separate subject (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics). Hence, we propose future research to also investigate the impact of the STEM/STEAM approach on education. The impact of emerging technologies on education, such as AR, VR, robotics, and AI has also been investigated recently, but more work needs to be done.

Finally, we propose that future studies could focus on the way in which specific factors, e.g., infrastructure and government support, school leadership and management, students’ and teachers’ digital competencies, approaches teachers utilize in the teaching and learning (e.g., blended, online and hybrid learning, flipped classrooms, STEM/STEAM approach, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning), affect the impact of digital technologies on education. We hope that future studies will give detailed insights into the concept of schools’ digital transformation through further investigation of impacts and factors which influence digital capacity and transformation based on the results and the recommendations of the present study.

Acknowledgements

This project has received funding under Grant Agreement No Ref Ares (2021) 339036 7483039 as well as funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No 739578 and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy. The UVa co-authors would like also to acknowledge funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the National Research Agency of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under project grant PID2020-112584RB-C32.

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Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on Education

In this era of modernity, technology has become an integral part of our lives. But, its presence in the educational sector has ascribed both positive and negative impacts.

In this article, we will delve into how technology is enhancing the educational environment as well as how it may be detrimental to it.

We will explicate how technological advancements are positively affecting students’ academic performance, while simultaneously scrutinizing the potential hazards that come with these innovations.

Positive Impacts of Technology on Education

As the 21st Century continues to progress, more and more educational institutions are beginning to embrace technology in a bid to optimize learning outcomes.

A plethora of tangible benefits has been identified as a result of this innovative adoption, with its positive impacts manifesting across a range of areas.

For instance, technology has enabled students to gain access to a wealth of information beyond the scope of traditional textbooks and lecture notes.

This can be extremely beneficial when it comes to exploring complex concepts or expanding one’s knowledge base in certain subject areas.

Additionally, students are able to collaborate on projects and share ideas more efficiently using platforms such as Skype and Google Docs – providing an invaluable experience for their long-term development.

Let’s dive deep and discuss some major positive impacts of technology on education.

1. Enhances learning and facilitates students

Implementing technology in the classroom has enhanced learning by providing teachers with interactive tools to engage learners.

For example, interactive whiteboards have been found to foster higher-order thinking skills, while software applications give students access to vast amounts of information.

Additionally, virtual reality simulations can facilitate immersive educational experiences that allow students to gain a deeper understanding of concepts through exploration and experimentation.

Overall, technology has enabled educators to create stimulating environments where young minds can develop their skills and knowledge efficiently and effectively – allowing them to discover their passions early on in life.

2. Technology Allows Self-Education

The dawn of modern technology has opened up many opportunities for self-education and personal growth.

With the click of a button, individuals are now able to access unlimited resources that provide an invaluable platform for the expansion of knowledge, skills, and expertise.

This unbridled access to information has revolutionized the way we learn and is having very positive impacts on society as a whole.

Technology has enabled self-starters worldwide to pursue their passions with greater ease than ever before.

From learning new languages or musical instruments to mastering coding days or fine-tuning culinary skills technology offers endless possibilities for one’s educational journey.

Self-directed learners can quickly acquire the foundational knowledge they need in order to get started on their path toward success and progress at their own pace with unparalleled flexibility and convenience.

3. Use Of Innovative learning methods

As technology continues to revolutionize the way in which we learn, educational institutions are embracing innovative learning methods of acquiring knowledge.

From incorporating virtual reality into lesson plans to providing students with self-directed learning opportunities, the positive impacts of technology on education are undeniable.

Using new technologies such as augmented and virtual reality can significantly enhance students’ understanding by providing them with immersive experiences that foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Additionally, advances in artificial intelligence can help personalize instruction for each learner, allowing them to progress through lessons at their own pace while receiving individualized feedback from teachers and mentors.

With these tools now readily available to educators, students are afforded a unique chance at an enriched educational experience – one that will undoubtedly have lasting effects on their future success.

4. Develops the minds of students

Technology can be used as a learning tool to engage young minds and foster intellectual stimulation. For instance, it provides access to vast amounts of information that can contribute to holistic mind expansion for children and adolescents.

