It appears that all efforts to bring shedloads of tech to every classroom are failing to justify the expense.

Paper-less classrooms, internet access and networking have been a craze for years. However, educators are now complaining that the influx of tech did not do much to improve test scores or justify the immense expense of upgrading education.

Since 2005 test scores in the US have seen a sharp decline and tech isn’t helping. Schools are spending a lot of their budgets towards improving tech standards, making sure that every student has a laptop and proper internet access, even at the expense of traditional teaching methods. The approach, claim some, is showing no dividends.

However, backers of tech initiatives in education, mainly White House staffers and Silicon Valley types, claim that the test results fail to paint a full picture. They believe kids are better prepared for a high tech job market thanks to new technologies available in schools. Test results, math scores and other indicators tell a different tale, but advocates of digital learning aren’t backing down.

They claim old fashioned results simply fail to illustrate new skills obtained by the kids thanks to their high tech education.

More here.