Technology in our education

My brother comes home from school everyday and the first thing he does after putting his bag down and drinking a glass of water is to head straight for the power button on the computer. Sometimes, he forgoes the water. But its become a routine and something that has become part of his daily life. It's worrying and sad, but the question that should be raised is, how much technology is enough?

As part of the Rudd government's initiative, students in Year 9 were given free laptops across the state. I remember I spent year 9 and 10 on my laptop in every class, ignoring the teacher and fining portal sites to access social media. I'm pretty sure my brother is doing the same with his free laptop. 

So let's get this straight: my brother goes to school, is on the laptop for about 4-5 hours during class, then finishes school and goes home to go on the computer for another 6-7 hours. And this happens 5 days in a row every week. We're not even counting the weekends.

In short, we are surrounded by technology. constantly. 

Most of the funding that is given to schools are spent on improving technology such as removing the classic blackboard and instead using projectors and Smartboards. Because of the hype, it is believed that technology will improve the way teachers teach and students learn. On the other hand, there is a growing belief that questions the efficiency of technology in the classroom. The questions are concerned with the ability of technology to deliver the quality and instruction that it has promised.

Technology plays such a prominent role in the classroom that in the article "the future of school," its believed schools will be very different within 10years. If it still exists.

The prediction is there will be no more school bags with books in classes - textbooks, paper exams and pens will disappear. Even computers and laptops will cease to exist.

This could lead to us having an external cognitive hard drive you could plug into your brain. 

"Professor Selwyn says the traditional features of a conventional school, such as a library full of books, will have been replaced by digital editions; laptops and PCs by palm-sized smart phones, tablets and ‘‘fablets’’, a cross between the small screen of the smart phone and the tablet computer; exams by online tests; and perhaps the school itself will have gone and a virtual teaching institution on the worldwide web taken its place." (Maslen, 2013)

So how much technology is enough? There have been talks to ditch the chalk and blackboard method, but then there are those who argue that teachers should go back to basics and forget the technology. 

"Professor Selwyn says one of the ‘‘beautiful things’’ about school is that it is a communal endeavour. The new technologies are great in allowing people with the resources and the motivation to learn more in different ways. But the technology will not resolve inequalities between students: it will help some and leave others behind, exacerbating the social divisions it has failed to address." (Maslen, 2013)

It could be that we will return to basics thirty years later after the digital age but for now, schools should focus on making sure the exposure to technology DOES improve the quality of education, not increase the exposure of technology which will affect learning..

References

Maslen, G. (August 26, 2013). The Future of School. Sydney Morning Herald, Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-future-of-school-20130822-2sdvz.html.