Technology also encourages active involvement in the learning process as well as collaborative opportunities with peers or other professionals which are crucial elements for proper mental growth in this digital age.

In addition, technology enables interactive activities such as virtual field trips and simulations that may not be accessible without its presence; these types of activities broaden perspectives while helping students make meaningful connections between content areas.

5. Mobility in Learning

Mobility in learning, in particular, has drastically improved the educational experience of countless students across the globe.

Essentially, mobility in learning allows learners to access their course materials from any device with a connection to the internet; no longer are students restricted to physical libraries or classrooms for instruction or source material.

Through this newfound freedom, students can now attend virtual lectures from home, craft assignments on their phones after school hours, and even work collaboratively with peers at distant universities for group projects!

Additionally, this newfound mobility also grants access to more niche resources that would otherwise not be available due to geographical constraints.

Negative Impacts of Technology on Education

The digital age has revolutionized the way we learn and interact with one another, but it has also engendered a plethora of negative outcomes for education.

Technology can facilitate both ease and detriment to the learning process, depending on how it is utilized and managed.

Technology can often create an atmosphere of inattention. The barrage of notifications from smartphones and computers can be distracting for students, leading to poor academic performance or difficulty retaining information.

Similarly, relying too heavily on technology can impede creativity; when students are given templates instead of allowing their natural ingenuity to blossom, they may become desensitized to expanding their knowledge beyond what is readily available online.

Moreover, there is the potential for technology-based solutions such as automated grading systems to produce skewed results due to a lack of human oversight.

Let’s dive deep and discuss some major negative impacts of technology on education.

1. Decrease social skills and increases laziness

The rapid advancement of technology in the past few decades has had a monumental impact on every aspect of life. Unfortunately, its growing presence in the field of education is not without its drawbacks.

Research has identified two primary negative effects that technology has had on student learning: decreased social skills and increased laziness.

As technology becomes more prevalent in the classroom, it can erode traditional opportunities for students to engage with each other and build interpersonal relationships.

Interacting with peers is important for developing crucial social and emotional competencies, yet devices such as tablets and computers have limited the amount of face-to-face communication between students.

This reduction in physical contact can lead to fewer opportunities for collaboration, rendering many students ill-equipped when it comes to forming meaningful connections with their peers.

2. Not all Information Is Valid and Verified

With the increasing prevalence of online sources, such as social media and Wikipedia, it has become increasingly difficult for educators to ensure accuracy in what students are consuming.

This lack of trustworthiness can have long-term negative impacts on education, leading to a decrease in knowledge retention and overall student performance.

The impact of invalid information on students is particularly concerning when studying an already complex subject matter.

Without reliable resources, students may be misled by inaccurate data or knowledge which could lead them down a path of misguided understanding.

Furthermore, incorrect information can lead to frustration and difficulty when attempting to uncover verifiable facts regarding a certain topic – something which is essential for any successful academic career.

3. Health Issues

Technological advances such as smartphones and laptops have drastically changed how students learn and interact with each other within educational systems.

When used excessively, these devices can cause an array of physical and mental health issues due to increased levels of stress, lack of sleep, fatigue, eyestrain, and depression.

Furthermore, research suggests that prolonged use can lead to musculoskeletal pain caused by inadequate posture while using a computer or device for extended periods.

4. Kills student creativity

It’s no secret that technology has revolutionized many aspects of our lives. But, as we’ve seen over the past few decades, its presence in education has had a drastic impact on student creativity.

As more and more schools have adopted tablets and laptops for use in the classroom, students have become increasingly dependent on digital devices for their learning needs.

This dependency can come at a cost to those who are not accustomed to using these technologies: the art of creative thinking is being lost due to a lack of practice.

This isn’t to say that technology doesn’t play an important role in education; it does – but if used without discretion, it can be detrimental to a student’s ability to think critically and creatively about problems or tasks at hand.

5. Can be very distracting

While technology has opened up a world of opportunities for students to access information, it can be very distracting in classrooms, potentially leading to negative impacts on education.

