Is technology that is entering
classrooms really making kids smarter? An old-timer has his doubts…
BC: Hey, what’s this I see? The hand
that clicks the mouse is holding a pen…
AD: Yes, I’m writing a letter to my
grandmom. She refuses to read e-mails…
BC: You should have become a doctor.
AD: Hey, my handwriting’s not all
that bad!
BC: I don’t blame it on you though…
AD: Let me guess, you’re going to
blame it on technology.
BC: I shudder to think of the digital
generation – or gen z as you call them. They just text, type,
click...
AD: They seem to be doing just fine…
BC: Technology has taken over
classrooms – I just can’t imagine classrooms with no blackboards…
AD: But smartboards are here - don’t
they make learning fun?
BC: Isn’t it ironical that the same
technology that helps them learn also prevents them from learning?
AD: What do you mean?
BC: Most of them hardly write, so their
handwriting is… well, you need software to decode it. Besides, they
don't know how to spell. A word processor takes care of the spelling
and grammar.
AD: You just can’t write them off
because…
BC: Forget writing, they can’t do
mental calculations either. For instance, they can’t multiply to
save their lives.
AD: Isn’t that why God created
rabbits?
BC: Very funny! And what happens when
students are extremely tech-savvy, but the teachers are averse to
technology?
AD: Like you?
BC: I’ll ignore that… With online
assignments and downloadable tests, how do teachers find out if the
submission is original when students turn it in?
AD: By using turn it in.
BC: What was that?
AD: Turnitin.com is a web site that has
a filter to detect plagiarised content, so teachers can spot
assignments that have been copied.
BC: That would be a bitter pill to
swallow for naughty students, wouldn’t it?
AD: Yes, that's possibly the reason why
technology brings in something sweet as well.
BC: Like what?
AD: Sugar!
BC: Excuse me?
AD: Sugar is a desktop environment
developed as part of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project for
school kids. Quanta Computer has developed low-cost notebooks
computers for the purpose.
BC: I can’t believe all this is
happening. Students take notes on Google Docs, use chat to share
ideas, discuss lessons on blogs...
AD: Teachers are not too far behind.
I’ve heard of some using Twitter to send out assignments and
reminders.
BC: In my days, we went to school to
study and excel.
AD: And today?
BC: You need Excel to go to school and
study.
AD: You’re talking about traditional
schools. Did you know that almost 85 years ago, they were talking of
schools in the air?
BC: You mean they were talking in the
air about schools?
AD: No, they were talking about the
radio as a medium of education, in the ‘30s…
BC: Small wonder that today, students
are demanding that they be allowed to take their i-pods to class.
AD: I don’t know what you’re
cribbing about. Do you know that as far back as in 1925, Thomas
Edison remarked that books would soon be obsolete in schools and that
scholars would be instructed through the eye?
BC: Edison was talking about the
invention of the projector. And when he said ‘eye’, he was
referring to the visual medium. Trust today's generation to interpret
that as the 'i' in i-pads, i-phones and i-tunes…
