CAN TECHNOLOGY REPLACE OLD-FASHION TEACHING?

Dec 13, 2015 Editorial, Features / Columnists

In today’s digitized world, it is without a doubt that technology is here to stay and there is no question about that. Almost everyone in Guyana has either a computer, cell phone or a tablet in their possession. Not only adults, but also children in their pre-teen years can be seen using cell phones or playing games on a tablet.
Technology has modernized society and has made almost everything fast-paced these days. There are fast-paced romance, fast-paced teaching, fast-paced learning, fast-paced writing and even fast-paced education—all due to the fast-paced technology which continues to change society and the lifestyles of people.
There has been a lot of back and forth discussions by teachers and educators in Guyana about the use of technology, especially how computers can benefit children and enhance learning in the classroom, particularly those who do not have a computer in the home or access to one outside of school.
Few can dispute the claim that children are faster learners of technology than adults and that technology makes learning easier and convenient for children who are perhaps the most gifted in society to use the invention.
Computers are helping children to do research, learn to surf the internet for news and information about anything, construct diagrams, create art and make music. Simply put, computers are changing the way children think and act and have raised their skill levels.
But can technology really compensate or even replace the good old-fashioned skills of teaching, learning and thinking? Despite all those wonderful interactive learning games, books that read themselves on tablets and smart phones, it would be beneficial to encourage children to use their minds and perhaps continue to be taught the old fashioned way.
Children should be taught Maths and English the old fashioned way, especially arithmetic; how to construct tables, add and subtract, multiply and divide, and also how to write and use tenses properly. Because of technology, children tend to think less and are using their brains less, so much so that they are in danger of not knowing how to add, subtract, multiply or divide and how to spell or write properly without computers.
It seems that technology could cripple the mental capacity of children to think if they are not taught the practical math and English skills. As with everything else in life, balance is the key to learning. Most would agree that technology is the way of the future, but it should not replace common sense and the practical skillset of children. A society that permits this to happen will end up not with thinkers but with robots.
Technology must not be allowed to replace reasoning and most importantly the way a child thinks. This will definitely turn children into mindless zombies who are capable of only texting, insta-gram and do touch screen mathematics.
However, technology has a place in the classroom in that it can improve teaching and stimulate learning, but it must not be used to replace teachers, learning, textbooks, pencils or the brain. As Guyana joins the rest of countries in the world to ride the wave of technology and as children surf the Internet, educators and teachers must make sure that their minds are occupied by using some good old-fashioned teaching.
It is important for children to learn to read, write,and use the encyclopedia, tables, crayons and pencils as well as a dictionary to learn and understand the meaning of words.
Traditional teaching techniques in the classroom provide children with the patience and under-standing to solve problems, process and rationalize feasible outcomes. It also provides children with knowledge and the value to think rationally and independently which should not be taken lightly or substituted by technology.
Everyone should be impressed with the children who can read, write and spell, recite their tables and pronounce words properly, rather than boast about how fast they can click on the mouse of a computer or turn on a tablet to find the meaning of every-thing or a smart phone to communicate.

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