The ubiquity of smartphones, tablets, and laptops provides almost limitless access to multimedia content, allowing students to explore new avenues of learning. Unfortunately, this overabundance of knowledge and resources can be detrimental in educational settings where the focus is pivotal.

The bombardment of notifications, online games, and social media outlets can easily lead learners astray from their studies and impede their progress.

Furthermore, there is the issue of cyberbullying which can cause psychological trauma not only among victims but also witnesses who may feel helpless or intimidated when confronted with such hostility within the classroom environment.

Conclusion on the Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on Education

In conclusion, technology has both positive and negative impacts on education, and the way in which technology is utilized is critical to achieving beneficial results.

Although technology can provide easier access to information, it also can breed complacency when used as a replacement for traditional learning methods.

It is essential for educators to weigh these implications when deciding how technology should be integrated into classroom instruction.

Relevant Resources:

• Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on Business
• Positive and Negative Impacts of Science and Technology on Politics
• Positive and Negative Impacts of Digital Technology
• Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on Pharmacy
• Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on Medicine

Ahmad Ali (Author)

Ahmad Ali has been a technology enthusiast and writer for the past 5 years having vast knowledge of technology.

Rehmat Ullah (Content Reviewer)

Rehmat Ullah is a software engineer and CEO of Softhat IT Solutions. He is an expert technologist, entrepreneur, and educationist.

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The Impact of Technology on Education: Positive and Negative Effects

Technology has graced our learning institutions for centuries now. Right from the use of radios to incorporation of modern computers, our classrooms will never be the same. Assignments that took hours to grind have been reduced to minutes using edtech such as laptops, spreadsheets, online calculators, integrated apps, etc. Access to learning materials have also improved significantly as colleges embrace cloud storage. Not to mention that lecturers can now deliver lectures from anywhere in the world, reducing geographic limitations. 

While this should be good news to educators and learners, it comes with some drawbacks. In fact, stakeholders in the education sector have remained firmly embroiled in heated debates about the effects of technology on education . Whereas it’s hard to determine the side with more credible arguments, it’s undeniable that edtech has changed the way knowledge is imparted and acquired. And with such massive changes come both positives and negatives. In this short article, we’ll explore the impact of technology on education, covering both the positive and negative outcomes. Read on to learn more.

Impact of Technology on Education: The Digital Divide  

Edtech has done better than bad to our education system. In fact, some people firmly believe that the challenges we’re facing with it today are just bad teething problems. Yet, it’s undeniable that it has magnified the digital divide, exacerbating existing inequalities. This is a major problem in a world where the top one percent own more than 60 percent of the global population combined. So, only a select few fully benefit from edtech. Disparities are based on learners’ socioeconomic background, geographic location, and access to technology. This is worth noting, as it hinders some students’ academic progress and future opportunities. It’s a cruel reality, an impact of technology on education that many fear confronting.  

The Positive Effects of Technology on Education

Even if you’re against edtech, you must, at the very least, acknowledge the positive impact it has had on our education system. There’s just so much to talk about. However, we’ve listed the main advantages below:

Enhanced information access

Some of us started schooling when textbooks were the only access to information. Even so, they were quite rare and only children from privileged families had them. We spent weekends at neighboring estates, sharing a few copies to complete assignments. In fact, some students walked several kilometers to find copies of textbooks. In other cases, we had to stay back at school until quite late, copying the assignments. Colleges filled their libraries with old, irrelevant books, forcing students to fight for the few relevant ones. It was never easy. Then came technology. With just a few clicks, students can now explore a wide range of resources, such as online libraries, journals, educational websites, and multimedia content from any location on earth. All you need is an internet connection and an access device. How cooler can it get!

Improved collaboration 

Collaboration is critical to learning, which explains why most curricula have incorporated activities and exercises for it. Unfortunately, it has never been easy in traditional learning setups. The limited time in school and the many subjects to cover hindered teachers from instituting adequate collaborative activities. The pressure reduced most educators into syllabus covering machines. 

