Some Limitations of Technology

1. Poorly designed digital learning tools give the illusion of progress when in fact they simply replicate print tools.

For example, scanning a printed document into a digital version does not ensure that students with a range of strengths and weaknesses can access and comprehend the content. As with print, digital tools must be thoughtfully designed with careful consideration in terms of both access and learning supports. As new digital learning tools flourish and our understanding of learner variability advances, curricula that cannot meet that challenge will be increasingly recognized as “print disabled” (Rose & Gravel, 2012, p.22).

2. If these digital resources are not usable by all students, then their capacity for flexibility will become an advantage for some students and a disadvantage to others.

Having reached a time when simple access to technology is less of an issue, today’s digital divide refers to equal use of learning technologies or equal access to the learning opportunity that digital tools support. This is the new digital divide which occurs when some students by virtue of their differences (language, learning style, processing speed, attention span, sensory impairment, print disability, work schedule, etc.) are excluded from equal participation in the virtual learning environment. And, unfortunately, it’s often the most interactive and potentially engaging digital resources (e.g., electronic simulations, video games, social media) which, when designed for the mythical "average learner," exclude or limit students whose differences have not been considered or anticipated.