Teachers" obsession with technology sees gadgets worth millions sit in cupboards There's incredible potential for digital technology in and beyond the classroom, but as in other fields, from health care to retail, it is vital to rethink how learning is organised if we're to reap the rewards. The danger is that the technology of the 21st century is being applied using teaching methods of the 20th. The emphasis is too often on shiny hardware, rather than how it's to be used. The study was based on an analysis of more than 1,000 research papers on the use of technology in education. Researchers suggested that schools across Britain collectively spent more than £1.4 billion on the latest gadgets in the past three years alone. But the study warned that there was "little tangible impact" on pupils" education as technology was often "imported into classrooms without the necessary changes to teacher practice and school organisation to support them." It quoted examples of an "overabundance of 'apps" and games that sugar-coat dull, unchallenging practice activities, like repetitive arithmetic quizzes." The report, called Decoding Learning, also said tablet computers were being handed to pupils with no training in how to use them. "Tablet computers offer a window to vast swathes of information, but so does a traditional library," it said. To use either effectively, a child needs structured teaching to help turn information into knowledge. Instead of fetishising the latest kit, focusing on effective learning activities can help us make better use of what we've got. The study highlighted a number of ways in which technology could be used to improve pupils" education. One example given was that of a robotics kit for secondary schools which enables pupils to attach lights, sensors and motors to a customised control board and to then programme their machines using an app. In another example, pupils were able to use powerful sound and digital equipment to simulate an earthquake in a geography class. The conclusions come amid concerns over the effect that technology is having on schoolchildren. Researchers have consistently called for access to gadgets to be limited in the early years amid fears that they erode pupils" basic skills.