One of the positive effects of technology on education today is that it has changed things for the better. It has expanded the breadth and width of collaboration among stakeholders, i.e., students, teachers, guardians, and parents. They can instantly and seamlessly connect with each other via online platforms, video conferencing tools, and educational apps. You’re no longer alone when stuck with a difficult assignment because you easily reach your tutors, lecturers, and instructors to explain things out. If no one is available, you can collaborate with an expert team of essay writers at CustomWritings that professionally help students with academic writing issues online.

Personalized learning

Have you had the honor of watching the film Slumdog Millionaire 2008 ? If you haven’t, you’re certainly missing out. A masterpiece. A marvelous work of art and entertainment that highlights the struggles of many people who schooled a few decades ago. Forget about India’s high population and poor living standards, most students of the early 1980s confronted crowded and poorly ventilated classes. Teachers never delivered education to suit each student. Instead, they expected each learner to fit, a one system fits all approach. Thanks to edtech, things have gotten better. Adaptive learning software has allowed personalized learning experiences tailored to individual student needs. A slow learner can go at their own pace as they receive customized learning paths and immediate feedback.    

Improved learning experiences for all

Malik Jamal thrived in the crowded Mumbai classrooms, but others didn’t. Well, we were referring to the film Slumdog Millionaire, again! Many kids struggled. While the case may seem extreme for the US and other western nations, especially in this age, it shows just how our experiences in the classroom can differ. This is especially true for people with disabilities and mental illnesses. Edtech has improved not only their access to education but also learning experiences. Assistive technologies , such as screen readers, speech recognition software, and tactile interfaces, have enabled such students to participate fully in educational activities.

Improved classroom engagement

Can you imagine keeping young learners in a crowded classroom engaged for just one hour? It’s almost impossible, right? Now, that’s what some teachers confront every day! With few teaching aids, making students engaged is a complete nightmare. This is where technology comes in. Most teachers have stopped relying solely on traditional teaching methods and integrated edtech such as multimedia presentations, virtual reality simulations, video games, and interactive quizzes to make learning more enjoyable. As a result, some studies have reported increased motivation and deeper understanding and retention of concepts. A win -win situation.

The Negative Effects of Technology on Education

Now that we’ve discussed the pros, it’s time to explore the negative effects of technology on education. There’s always a downside to any tech. Below are a few ones derailing the education sector:

Distraction

The presence of tech devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and computers in the classroom can derail some students. Not all learners are equal or the same. So, you’ll always find the ones hooked to social media and online games rather than classwork. They’d rather chat than write their essays.

Erosion of social skills

As we go increasingly online, we limit opportunities for face-to-face interaction. This is the case with edtech. Students are finding it easier and more comfortable chatting online than having face-to-face conversations, which undermines interpersonal skills development. If you can’t communicate well in person, you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Information overload

The internet has opened the door to a whole new world of information that’s hard to process and verify. Even fools can open websites, blogs, and social media pages where they share misinformation. These can be exceedingly difficult for students to discern, leading to confusion and potentially inaccurate learning.

Health implications

Well, too much of anything is dangerous. Having technology in class could lead students into dependency, using their gadgets in all other aspects of life. The consequences could be far-reaching. For instance, studies have linked excessive screen time and poor ergonomic practices to various health implications, including eye strain, musculoskeletal problems, and sedentary behavior.

Academic dishonesty

This is the elephant in the room right now. New technological inventions, especially AI, have had a significant negative impact on academic honesty. Most students no longer do their research. Instead, they rely on ChatGPT, Textero, and other language-based techs to write their papers. This has proven quite problematic for educators.

The Future is EdTech but with a Lease!

Technology has undoubtedly revolutionized our education system for the better. Our children have avoided some many troubles and we were confronted with very little benefits. Edtech is here and it’s going nowhere. We should embrace it and enjoy its benefits. At the same time, we should have measures to minimize, if not eliminate, its disadvantages. As it is said, where there is a will, there is a way. 

The content published on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

• Academic Collaboration
• Digital Divide
• Negative Effects of Technology
• Online Learning
• Positive Effects of Technology
• Technology in Education

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What is one negative effect technology has had on education?

