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Inato Aye, BBA 3rd Semester
“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we learn much of our world”
– David Warlick
Every student’s early days of high school education is often interesting and exploring given the fact that the process of educating an individual is made captivating, with every word, alphabet or story that we learned all being accompanied by pictures, that could easily grab our attention and convince us to learn it or use of abacus to teach the students of simple mathematical problems. As we move forward with the question in our mind, of what can make the saying ‘learning is fun’, technology seems to be the probable answer in our present world of technological advancement.
From the teachers to the students carrying their personal laptops, tablets and mobile phones, students life on being educated is now not a matter of carrying heavy textbooks and notebooks or lack of books to refer, our presentation on a certain topic can now be accompanied by LCD projectors, where we can use diagrams ,videos or images to showcase our presentation ability, our assignments and project works can now be sent online from our home itself through Google classrooms, our class tests can be appeared online and even our educational fees can be paid online on a click of a button. To be educated is now a matter of an individual’s ability to adapt itself to technology.
It has often been mentioned that “students are the future of a country or society” and that quality education will play a key role in it. Thousands of students pass every year but the thing to focus here is not the quantity but the quality of the education that each student receives , for education will help an individual develop an identity and with technology, there’s no denying that education can be delivered in a more standardized and upgraded manner. Students with books can only be equipped with theoretical knowledge but with technology, practical skills can be enhanced too, which is quite a necessity as of now for every individual as to acquire the required skills and knowledge for better employment prospects.
I would often imagine what if projectors were used by my teachers to teach the students and what if it was used by the students for presenting on a certain topic, during my time as a high school student? The answer to it would always be, ‘I would have improved my communication skills or been more interactive. My confidence level on public speaking would have been doubled and most importantly I would have never seen education the way it was, and by that I do not mean that education has changed. There’s no denying the fact that it has remained the same, but the ways of delivering it has changed. My point in writing this article is also to encourage all the high school and higher secondary schools in our present society to make the use of technology, as to equip the student’s at an early stage with the skills that they will need in their future endeavours, instead of making them wait to enter college and university life and start getting comfortable with technology only at that particular stage.
No wonder technology can also have a negative impact if not put to use in the right and appropriate time and manner. At present, even kids have become smart in using technological gadgets. I recently met a lady with a 3 years old child, who was pretty expert in using her mother’s phone and was playing games, when most of us at three years of age only knew how to play with our toys. I would like to convey to the lady that I do not have any problem with your son playing with your phone, but I do hope that it doesn’t become an obsession for him at an early age, for that mobile phone of yours can also shape and wreck his future, with most students at present avoiding their education because of the games obsession, while they can use their phones for better educational purposes such as reading e-books, watching educational videos and with lots of other benefits to it.
The use of technology in education sector has become much more important given the fact that the students and every individual has become much more comfortable with the use of technology in dealing with their activities, and in that case the schools and colleges cannot just be stuck with the old method of teaching the students, which includes blackboard, and chalk. What I mean here is an extra addition or they have to, in one way or the other introduce some technology in their respective institutions, because modern problems require modern solutions.
With technology we have a powerful tool to learn, but at the same time we do have to understand its pros and cons, keeping in mind that our tomorrow can be shaped on the choices that we make on how to make use of it today.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Dr. Aniruddha Babar, Noyingbeni T. Erui, Meren and Kvulo Lorin. For feedback or comments please email: dot@tetsocollege.org.
