Does technology really enhance a child's learning?

Last year, I had to send a letter to a university I was applying to. This seems like something ordinary and simple but for me, it was something amazing. Usually we tend to send emails and for people my age, sending a letter would be something close to impossible. It was those moments when you’re shown something ancient your mesmerized. Personally, before then I had never sent a letter as everywhere you want to send something to asks you for your email. When I had finished sending the letter, it was like I had embarked on a new experience because I grew up in an era where everything is technological and sending letters is quite ancient. We prefer sending an email or communicating through other means that use the internet as its quicker and writing a letter to us is just a waste of valuable time, especially if you are someone who grew up in the internet age.

Today, we use technology everywhere and it has created an immense change on how we do things, and one of the places it did create changes are schools. Schools today have employed computers everywhere and at home we also depend on it when we are doing research for an assessment or our study. We rarely go to the library to pick up a book to do our research as eBooks have greatly replaced print books. It seems so much easier to do work because why waste time getting a book and reading the whole thing, then try an understand what its talking about and then think what parts relate to your study. We believe that technology has enhanced our learning or kids’ learning as it gives them access to a variety of materials for their study and makes accessibility easy where ever you are. However, technology can enhance a child’s learning while limiting it too.

Technology has benefits but too much of anything is not good.

When we do research for an assessment or study, we easily google what we want on the internet it may be a book or even the question we have to answer as people upload things on the internet. When you want to analyse a book, you don’t have to do it anymore because there are so many book reviews, summaries and analyses on the internet. Why should a child waste their time reading a 200 paged book when someone has already done the work they should do, or someone has already uploaded the answer to the question they are doing. This takes the benefit out of learning as homework’s and study can be easily completed, this makes it difficult for kids to study for long periods as they live in the fast lane where everything is completed in an instant. They feel irritated when they have to sit down and read a book, or actually pick up a pen and write because they can type 3 pages in 15 minutes. Technology takes what it means to sit down and study away as kids don’t have to do readings or put work into anything, creating a generation that does not know the essence of putting effort into something.

Technology also decreases a child’s vocabulary and spelling as the computer does all of that for them. If they make a mistake, the computer corrects it for them and shows them if the structure of their work is not right. They lose the way of actually looking up the correct way of spelling the word they have misspelled, and this creates a generation who cannot spell anything as they don’t know because the computer was doing it for them. When they do pick up a paper and try to spell, they find it difficult because there is no auto-correct on paper, thus creating a bigger dependency on typing. Such kids find it difficult to sit for exams as they are not used to writing and find that they cannot complete the entire exam as they can’t write fast enough. They also find it difficult to sit for long exams as they are used to typing away their work at a faster rate, thus creating kids who have no patience in sitting down and working.

Furthermore, technology is a distraction on a child when doing their work. Can a child sit down and complete their work without opening another page and looking at their Facebook page or the scores from their favorite sport or whatever they like to do on the internet. Mostly it is impossible, if they are on it then why not take a sneak pack at their Facebook page or social media accounts, they have the tool they need to access it in front of them so they will. It is different to having only a book and pen in front of them as they do not have anything to turn to distract them. As people, we are prune to distractions we believe a little sneak peek won’t hurt and so do kids but unfortunately, just as we get carried away, they get carried away.

Looking at these factors and the fact that the more on the screen, the more it has a negative effect on your vision, I personally believe that technology cannot enhance a child’s learning. They lose the basic skills kids are supposed to know as kids, reading, writing and spelling. Yes technology has benefits but too much of something is never good.