So apparently kids are learning too much too fast when it comes to technology and computers. PBS has videos on current events and one of them is called "Digital World" It shows how some children in middle schools and children even younger are being given tools such as lap tops to use for the year.
For some older folk this is a problem or perhaps a concern... "Teaching styles are changing." Things aren't the way they used to be in school settings. Yea, maybe because to sit and listen to someone lecture about a topic you could careless about is pretty boring, sorry.
Power points, Ipad's, and even smart boards are becoming more and more common within classrooms; even at the higher education levels including colleges and universities. Kids, teens, and people are trying to keep up with technology and enjoy the always evolving toys and machines. Each one of them are made to make our lives better or more convenient. Most cell phones have the ability to have the internet on them anywhere at any time. If you have a question, any question in the world, all you have to do is type in the subject in a search engine and your question is solved within milliseconds. I would say this is pretty amazing, not something to complain about.
Furthermore, if children or any one for that matter, is listening to a teacher, professor, or doctor speak, and they find something interesting, instead of looking in the index of a textbook, they can open the lap top or cell phone and look deeper into the subject matter. The human mind can carry so much more information than any of us could ever want. Why not take advantage of our brain capacity? And why not start young? Google, yahoo, and bing are all amazing tools to help educate every one in the world (who has access to them).
Just because technology is an ever-evolving entity, people that aren't up to date or can't keep up shouldn't hold it back from those who can learn it quickly. Technology should be used to better our societies and enlighten people. Each generation is doing a good job with increasing the usage of it, I say keep moving forward.
I agree 100% that nobody should be held back from learning the technology quickly and that technology should be used to better our societies, but will it better the individual? Teachers are using power points in the class room more and more as the years go by, but are they using them like they should?
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience, i have had professors read directly off the power point presentation without thoroughly explaining the information. I feel as though this is a disadvantage to the student because the typical student's mind will float off, probably off to use their cell phone to answer a text, or to surf the web on their lab top. If a professor were to use the chalk/dry erase board, the students would learn more because they would have to write it down.
As far as the schools that should be using them goes, i feel as though going younger than middle school is completely ludicrous. Is it really necessary for kids under the age of ten to be using a laptop in class? In my opinion it isn't because I do not think that kids at that age can comprehend what they are actually learning.
if you really think about it youre in 5th grade when youre ten, im pretty confident i was using a computer then and think how much more technology has evolved since then. computers are a permanent fixture in our homes, not a device for the wealthy these days...
ReplyDeleteand as far as teachers go, whether they are using blackboard, power points, and all things technical, students still have to take notes unless they receive a copy printed for them, if someone wants to learn then they will regardless of how they are handed the information...