Threat of the Over Use of Technology in Teaching Student in Primary Schools - Research Paper Example

Threat of the over use of technology (computer) in teaching in primary schools The teaching methods and the educational setup have seen a radical transformation over the decades as a result of the advancement of technology. Classrooms and the teaching environment today is significantly changed, modernized, and technically operated compared to the teaching environment of the past. Schools are increasingly making efforts to incorporate technology in the classroom partly because the level of advancement and the quality of education is judged on the basis of technological equipment of the schools in many countries. While the use of technology offers a variety of benefits to enhance the quality of education and make the process of learning more convenient and interesting both for the teacher and the students, overuse of technology in teaching students in primary schools poses several kinds of threats as well. “Family, school, and workplace environments are now on the verge of what can be termed the “Triple Disconnect” – from self, others and nature” (zonein.ca, 2014). The Canadian Society of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatrics state that infants between 0 and 2 years of age should not be exposed to any kind of technology at all, children from 3 to 5 years of age should not be exposed to technology for more than just one hour per day, whereas the exposure of children in the age-range of 6 to 18 years to technology should be limited to 2 hours per day (Rowan, 2014). Threats posed by the overuse of technology in primary schools include but are not limited to the social challenge of isolation, reduced motivation for the studies on the part of the students, and increased tendency to have negative effects of using technology on their health. Overuse of technology in the classroom can be a cause of isolation of the students. “[C]ritics have written and spoken extensively of their beliefs that schools should not use technology for a variety of reasons ranging from creating social isolation to preventing students from learning critical basic skills” (ncrel.org, 2005). Students of primary schools are essentially children. Children as students need close supervision and monitoring in order to have their attention directed solely towards the studies. With the growing literacy rate, the population of students in the primary schools has increased over the years. This has raised challenges for the school administration in general and for the teachers in particular. Teachers today have more students to supervise than they used to have in the past. However, the increased strength of students is only where the problem starts. The real problems are posed by the fact that students of the present age are technology savvy. “Technology can support self-directed learning, but too often it’s a major distraction. Students get caught up in the gee whiz elements and flit from site to site, barely reading, copying unthinkingly” (Hudson, 2013). Lost in this continuous stream of research, students find very little time to coordinate and interact with their fellow students and the teacher. Interaction with fellow students is a major means of learning in the classroom. Students independently surfing the internet in such wasteful activities as gaming cannot benefit from the tremendous sources of learning around them in the classroom. Overuse of technology in the classroom can be a potential cause of demotivation among the students. By nature, not many children find studies very interesting and engaging. Many students are always looking for ways to distract themselves so that they can spend their time in the classroom more pleasantly. For students with such approach and mindset, technology has a lot to offer. These days, many students use Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking and social media websites in the classrooms to spend their time. Playing video games online is also a popular pastime among the students of all age-groups including students of the primary schools. Sitting behind their computers, students find a way to dodge their teachers as the teachers cannot find out what is displaying on the screens. Many teachers cannot manage to control the students and deter them from accessing entertainment websites on their computers as the teachers already have a lot of load to take. In the limited timespan of a lecture in which teachers have to necessarily cover a certain portion of the course, teachers cannot always manage to find time to ask the students one by one to pay attention. Many teachers lose to the students and hence, just fulfill their own duties which primarily revolve around completing the course. Teachers of the primary schools today also face the challenge of customizing their presentations to match the effects contained in the different kinds of technology including iPods, games, and sophisticated apps to capture the interest of the students (Goff, 2007). Teachers today miss the old and traditional classroom environment in which they used to have greater control over and better interaction with the students; “Sometimes I wish I could go back to the days of chalk boards and overhead transparencies, not just to simplify teaching and learning but to minimize distractions and focus on what is really important -- just plain learning” (Johnson, 2014). The problem also extends beyond the school setting and often originates in their homes. Students are also affected very negatively by the overuse of technology in their homes. Emma Quinn, teacher at the Newtownabbey primary school discusses the effects of technology overuse in these words, “Theres a complete lack of motivation among many of my pupils - these gadgets are really destroying their ability to learn. Theyre so used to the instant buzz which you can get with these games and gadgets that they find it really hard to focus on anything which isnt exciting. All they want to do is to get back home so they can play on their Xbox or get on their tablet again” (Quinn cited in Belfast Telegraph, 2014). Students’ motivation for the studies and their level of engagement in the studies also declines because of the fact that many of them keep awake till late in the night in order to play games or use different kinds of technology