In “Computers 'do not improve' pupil results” (2015), Sean Coughlan says that Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports the surprising results from the global study of the effect of school computers and classroom technology on students’ performance. OECD finds that the more often pupils use computers, tablets and internet in schools, the more likely they get worse learning outcomes which are based on international tests for the student assessment. Nonetheless, Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s education director, remarks that we ought not to make up an excuse by using this study to disregard technology, but to urge to find other better methods instead.
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My Yes/No question is:
Are we supposed to rely on the very traditional education (no technology-based system)?
My answer is:
No. We should use the integrated method of traditional and technology-based system.
Using computer and classroom technology moderately as a supporting tool and approach will help enhance and substantially contribute to a wide variety of advantages to learning in schools and universities. Both students and teachers can save their time and money to have a class in distant places, particularly for different countries, independently. As well as being helpful for distant learning, it can reduce the production of textbooks and some related materials. Meanwhile, instructors along with learners do not have to carry lots of heavy books or waste their effort to find, borrow and return (some) books to a library because we have online libraries and database.
What’s more, technology-based learning help people learn and teach more easily through video learning, online lessons and assignment, info-graphics, presentations, and the like. Some supporting tools make class much more interesting and encouraging via simulation and visualization techniques which are apparently comprehensible. In terms of assessment, students can get feedback and statistically examine their progress and other related records about the classroom, whilst teachers are more convenient to record and evaluate their students’ performance effectively.
Yet, if we depend on such technology considerably or all time, it might not be helpful as presented in the article. This is because we are having too much information to be easily distracted and misuse it. To demonstrate, students may encounter with a lot of interference during the use of computer, for instance, games, social media, movie and stuff like that. Along the same line, they share their answers of homework and probably come across it online solutions, thereby maybe ignoring to practice by themselves. Another main problem of using them frequently is that students and teachers may possibly suffer from many sorts of health problem like office syndrome or vision problems.
Back-to-basics or conventional education is still good and widespread, but modern education based on technology is beneficial in several aspects as well if applied properly.
Please do not unplug them!!!
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Reference
Thank you Feem.
ReplyDeleteThis is as thought provoking today as it was when I read it last year. And Feem's responses also give us a lot to comment on. Having had these sorts of issues, including knowledge of this report, floating around in my head for months now, and having led a workshop for Thailand's Ministry of Education teachers just after Songkran, I have a lot of comments, but I'm curious to see what you think first.
Of particular interest is what you think of our use of technology in and out of class.
Feem's source is also worth reading, especially the warnings on some possible problems in extensive student use of criminal copying and pasting. Of course, every good university has a simple solution to such stealing (plagiarism) by students - bye bye and no degree.
ReplyDeleteI don't throw students out, I just give a zero or -100 grade when I come across copying and pasting that is not in "quotation marks" or uncredited paraphrasing. I don't think this is likely to be a problem in high schools any more than at universities. And high school students, even primary school kids, should be learning that whilst we want to use the ideas of others, stealing is morally wrong whether it's stealing money or ideas.
No, we aren't. some people, especially my friends' parents, told me that students used technology on games more than on education. For me, it depends on people. If people around you, such as your parents and your teachers teach and suggest you when you must use for studying or when you can play games or social media to relax, you are able to use the integrated method of traditional and technology systems.
ReplyDeletemany of my pals are smart phone's games addict. they usually play them in lunch breaks or after finishing school. However, they hardly play them while learning in their classroom because their teachers always teach them to allocate their time appropriately.
Furthermore, the technology-based system can helps pupils to search new information and find out new experience. For instance, sometimes, my teacher don't have enough time to do experiments, so that I watch many experiments via www.youtube.com. Watching experiments in the internet enables me to understand methods and results and I also can do good grades in sciences, i.e. physics or chemistry.
In addition, presently, learners occasionally send their homework to their professors via email or social media. Consequently, it affects positive ways to students as well as teachers.
Thank you Chan for your answer and a lot of positive reasons. Every coin has two sides, just like technology have both advantages and disadvantages. In 21st century, our world is getter better because of the proper use of advanced technology. Computer is one of the amazing innovations which change our world toward prosperity. We, as users or creators, would see various differences between education with and without technology. Technology seems still very useful for new education despite some drawbacks. And we might think that what we worry about computer-based education is not that technology worsens our education system, but that how teacher and student can apply this appropriately and effectively.
DeleteI cannot imagine how difficult and boring it is if I have to study in school and university without the support of technology.
I don't think we're supposed to rely on the original form of education. As time has gone by the methods of learning have also changed over years too. In historical time, students might learn everything from reading book and jot every word their teachers had said down on some pieces of paper. But as the technology has hit the world and humans find it easier to learn in that way, so the majority have moved on to the new method which is more convenient.
ReplyDelete“More convenient” I go along with you. Having thought several times and compared the pros and cons of the traditional education and the integrated one with technology, I believe that the modern education which is also based computer lead students and teachers toward effective systems of teaching, learning, testing, evaluating, and developing. Yet, we ought to rely on it with carefulness to help avoid the possible drawbacks of technology applied in education.
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