I tend to find that, like most things, how teachers feel about education technology and its effect on outcomes for pupils lies on a spectrum. There’s the evangelical, the loathers, the ones who dabble just because it’s there, the ones who claim they’re just no good at it, and everyone else in between.

When a study comes up about the impact of tech in the classroom, I’m always interested because many will argue that there’s no evidence of any effect on learning, so, understandably, they ask the question as to whether spending thousands on it is a good decision for a school to make. So imagine my intrigue when I saw this headline pop up on the BBC News website: “iPads ‘help improve young pupils’ skills’” (bit.ly/SchoolTabletUse).

It turns out that a pretty hefty piece of research, carried out over two years in Northern Ireland, has found that young children’s maths, English and communication skills are improved by regular use of the devices. The report also found that when children are using them, they see it as play, so they are very motivated. Boys are also more enthused about producing written work when done in this way.

This is all pretty easy to take in and digest, but where I think it all starts to unravel is when talk of “preparing children for the future” comes into play. That to me is a bit woolly and detracts from what are otherwise interesting findings. The thing is that pupils are using iPads and whatever else now, and if they’re having a positive effect on their learning, that’s great; if that effect can be measured, even better. That seems like a good investment of a school’s ever-dwindling budget.

But if you invest to prepare children for a future that, let’s face it, is unknown for most of us, then it starts to undermine the argument.

As Anthony Evans, a teacher, pointed out in response to this report: “To prepare for the future, you need to be articulate, collaborative, knowledgeable, well read, confident, resilient, creative, conversational, independent and be able to hold your own in a pub. I don’t think being able to swipe and expand on an iPad prepares you for the future - unless we are raising a generation of Tinder users.” Quite.

So, going back to my original point: let’s change how we talk about technology in the classroom. Let’s talk about specifics; let’s talk about strategy, impact, successes and pitfalls. But let’s make sure we’re talking about what is happening now.

Let’s remove the focus on our duty to prepare children for the digital age and just get back to looking at improving learning outcomes.

Claire Lotriet is a teacher at Henwick Primary School in London. She tweets @OhLottie and blogs at clairelotriet.com