According to a recent analysis done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it revealed that recurrent use of computers in schools is more likely to be associated with lower results.
The OECD’s education director Andreas Schleicherb says school technology had raised “too many false hopes”.
With this finding, several questions about technology-based education system have been raised all around the world. Is it really that technology is creating risks for the students?
Addiction vs. Engagement
“The word that gets tossed around is tech ‘addiction,'” says Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children’s Technology Review. “Another similar word is ‘engagement.'” It’s a thin line that separates the two, and considering the way the world is headed, should we be limiting our children’s possibilities? “Wouldn’t it have been a tragedy,” asks Buckleitner, “if some all-knowing adult told [Google co-founder] Sergey Brin ‘You can only play for twenty minutes at a time on your Commodore 64’?”
Clearly, these two terms defines the various prospectus of the technology in the school. If students are engaged in learning through technology, it will definitely be a boon – effective, latest, quick and time-saving, and effortless learning. On the contrary, if the students are addicted to using technology, there’s no doubt that it’ll lead them to harm – waste of time, kill interest in studies, and lazy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has long stood by its recommendation that children under 2 not be exposed to screens at all — be they televisions, smartphones or tablets — and that older children keep their time in front of screens to a minimum. At home, it’s the responsibility of the parents to keep an eye on the activities and usage of computers or smartphones by their students. And the teachers are responsible for the students’ extra dependencies on technology in school.
“Students who use computers moderately at school tend to have somewhat better learning outcomes than students who use computers rarely.”
But students who use computers very frequently at school do a lot worse in most learning outcomes, even after accounting for social background and student demographics”, says OECD.