Technology: Enemy or Ally for children

 

In 1940, the so-called third industrial revolution brought all this technological current. The first thought was how these new tools could facilitate the manual work of factories, farms, and industry.Many years later, we find in technology much more than a simple tool that simplifies life; it is part of our lives and, in some cases, essential.

So why do some parents, educators, and community sectors see technology as an enemy for children? And are they flatly opposed to its use?It goes far beyond preferences; I believe that technology, if misused, can change its purpose and lead humanity to unimaginable things.

This is my opinion on why some sectors consider technology to be an enemy of children and how this misuse can lead to students losing some skills or not acquiring them, and thus, their academic performance can be significantly affected negatively.

 

There is a lot of talk about how many hours children and young people spend in front of a screen, including the iPad and iPhone; they are called “babysitters” because some children find calm and entertainment on these devices.Contrary to how my generation grew up, free time was used to be outside and exploring nature, playing, or sharing with friends; the most incredible technological instrument was the television, radio, and later a Walkman or a CD player.

 

Then touch technology arrived to facilitate, unite, summarize, and achieve the long-awaited immediacy; with just your finger, it is possible to do everything you need.

Specifically, it is at this point where I think the opponents of technology in children arise; a child cannot learn to ride a bicycle, kick a ball, or jump just by developing his entertainment in front of a screen, and with the simple movement of a finger.

 

From smartphones and social media to TV and tablet-based toys, today’s kids are constantly inundated by technology. While it’s important for children and teens to develop an aptitude for technology, after all, they will use computers their whole lives, too much technology use can have detrimental health and physical effects. The negative effects on children’s health run the gamut from increased risk of obesity to loss of social skills and behavioral problems. Of course, this doesn’t mean parents need to ban technology entirely, but it’s important for parents to be aware of the potential effects of technology on children and develop strategies to limit their children’s screen time.

 

Technology has as many allies as enemies; the line that divides these two positions is relatively thin and can be crossed at any time; in general, the improper use of a beautiful tool can destroy its real purpose.

 

And this is where this article connects with my innovation proposal, “Reading and Typing Club.”

 

Texas has one of the most standardized evaluation systems in the country. Within this group, online evaluations aim to evaluate skills in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics starting in third grade.

 

The writing section comprises several questions that measure the level of understanding, analysis of information, summary, and development of writing using the computer keyboard: how? Computer keyboard? Yeah! And there we discovered that our students accustomed to touch technology never developed the ability to type on the keyboard; conclusion: they waste time, they need to learn how to do it, they are not agile, and the results are pretty low.

 

While keyboarding used to be considered an “office” skill, its scope has recently expanded far beyond that. Keyboarding is regularly used in school lessons and projects, as well as in most modern careers. By helping students to master these skills, we help them to be more effective, productive, and confident when they are faced with a task requiring keyboarding.

 

But is it essential for students to learn to type on the keyboard? These are some of the additional benefits:

 

Technical Skills

One of the most important reasons for teaching keyboarding to students is to provide technical skills. Keyboarding has become a necessary skill for education and most careers. It has even become an integral part of social relationships, helping to support email, social media, and other forms of communication. By teaching students keyboarding, we are ensuring that they can effectively and efficiently perform tasks that require keyboarding. 

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 Helps to Free Up Cognitive Energy

Another important reason for keyboarding for students is to help free up cognitive energy during typing-related tasks. As students are keyboarding in everyday life, such as while typing a book report or later as part of their job function, typing without keyboarding skills can be a slow and arduous process, requiring them to find each letter on the keyboard one at a time. By helping students master keyboarding skills early, they are able to focus less energy on finding the keys during these tasks, freeing them up to concentrate more effectively on what they are trying to communicate.

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Eases Frustration

Students without keyboarding skills who are required to type for a project can quickly become frustrated and disengaged. They may detach from the project or may even refuse to complete it at all. As educators, we know how important it is that a technical skill such as keyboarding doesn’t act as a barrier for entry in learning or completing an assignment. Teaching students keyboarding skills helps to eliminate this hurdle, allowing them to more effectively focus on what they are learning.

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Increases Confidence

Students who lack keyboarding skills can feel less confident in their schoolwork and education. For assignments that require typing, students may not be able to express their thoughts or ideas as easily as students who have mastered typing skills–or may choose not to engage for fear of embarrassment or frustration. This can lead to lower confidence in learning and may diminish the student’s desire to attain higher education or to seek higher-paying careers that may require typing skills.

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Poole, D., & Preciado, M. (2016) In their study, they mention that the development of skill typing  proficiency is crucial to the development of 21st century skills, which engage many cognitive resources

 

As we see, it has been fully demonstrated that developing the ability to write on a keyboard brings multiple benefits that directly attack our problem, the low results in writing on state tests.

 

But how can we ensure that digital teaching is a natural solution in which the tools develop a skill and is more than just the result of an isolated practice that does not maintain long-term results?

 

Roger Schank mentions a big difference between teaching and education; nothing is more accurate than the Texas standardized tests, which mutilate entirely the concept of learning based on a growth mindset.

 

The innovation proposal “Reading and Typing Club” originates in how a standardized process about which it is impossible to change anything (STAAR TEST) can, through critical thinking, planning, technology, and breaking paradigms, find a solution that teaches.

 

Integrating a digital process to improve the result of a standardized process takes work. It requires different thinking and a change in the order of things.

 

The critical thinking used in this innovation proposal is, without a doubt, a Conscious Process:

 

Prediction: The evidence shows that results will remain low if students' test preparation methods stay the same.

Modeling: The root of the problem is not that students do not know how to write; it is that they do not understand how to do it on the keyboard.

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Experimentation: Once the digital rotations on blended learning, in which the keyboard is used through specialized typing applications, have been implemented, we can determine the proposal's result.

Values: Raising state test results will make any principal smile. As a teacher beyond that number, I value the feeling of growth and achievement of objectives when students master a new skill.

 

Although there are many studies, books, and opinions about the benefits of writing and how this skill transformed our lives and the history of humanity, there are still many opportunities to delve deeper and expose the importance of keyboarding as a cognitive and academic skill.

 

References

Publishing - The Connection between Keyboarding and Literacy Skills. December 2, 2023, from https://www.learning.com/blog/connection-keyboarding-and-literacy/

 

Publishing - Teaching Minds: How Cognitive Science can save our schools https://www.rogerschank.com/teaching-minds-how-cognitive-science-can-save-our-schools

 

Publishing - Roger Shank On Invisible Learning

9,15,2011, from https://educationfutures.com/blog/post/roger-schank-invisible-learning

 

Poole, D., & Preciado, M. (2016). Touch typing instruction: Elementary teachers’ beliefs and practices. Computers & Education, 102(C), 1-14.

Anderssen E. (2013, January 21). Why are today’s teenagers feeling so anxious? The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/conditions/why-are-todays-teenagers-feeling-so-anxious/article7604612/