Photo Courtesy of EdTech
"Immersive technologies such as virtual reality and 3D scanning are becoming so hot that educators across the country are beginning to roll them out for students of all ages.
The problem is that, while technologies blending elements of the physical and digital worlds in simulated environments offer enormous academic value, too many institutions fall prey to what I call the “buy it and forget it” approach.
This is a syndrome where administrators and others with purchasing power in educational institutions become so enamored with the novelty of new technology they decide they just need to have it — even if they do not completely understand why.
In our personal lives, we are all prone to this behavior. A few years ago, for example, I recall seeing many people getting excited about the glitzy 3D television sets on store shelves in Costco.
They dropped thousands of dollars, loaded them onto carts and proudly wheeled them out the door to their eagerly awaiting families. Only later did many of these customers realize they would need better 3D headsets to have a passable viewing experience, and there was not much 3D programming on the air to justify the money they spent.
Education technology purchasing is similar. Schools and universities have an unfortunate track record of laying out billions of dollars on bleeding-edge technologies that never quite take off and, as a result, never get used for any truly meaningful academic purposes."