in general (Lam, 2012). One of the major threats posed by the overuse of technology in the classrooms in primary schools is the increased tendency of the children to gain weight. As the activities involving the use of technology in the classroom have increased in number and types, the time for physical activities has decreased accordingly. A major factor that distinguishes between the old and modern school environment is the emphasis on physical workout and activities. Traditionally, many primary schools used to have a whole period for games in which children were asked to participate in games. Nowadays, the studies have become so complicated and radically changed that many schools fail to accommodate games periods in their routine schedules. Children spend hours and hours sitting and using computers either for the sake of lectures, class assignments, projects, or research in general. Constant sitting for hours in the same position causes the students to gain weight. In addition to this, there are several factors that increase the tendency of students to gain weight while constantly sitting. For example, children in primary schools tend to grab some snacks from the canteen in order to maintain high level of energy so that they can concentrate on work. Schools are also relaxing their policies and many schools do not abstain the students from bringing eatables or drinks with them into the classrooms. Hence, children eat fries, burgers, and other different kinds of fast food along with high calorie soft drinks while using computers in the classrooms and labs. These are very unhealthy behaviors and potentially harmful for the health of children. These behaviors are among the main reasons for the growth of obesity rate among adolescents and young adults. “Technology and games are meant to be enjoyed but not to take over your life… Children and adults who play four to five hours per day have little time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports” (Barr, 2013). Children in the primary schools are very immature and tend to be influenced by a variety of factors in their surroundings including ads and media that push them into unhealthy lifestyle. Consumption of fast food has become an essential feature of the modern lifestyle. In their attempt to look modern and updated, children tend to endorse and welcome all norms of the modern culture without seriously considering their possible negative effects on their health. It is the responsibility of the school administration to make policies on what students can and cannot bring in the classrooms and labs with them. Challenges posed by the overuse of technology in the primary schools impart the need to limit the use of technology in them. Research on what is the optimal extent to which technology can be used in the primary schools is limited. In most cases, it remains with the school administration to decide how much technology should be used in the primary schools. In order to draw maximum benefit from the use of technology and deter the negative effects from its overuse, it is imperative that the school administration and the teachers unanimously decide what the optimal use of technology in the classroom is. The decision making board should try to ensure that “Technology should be used to supplement the classroom activity, but should not be used as the main mean of teaching in primary schools” (Ates, 2013, p. 695). Since a teacher interacts with the students on daily basis and is the individual who experiences the effects of the overuse of technology in the classroom most closely, his/her insights and suggestions on the matter are very valuable. Teachers assume the responsibility to report any issues encountered because of the overuse of technology in the classroom immediately to the school authorities. Teaches should also place suggestions as to how a particular issue can be resolved in their point of view. To make the most detailed, realistic, and rational analysis, school administration should conduct surveys involving students as the research participants every few months to be able to find out how students think about the use of technology in the classroom. Students are the main stakeholders in this matter and their opinions should be given extreme importance. The role of parents in the healthy psychosocial development of children cannot be overlooked. Irrespective of what extent of technology use prevails in the primary schools, adequate guidance and advising by the parents can help the children realize how they have to limit the use of technology both in home and in the school. “An iPad may be a good tool to provide a visual aid in telling stories to a two-year-old, but it should not be used for baby-sitting. Parents need to be more vigilant about their childrens internet use, paying attention to patterns of use and what they use the internet for” (Lam, 2012). To conclude, overuse of technology in the classrooms of primary schools has many negative effects on the quality of education. Some of the negative effects of the overuse of technology in the classrooms of primary schools include increased isolation of the students, demotivation of students for learning, and health risks for the students. It raises challenges for the teachers and equips students with resources using which they waste their time. Use of technology is not bad in the classrooms of primary schools. However, the school administration including the teachers should incorporate the use of technology in the classroom with a well thought out plan so as to ensure that they can derive optimal benefits from the use of technology in the classroom. As the amount and types of technology are continuously increasing in the present age, it is not easy for the school administration to decide what the optimal level of use of technology in the classrooms is. So it is recommendable for the primary schools to have a system of research to continuously take the feedback of the teachers and the students as they make changes in the classroom from time to time. A teacher’s opinion should be given the most importance in order to have the right setting in the classroom. References: Ates, H 2013, Information technology and the learning environment in primary schools, Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 93, pp. 695 – 698. 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