Technology: Boon or Bane?

Edtch1-edu: Educational Technology

Professor Stephen Jay D. Co

Technology in the Classroom

The use of technology in the
classroom is an issue that we have
always heard about.
Should we use it?
If so, how much should we use it?

Should we do without it?

Does it help?
Is it a distraction for students?

What does it involve?

Not just using computers
Being able to work with the technology

ACCESS AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY

According to a survey of 7,705 college students in the U.S.,
Junco and Mastrodicasa

97% own a computer

94% own a cell phone or iPhone
99% use the Internet for research or homework
(Pryor et al., 2009)
89% begin their search of everything with search
engines like Google (OCLC,
2006)
76% use Instant Messaging (IM) logged on 35
hrs./wk., chat 80 min./day, and
15% logged on 24/7
87% read news Websites (Pryor et al., 2009)

ACCESS AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY

According to a survey of 7,705 college students in the U.S.,
Junco and Mastrodicasa

34% use Websites as their primary source of news

(40% use TV with 15%
watching The Daily Show and 5% The Colbert Report)
57% are media creators (Oblinger, 2008b); 35% own
a blog and 57% read blogs
(Pryor et al., 2009)
49% download music using peer-to-peer sharing (15%
download movies and
16% download software)
92% multitask while Iming
75% have a Facebook account
56% own an MP3 player (iPod, Zune, Sansa, or similar
music/video device)

 Students have spent their entire

lives surrounded by all of the toys
and tools of the digital age. .it affects
everything that they do (Berk of
Carlson, 2005).

Examples of Technology
Used

Calculator
Word Processor: term paper
Spreadsheet: data analysis
Database: library, student records,
scheduling
Telecommunication: Internet (email,
Websites, usenet, aim), phone

Technology Boon or Bane

Technology is a blessing for man.
With technology, there is a lot that
we can do which we could not do
then.
Access to information is quick and easy.
Cellphones and webcam for
communication
Multimedia classroom in teaching and
learning
Watch real events on TV all over the
world

Technology Boon or Bane

Technology is BOON:
Reduce the cost of
information processing
Reduce the cost of
information transportation
Reduce the cost of
information storage

Technology Boon or Bane

In education, technology is bane
when:
The learner is made to accept as Gospel
truth information they get from the
internet
The learner surfs the Internet for
pornography
The learner has an uncritical mind on
images floating on televisions and
computers that represent modernity and
progress

Technology Boon or Bane

In education, technology is bane when:
The learner gets glued to his computer for
computer-assisted instruction unmindful of the
world and so fails to develop to relate to others.
We make use of the internet to do character
assassination of people whom we hardly like
Because of our cell phones, we spend most of
our time in the classroom or in our workplace
texting
We use overuse and abuse TV or film viewing
as a strategy to kill time.

Technology is Bane
Academic honesty issues
Focus on packaging, not contents
Poor time management in homework
Distractions (mp3, chat, etc.)
Deteriorating source of information
http://kickerdaily.com/vp-binays-wikip
edia-entry-defaced
/
Triviality

Technology is Bane
Loss of essential skills (esp.
math)
Missing the point
Digital divide
Loss of mission
Misallocation of resources

Summary

Why technology?
What is the mission?
What are the goals?
How can technology help achieve the
goals?
Does the benefit outweigh the cost?
How are benefits and costs
assessed?

Summary:
It depends on how we USE technology.
If we use it to help our students and
teachers become more caring, relating,
thinking, reflecting and analysing and
feeling beings, then it is a boon, a
blessing.
But if we abuse and misuse it and so
contribute to our ruin and downfall and
those of other persons, it becomes a bane
or a curse.

Watch a Short Clip: Is technology a

threat to our education?

Exercises
Come up with your own listing (at least 5) on how
technology can be a blessing or a curse to mankind.
Feel free to give examples drawn from life, not only
from inside the classroom. Use the table below.
Technology as Boon
1.

Technology as Bane
1.

Explain the quote below:

Technology is dominated by two types of people: those
who understand what they do not manage, and those
who manage what they do not understand.

Technology: Boon or Bane?

Edtch1-edu: Educational Technology
Professor Stephen Jay D. Co