It's Good Stuff

I was pleased to read this thesis that computers and technology are becoming a hindrance to education. Educating our students in the real world is like a breath of fresh air to me. I believe that interacting with each other and with the natural world will lead to a more fulfilling education and life than additional time spent with a computer. However, the point of the article is not that technology is bad, but only that it is being stressed too early in a child's education. The author reveals that young students need to interface with the real world and come to a deep understanding of it before gradually moving into the symbolic realm that technology exhibits.

I think that his thesis is idealistic, and here is why:

• If students do not learn about technology in school, they will learn about it at home. By this, I mean that a student might pick up bad habits in use of technology and will develop improper typing skills that will hinder a student in the future.
• In a machine dominated society, it is important for students to learn about concrete, real things outside of technology and what it symbolizes. But in this society, the jobs available cater to just that. Our world wants its workers to be interchangeable cogs in order to best complete the task. As teachers and parents, we should work against that, but as people entering the workforce, sometimes our ideals get pushed aside.

The idea of throwing enough computers at at job in order to complete the task has been employed in education. Because of this, we have developed a dependence on computers and a pressure to teach them earlier and earlier. However, with the advancements made in the technological field, I question if teaching computers at an early age actually puts a student at an advantage. I will always lobby for sending a kid outside to play and learn about its environment over the fun found on a machine. You have to remember that technology is a tool. If it can be used to assist in the learning, then it is positive, but by itself it will not compare to interacting with the real world and developing real world skills at any age.