Education leaders must ensure inclusive educational opportunities for all students and work towards a more accessible and equitable future in education.

Key points:

• Technology is not without its pitfalls–and equity is a big issue
• Learn more about K-12 Tech Innovation News
• Discover The Impact of Technology on Education

While technology has revolutionized K-12 education, its integration has not been without challenges. There do exist potential negative impacts, including issues like the digital divide, unequal access to resources, and concerns about screen time. Additionally, we see potential drawbacks of over-reliance on technology, such as diminished face-to-face interactions, the risk of cybersecurity threats, and the need for comprehensive teacher training.

Examining these aspects and staying informed via K-12 tech innovation news provides a holistic understanding of how technology, while transformative, necessitates careful consideration to mitigate its negative effects in the realm of K-12 education.

One significant negative effect of technology on K-12 education is the exacerbation of educational inequities. The digital divide widens as some students lack access to essential devices and reliable internet connectivity, hindering their ability to fully participate in digital learning environments. Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds often face challenges in acquiring the necessary technology, creating disparities in educational access and opportunities.

This inequity extends beyond access to include variations in digital literacy skills. Students with limited exposure to technology at home may struggle to navigate digital platforms, putting them at a disadvantage in the increasingly technology-dependent educational landscape.

The shift to online and hybrid learning models, while offering flexibility, inadvertently amplifies existing disparities. Students without adequate technology resources may find it difficult to engage in virtual classrooms, complete assignments, or access supplementary educational materials.

As a result, the negative impact of technology on education and equity poses a critical challenge that needs thoughtful consideration and targeted interventions to ensure that all students have equal access to quality education in the digital age.

What is one positive effect technology has had on education?

Discussing technology’s impact on education leads to an exploration of the positive and negative effects of technology on education.

A notable positive effect of technology on K-12 education is the democratization of information and enhanced learning opportunities. Digital tools and online resources have broken down geographical barriers, providing students with access to a vast array of educational content regardless of their location. Platforms like online textbooks, educational websites, and interactive learning applications offer diverse materials that cater to different learning styles.

Technology has also facilitated personalized learning experiences. Adaptive learning platforms, powered by artificial intelligence, analyze individual student progress and tailor instructional content to meet specific needs. This targeted approach enhances understanding and skill development, fostering a more efficient and effective learning process.

Overall, the positive impact of technology on K-12 education lies in its ability to democratize information, offer personalized learning experiences, and enhance collaboration, ultimately enriching the educational journey for students.

How technology is affecting education

While technology offers numerous benefits to K-12 education, its integration can present challenges and negative effects. 10 negative effects of technology on education include:

• Digital Divide: Unequal access to technology exacerbates educational inequalities, with some students lacking necessary devices or reliable internet access for remote learning.
• Over-Reliance: Excessive dependence on technology may lead to a passive learning experience, hindering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Screen Time Concerns: Prolonged screen time can contribute to health issues, including eye strain, disrupted sleep patterns, and potential negative impacts on physical well-being.
• Cybersecurity Risks: The increased use of online platforms exposes educational institutions to potential cybersecurity threats, compromising student data and privacy.
• Social Isolation: Excessive use of technology may lead to decreased face-to-face interactions, hindering the development of social skills and interpersonal relationships.
• Distraction: Technology in the classroom can be a source of distraction, with students potentially accessing non-educational content during lessons.
• Teacher Training Challenges: Inadequate training for educators on integrating technology effectively into teaching practices may limit its positive impact.
• Equity Concerns: Varied access to advanced technology tools may create disparities in educational experiences, disadvantaging students without equal access.
• Loss of Traditional Skills: Overemphasis on digital skills might lead to a neglect of traditional skills, such as handwriting or manual problem-solving techniques.
• Depersonalization: In certain instances, technology may depersonalize the learning experience, reducing teacher-student interactions and impacting the teacher’s ability to provide individualized attention.

Balancing the advantages and drawbacks of technology is crucial to harness its potential while mitigating these negative effects in K-12 education.

