Does technology make us lazy? Should it be used less in the education of our kids?
Monday 8 July 2013
Technology makes us lazy
A mate of mine recently pointed out that iPads are being used more and more in school classrooms these days. He didn't like the idea at all and said that he reckons technology makes us lazy. He also reckoned that kids will miss a lot because the iPad does so much for them, like spelling, writing and maths. I've got a few thoughts on the topic that I'll post in the next week or so, but what do you think?
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I think it's really down to what you're using it for. You can get apps for pretty much anything these days, and then if there isn't an app for what you want I'm pretty sure it's not too hard to write one.
ReplyDeletePoint being; while an iPad is capable of doing 'spelling, writing and maths' for you, you can get apps to teach you how to do maths, writing and spelling (and save a lot of paper in the process). Assuming they're used in a class situation as a replacement for learning maths and writing by hand, they can give instant feedback on errors rather than a teacher working their way around each individual student.
This would also allow students to learn at their rate. It would also be possible for teaches to track in real time how each student is going on a computer the iPads sync their information to. (Now I don't know if there's an app out there that does all this because I don't actually have an iPad, but I know it would be possible).
So yes, you could say it makes us more 'lazy', I see it as being more 'efficient' and is (or more would be) a very useful tool in education. The only thing I can think that it doesn't do well is teach you small print hand-writing because I don't recall seeing a pen for iPads which is as fine as ballpoint pens.
Nice reply Samuel! I'm pretty excited to see how schools develop this technology to make it useful. The individual real-time feedback certainly would be useful for teachers you'd think. Lily's school has been using the iPads for reading and maths programs like this. Not sure if there's an app for everything though - don't think I'd want to replace throwing a ball with throwing an iPad....
DeleteiPads don't do your spelling for you. They take words you meant to type and turn them into hilarious alternatives. #damnyouautocorrect :P
ReplyDeleteToo right. I still have to read every blog post three times before posting it. If only there was an auto correct which reads your mind and puts down what you meant :)
DeleteThe youversion Bible has just reached 100 million downloads. God is obviously using this new technology era to get His message out which is incredibly exciting. Just think kids are so used to using ipads etc that the Bible will be a book that they can access anytime anywhere. I think it has wonderful benefits. As far as making you lazy, I think it opens the kids up to so much more knowledge to be explored and thought of.
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