I stumbled upon a fantastic newspaper article in The guide section of the Sydney
Morning Herald the other week and it proved to fit in perfectly with what we have learnt in this weeks e-learning tutorial regarding the services and stimulations a computer can provide which traditional learning methods cant. The article titled, ‘Dial-up Duxes’ questions what role is technology playing in the learning process for our students.
The article stemmed from the recent promises of the federal and state governments that there will be a computer for every student from grades 9-12 and fast broadband connection for every school. These promises alone will cost over $1 billion. As much as I believe that all students should have access to computers and the Internet, I question if it would be worth the cost. I personally feel that amount of money is excessive and it could be spent on other education priorities such as special education and improving indigenous education standards. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki states ‘technology adds another 10% to the classroom package.’ So why spend a fortune on a resource which constitutes only 10% of classroom package?
In addition, Roche, an education technology director feels that “Technology is just a tool…You have to think about how the teaching and learning can best be done and not do technology for technology sake.” I concur as i have encountered numerous times where teachers and myself have just used computer programs as novelty time fillers or just as a research medium.
I guess, like all things in life, it just comes down to balance. Technology is here to stay in our classrooms so we have to learn to provide a balance, a variety of tools and mediums in which students can learn because all children learn in different ways.
‘Dial-up duxes’ by Lia Timson. The Guide.
SMH. March 10-16th.
Not reproduced on SMH website.
