There is an absolute need for technology everywhere. Whether it’s a household, a bank, a college or public place; we need a camera, smart phones and smart devices. Do we need technology or technology needs us? The sole idea of technology and android applications is to make our life easier, but it is taking a toll on stake holders in different ways. Can we lessen the use of technology in education which has a broader access to all the children and teenagers in the society?
Learning has become easier via internet when students get to know about anything and everything which is just a click away. With so much information and so many learning Apps, students are spoilt for choice. We have reached a stage of separating wheat from the chaff.
Helpful for children with disability
App based learning helps special children to grow fruitfully as there is no one to interrupt or question them. This becomes a very efficient way to teach your children within their comfort zone.
Helps in assisting teachers
Teachers and students are enough for each other, but if there is a helping hand like educational apps, then it’s good to reconsider this option. The apps contain pre-built lessons and explanations that add more to a teacher’s approach towards students while speaking up about a lesson. Not only this but also, teachers can witness the performance and students’ progress by finding different ways to start a new chapter.
Studying as an individual
Some students prefer auditory classes and some prefer visual learning. Educational app gives you the opportunity to explore both. Children now can follow their own pace according to their interests. However, studying without a teacher’s guidance will influence a child to do more to keep up with the curiosity.
Better academic performance, curiosity and being engaged with studies
In a classroom environment, it is quite difficult to catch the words and constantly ask for questions. There are also times when you do not get to go to a classroom at all. That’s the time when learning apps are your saviour. A class and a teacher can explain about a single topic and leave the premises. But the apps have in-built lessons and chapters that can go on and on for a child learning about the same topic.
A completion of a chapter brings about curiosity in a child to read more and more. The same curiosity turns around when the graphics, precise explanation of the topic, pictorial representations, images, pictures, and more pictures make learning better.
Degraded emotions and distraction
According to Coleman, a PhD researcher, brain is the only organ in our body that grows till you are 20-year-old; it is mandatory to look after our mental health. When a child indulges himself or herself into technology, whether it’s a smart phone or a computer system, there are higher chances that they get detached easily, having no emotional knowledge or value. These children lack empathy and cannot develop necessary control over them.
If the students are revising a topic on their smart devices, they cannot keep themselves intact for a longer time since it is the same place where you study, watch and play. This is a major source of distraction. Children should learn about managing time for their leisure and studies on such online apps as well.
Overstimulation
The increased screen time whenever we prefer online learning apps can cause overstimulation. If a child is studying on a smartphone, the parents or the teachers should make sure they spend limited time on it. It results in lack of sleep, increases stress and difficulties in regulating your mood.
Lack of social interaction
Whenever someone is engaged with a phone, either for studies in learning apps or work, they keep themselves away from the society and family. They lack social interaction among others. This does not help in self improvement; one cannot be confident enough for public speaking or even starting a conversation.
However, we cannot get rid of learning apps, technology or smart phones, but we can learn how to use them wisely. We must let children of our family know how to spend their time studying for their academics. Schools must know to limit the use of app based learning in their premises without hampering the practical learning experience.
There should be practicals, there should be games period, and there should be an art & craft period other than just teaching and taking classes via apps or Ed tech. As a school, the Wi-Fi must have limitations in order to secure data and control children and their searches, which have to be limited to studies. Each role we play has to be played responsibly.
We reached a stage where technology and human intervention need to go together. The best way is to limit the use by way of controls that include by the institiuitons, self-discipline, state, teachers, parents and the society.