Are there any disadvantages to using technology for education

Certainly, there are disadvantages to using technology in K-12 education, and the negative effects of technology on students cannot be ignored. The digital divide exacerbates educational inequities, as students without access to necessary devices or reliable internet face challenges participating in digital learning. Excessive screen time poses health concerns, contributing to issues such as eye strain and sedentary behavior.

Overreliance on technology may lead to a loss of face-to-face interactions, impacting social skills and emotional development. Traditional teaching methods might be overshadowed, potentially diminishing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Concerns about data privacy and security arise with the collection of sensitive student information. Additionally, the rapid evolution of technology may require continuous investment in professional development for educators to keep pace.

While technology offers numerous benefits, careful consideration of these disadvantages is crucial to ensuring that its integration in K-12 education aligns with the holistic development and well-being of students.

It is crucial for educators and stakeholders to address the digital divide in K-12 education. They must advocate for equitable access to technology, support initiatives bridging gaps in device and internet access, and engage in discussions to ensure inclusive educational opportunities for all students to work towards a more accessible and equitable future in education.

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There are big opportunities in AI, but also very real risks — how can governments get the balance right?

Analysis There are big opportunities in AI, but also very real risks — how can governments get the balance right?

When Malcolm Turnbull talked up his "innovation agenda" after seizing the prime ministership in 2015, instead of sparking excitement about the future, all that many voters heard was that their jobs were on the line.

Innovation became code for dangerous change, according to Liberals on the frontline. While talking about tech and radical transformative change might sound bold and forward-thinking, a nervous electorate with change fatigue often only fears that life is about to get harder. Unless you take them with you on the change journey, cynicism prevails.

The truth is politics is consumed with the every day — from tax cuts, to housing prices and cost-of-living relief. But a quiet revolution is going on that threatens to change everything in our lives and oddly there is disturbingly little national debate about what we should do about it.

Our political leaders haven't really spent much time talking about it — but they should be and they should be engaging us.

Social media got away

On Q+A last Monday, former Australian Financial Review columnist and now author Joe Aston compared social media giants to big tobacco. The reality is that social media blew up so fast and accelerated so hard the consequences were barely debated.

We gave away our privacy, we overshared and allowed algorithms to tell us what we wanted and what we liked without really reckoning with what it meant and how we wanted to use it. We only started having deeper ethical deliberations after we were already addicts and had been mugged by the pace of change.

Now we are immersed in a debate about whether we should follow the US in banning TikTok because of its data vulnerability in China, but the horse has, in many ways, already bolted. Millions of young people are not only obsessed with the platform, but many have monetised it, making it a brave government that stands in the way of that basic economic reality.

In Australia, we risk doing more of the same unless we turn our collective attention to the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence in a meaningful way.

The new frontier

Artificial intelligence has already moved from sci-fi fantasy to everyday use — from facial recognition on our phones to the $100 billion ChatGPT program which generates human-like responses to every possible instruction.

I considered asking AI to write this column just to make the point. On Q+A most weeks, we've got audience members telling us they are using it to ask their questions. The opportunities are infinite, as are the concerns, from deepfakes with the potential to swing elections and damage democracy to workers being made redundant, which is an uncontested inevitability. All of it is happening in real-time. We just haven't worked out what we will accept and what we will repudiate.

When a group of industry leaders warned last year that the AI technology they were building might one day pose an existential threat to humanity and should be considered a societal risk similar to pandemics and nuclear wars, the world finally started to take notice.

"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks, such as pandemics and nuclear war," reads a one-sentence statement released by the Center for AI Safety , a nonprofit organisation. The open letter was signed by more than 350 executives, researchers and engineers working in AI.

That statement changed the game and ever since the world and nation-states like ours have been engaged. But is the pace of that engagement enough, and how do we get the balance right?

Moves to regulate AI

Last week, the European Union voted on world-leading legislation that says it will protect citizens from the possible risks of AI technology developing at incomprehensible speeds, while also maintaining innovation across Europe. Yep, there's that word again.

The EU wanted to pass the new laws since ChatGPT came along in late 2022, launching an AI race across the planet. It changed the game so quickly that most of our heads are still spinning.

