Technology vs. Skill Development
March 4, 2011 4 Comments
Will you have your students spend time organizing their references to fit some style guide when a piece of software can do that for them? What tasks are “safe” to hand off to software (or other technologies) and what tasks should be processed by the learner for the benefit of skill development or understanding?
The above question is from our ECMP 355 Blogging Prompts, and I thought that it fits with an earlier blog post of mine, Technology and Gadgets. This question connects to my earlier thoughts about a growing reliance on technology. It also makes me consider the limitations and usefulness of technology vs. skill development. For example, some people believe that students need to learn typing skills and they also need to learn to handwrite. In contrast, other people would say that it is a waste of time to teach a student how to handwrite because the world is becoming so computer and technology based that handwriting will soon become outdated. During my internship, my cooperating teacher and I placed emphasis on teaching our students typing skills as well as handwriting skills- we both believed that having the ability to do both is extremely valuable. We scheduled blocks of time in our days to practice each of these activities.
This also makes me think of calculators in schools… We spend great amounts of time teaching students how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Sometimes there is frustration in this learning process, and it can be very time consuming. I have had students ask me why they need to be able to do the Math when their calculator can do it for them much faster. Similar to the handwriting, I think that the ability to do the Math is a valuable skill.
Are there any thoughts on technology vs. skill development and any boundaries or balances that should be in place? Any examples of related controversial issues?
Here are some websites that consider these questions:
Kailey's Blog 