While any newspaper, magazine, or blog can be leafed to find articles on various topics, I chose Technology as my essay topic today. There are two main reasons for this. One, because I happened to scroll randomly through a topic titled so, and Second, because once I glanced at the heading, the “cogitate side” of my brain got activated, and unknowingly, a flood of opinions about the subject matter came to my mind. It is well known that the best possible way to record ideas is to put them in writing. So here I am with my essay- Role Of Technology In Education ( and, conclusively, in the lives of children).

- Img credit: entrepreneur.com

Right from ancient times, technology has passed the tests of proving useful to mankind. In the education field also, it came up as a very influential tool and has yielded us an intricately evolved education system. From around 1436 when Johannes Guttenberg invented the Printing Press to the time of fully automatized printing processes, technology has helped books gain a wider reach. This not only landed books in every single household across the globe but also enabled the sharing of knowledge faster than ever. In 1870, technology advanced to include the Magic Lantern- a primitive version of the slide projector. This was followed by the origination of the Chalkboard in around 1890, the Pencil in 1900, the Overhead Projector in 1930, the Photocopier in 1959, and the Handheld Calculator in 1972. Then we landed in the era of Computers. IBM (International Business Machines) introduced its first personal computer in 1981. In 1990, WWW(World Wide Web) was given life and NSF(National Science Foundation) removed restrictions on the commercial use of the Internet in 1993. All of these developments launched the era of newfound research, digitalized education system, and an evolved communication system. In the current era, we find classrooms (which earlier used to be capacious physical places with romanticized charts of alphabets or human viscera, depending on the grade year) saved virtually in one of the apps on mobile phones and PDFs of all possible books available on the internet. ( This statement, I find quite capable of leading the reader towards the dilemma about the use of technology that we envisage most of the times seeing any youngster- ironically only youngsters, engrossed with their devices).

Coming to the debatable aspect of the subject- Has Technology Made Children’s Lives Better? I would address the query in three points. First. Technology( particularly digital technology) can be dangerous. It is a potential source of cyberbullying, phishing, drug trafficking, and of course multiple distractions that harm the focusing abilities of the child. Emotional development and physical fitness are affected. Children lag in learning social skills. And it is also a matter of fact that nothing can replace real human interaction. Traditional student-teacher interaction ensured bringing out the best in the student, personality-wise, by developing reliability and trust. These are only a few of the negating arguments! Second. Technology is wonderfully valuable. It aids learning by combining it with fun and introduces the child to a whole new world of opportunities leading to the development of potential and capabilities. In the present scenario especially, technology has overcome a majority of the limitations of the traditional system. For instance, a computer doesn’t get tired when asked to repeat the same thing four to five times in a row. Moreover, it is the student who is put in the driver’s seat. The student gets to decide When to study, How Much to study. Hence, technology makes sure to provide students with What they need and When they need it. This way the child is neither stressed nor is his pace challenged. This is what we popularly call the Personalization feature of technology. Likewise, Blended Learning, Community Learning, etc are the gifts of technology that are working wonders and paving way for effective learning for our children.

These two outlooks seem to further the perplexity. But, hold on! Last but not least argument shall surely help.

Third. Technological evolution is speeding up exponentially. Each generation of technology improves over the last and the rate of progress also improves. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that technology is engulfing all of our activities and not only education. We can see the world only if we have the lenses of technology. Also, technology is not just the mobile phone or the tablet that we use to make calls or attend classes. It goes beyond devices. It is more of an environment in which we live. Now let us suppose that keeping in view the limitations of technology, parents or schools ban the use of mobile phones or any form of exposure to social media. We know restrictions don’t kill desires, so children are going to reach for their phones and get involved in virtual life. This time they are exposed to the same risks as earlier but with no know-how of the threats and dangers! So if children are going to live in this digitalized world, why not train them and then set them free, as confident and learned warriors!! By “setting free”, I don’t mean to undermine the importance of Management. The Internet needs to be handled with utmost solicitude. We should be knowing what to surf, which sites to visit, and when to stop. Everything demands balance. In inculcating this balance and self–discipline, in a child, parents are primarily responsible. This has to be a part of the upbringing. The methodology may vary from parent to parent. It can be storytelling in the initial years or friendly counseling in the adolescent years. Whichever the methods are, the truth is, parents are very much capable of molding their children into beautiful shapes. (Beautiful Shapes, not, Beautiful Shapes. The latter means making Clones. That is not right. Every child is uniquely unique. I simply want to point to the steering role of parents, the slightest overworking of which leads to dominance and that is good for none!)) What needs to be done by the parents is to put aside their own devices and then educate their children about managing technology. The next role, of course, is of our educational institutions. They can prove very helpful in educating children about the pros and cons of technology, as in any context.

While a lot is said about the boundless scope of technology, we need to understand that all of these benefits are beneficial only and only if access is uniform among all children. Once the access becomes limited to a handful of students, every achievement is undone and the result is vicious. In such a case, saying NO to technology would be better because at least books have already made their way to remotest households. If we digitalize education without ensuring uniform access, we are denying The Right To Education to huge masses and this is nothing but the devolution of mankind. This is antagonistic to technology which itself is a sign of evolution.

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