The Albanese government has announced the creation of a new AI expert group to offer advice on what laws here will look like.

The group first met in February and will continue offering advice until June 30 this year. The government has said they will introduce a risk-based system to protect against the worst potential harms of AI and that risky technologies will have mandatory rules applied to them, including even independent assessments and audits. The government has said they will avoid stifling the growth of low-risk AI.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic, who is deeply exercised about this issue, has flagged the parameters of new laws, including plans for AI-generated content to be labelled so it can't be mistaken as real.

But even before the new laws have been finalised, AI is disrupting life as we know it.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed last week that universities are catching hundreds of students in alleged cheating using ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence, as universities use new anti-plagiarism tools to catch people out.

An International Monetary Fund study recently predicted that AI was poised to impact about 60 per cent of all jobs in advanced economies like ours, with about half of those to benefit from AI increasing productivity and the other half to be adversely impacted. That means job losses.

Husic wants the advice of his expert group on what he has called "mandatory guardrails" for high-risk AI settings. "With expertise in law, ethics and technology, I'm confident this group will get the balance right."

Husic says that at its best, AI can help improve the quality of life and how our economy functions. "At its worst, it can distort and divide. I have concerns about how biometrics are used, social scoring for example," he says.

"And of course, the use of AI which seeks to manipulate actions with a criminal intent."

Husic says the government has already got started on key initiatives.

"We've established a short-term expert advisory group to help guide the development of mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI, they will report back in June.

"Mandatory regulation for high-risk AI could be in place as early as the end of the year."

Husic says his strategy is to build trust and transparency in AI systems and he is working with industry to develop a voluntary AI safety standard, including labelling and watermarking of AI-generated material.

But he acknowledges the threat to jobs. "As with the introduction of any new technology, we need to be aware of the potential impact on employment, keeping in mind AI will help to build new industries and create well-paid secure jobs.

"We want to allow low-risk AI to flourish unimpeded."

Regulation should be clear and focused

Last November, Husic attended the UK AI Safety Summit where Australia — along with 27 other countries — signed up to the Bletchley Declaration. He says it was a big step toward creating a safe and trustworthy international framework to tackle the risks of AI.

"Australia is closely monitoring how other countries are responding to the challenges of AI, while getting cracking on its own regulatory framework. The days of self-regulation for technology are over," he says.

The opposition says they are aware of the risks of change but are also troubled by heavy regulation and reluctant to overly regulate in a way that stifles businesses that want to adopt AI to make tasks faster and easier. They are now starting to voice their parameters for what the mid-year legislation should look like.

Shadow communications minister David Coleman told ABC News the opportunity in AI is "bigger than in any technology since the creation of the internet itself". He says it's crucial that we develop and own AI intellectual property here in Australia. "The government needs to help make that happen by encouraging investment. Much more action is needed on this."

On regulation, Coleman says we need to be very clear and focused on where we should act and where we should not. "Most aspects of AI do not require regulation, and excessive government involvement would make Australia less competitive. While there are some positive aspects of the EU AI law, it errs too much on the side of regulation," he says.

"But there are very real risks from AI that will require regulation. We must ensure that sovereign nations always determine the red lines that must not be crossed by software. Australia should be playing a leading role in working with international partners to determine these rules. At present, there is little sign that the Australian government is providing intellectual leadership on these issues."

Before the government does anything to regulate and legislate, we need to have our own reckoning as a community about how we want to use this technology in our lives or face having those decisions made for us again.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of Q+A, which airs at 9.35pm tonight on ABC TV and  ABC iview , RN Breakfast and co-host of the Party Room podcast.

• X (formerly Twitter)

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How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real?

There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.

• While Earth’s climate has changed throughout its history , the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years.
• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ), "Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact." 1
• Scientific information taken from natural sources (such as ice cores, rocks, and tree rings) and from modern equipment (like satellites and instruments) all show the signs of a changing climate.
• From global temperature rise to melting ice sheets, the evidence of a warming planet abounds.

The rate of change since the mid-20th century is unprecedented over millennia.

Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 800,000 years, there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods, with the end of the last ice age about 11,700 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

The current warming trend is different because it is clearly the result of human activities since the mid-1800s, and is proceeding at a rate not seen over many recent millennia. 1 It is undeniable that human activities have produced the atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun’s energy in the Earth system. This extra energy has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land, and widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred.

Related Reading

Do scientists agree on climate change?

Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change.

Earth-orbiting satellites and new technologies have helped scientists see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate all over the world. These data, collected over many years, reveal the signs and patterns of a changing climate.

Scientists demonstrated the heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases in the mid-19th century. 2 Many of the science instruments NASA uses to study our climate focus on how these gases affect the movement of infrared radiation through the atmosphere. From the measured impacts of increases in these gases, there is no question that increased greenhouse gas levels warm Earth in response.

"Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal." — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of warming after an ice age. Carbon dioxide from human activities is increasing about 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last Ice Age. 3

The Evidence for Rapid Climate Change Is Compelling:

Global temperature is rising.

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities. 4 Most of the warming occurred in the past 40 years, with the seven most recent years being the warmest. The years 2016 and 2020 are tied for the warmest year on record. 5

The Ocean Is Getting Warmer

The ocean has absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 100 meters (about 328 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.67 degrees Fahrenheit (0.33 degrees Celsius) since 1969. 6 Earth stores 90% of the extra energy in the ocean.

The Ice Sheets Are Shrinking

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019, while Antarctica lost about 148 billion tons of ice per year. 7

Glaciers Are Retreating

Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa. 8

Snow Cover Is Decreasing

Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and the snow is melting earlier. 9

Sea Level Is Rising

Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year. 10

Arctic Sea Ice Is Declining

Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades. 11

Extreme Events Are Increasing in Frequency

The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events. 12

Ocean Acidification Is Increasing

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30%. 13 , 14 This increase is due to humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the ocean. The ocean has absorbed between 20% and 30% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions in recent decades (7.2 to 10.8 billion metric tons per year). 1 5 , 16

1. IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, WGI, Technical Summary . B.D. Santer et.al., “A search for human influences on the thermal structure of the atmosphere.” Nature 382 (04 July 1996): 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1038/382039a0. Gabriele C. Hegerl et al., “Detecting Greenhouse-Gas-Induced Climate Change with an Optimal Fingerprint Method.” Journal of Climate 9 (October 1996): 2281-2306. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<2281:DGGICC>2.0.CO;2. V. Ramaswamy, et al., “Anthropogenic and Natural Influences in the Evolution of Lower Stratospheric Cooling.” Science 311 (24 February 2006): 1138-1141. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1122587. B.D. Santer et al., “Contributions of Anthropogenic and Natural Forcing to Recent Tropopause Height Changes.” Science 301 (25 July 2003): 479-483. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1084123. T. Westerhold et al., "An astronomically dated record of Earth’s climate and its predictability over the last 66 million years." Science 369 (11 Sept. 2020): 1383-1387. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094123

2. In 1824, Joseph Fourier calculated that an Earth-sized planet, at our distance from the Sun, ought to be much colder. He suggested something in the atmosphere must be acting like an insulating blanket. In 1856, Eunice Foote discovered that blanket, showing that carbon dioxide and water vapor in Earth's atmosphere trap escaping infrared (heat) radiation. In the 1860s, physicist John Tyndall recognized Earth's natural greenhouse effect and suggested that slight changes in the atmospheric composition could bring about climatic variations. In 1896, a seminal paper by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could substantially alter the surface temperature through the greenhouse effect. In 1938, Guy Callendar connected carbon dioxide increases in Earth’s atmosphere to global warming. In 1941, Milutin Milankovic linked ice ages to Earth’s orbital characteristics. Gilbert Plass formulated the Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change in 1956.

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16. Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate , Technical Summary, Chapter TS.5, Changing Ocean, Marine Ecosystems, and Dependent Communities, Section 5.2.2.3. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/technical-summary/

Header image shows clouds imitating mountains as the sun sets after midnight as seen from Denali's backcountry Unit 13 on June 14, 2019. Credit: NPS/Emily Mesner

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