Page 29 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 9_2023

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Today's Child

n many schools, textbooks so, teachers are often on the back foot When students type their notes in
are no longer available in when it comes to the expectations class, they tend to type verbatim,
hardcopy and most learning of school management and policy shutting off the brain’s desire to listen
material is now accessible in makers. Teachers are expected to for meaning. Learning then becomes
a digital format. Whilst this simply implement digital learning in passive because the student loses
sounds globally favourable and response to an outdated curriculum. attention. An essential component
Icreates the image of students’ More so, teachers cannot teach of note taking requires summarising,
preference for technology, it does effectively if they, themselves, are not paraphrasing and concept mapping.
not necessarily translate into better given the tools to function in a digital Typing is simply copying.
learning outcomes. classroom. Often, the onus is on the
teacher to explore digital learning Creating one’s own study notes
Many parents are sold on the and create meaningful inclusion of through palpable interaction with
educational punt of ‘preparation electronic material. It would seem that the material assists in encoding the
for the future’ (which is simply a the invasion of technology into the information, which improves the ability
marketing ploy) whereas the basis of classroom has not quite mastered the to process and retain new knowledge.
education still relies on the creation of art of actualisation. When students study using printed
conducive learning environments that books, they are able to page back
encourage interaction with learning The art of teaching students HOW to and forth, make notes in the margin,
material. learn is influenced by the tools we give colour-code and implement various
them. If we give them a pen, they will other active processes.
The onslaught of technology into write; if we give them a keyboard, they
schools has been explosive. However, will type. Does it matter what tools This in turn, leads to the creation
many schools are not prepared we give them in order to learn, or can of unique and original study notes
for the demands of technology we safely say that they will be able to which make sense to the brain in
and try to implement programmes learn, no matter the equipment? which they were created. In order to
and structures that extend beyond Much research is underway in learn optimally, one has to ‘own’ the
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER relevant to real teaching; and some exploring the differences between one’s own: writing longhand allows
information and, therefore, make it
the realm of what is necessary or
reading print and digital media, and
schools misinterpret the function of
the student to better conceptualise,
understand and apply information.
technology in the classroom and tend
it would be wrong to assume that
THAN… WELL… to over-capitalise on its ability and students will automatically receive Long term storage is thus achieved
improved education by digital reading
and students are able to retrieve
expectation.
information more readily.
simply because we believe it to be so.
The investment in classroom
ANYTHING ELSE! technology sometimes surpasses the Learning is a spontaneous activity Typed notes are often verbatim and
and generally happens without
traditional purpose of education: to
far more extensive than longhand,
conscious thought. We learn through
teach. Many teachers idealise the use
demanding more reading time in
of technology in their classrooms as a
means to an end, and praise the iconic a variety of mediums and experiences order to wade through the ‘notes’.
Effective studying requires students
and often pay little attention to the
device for its supposed ability to boost new knowledge we are acquiring. to break information down into
the learning experience. This leads to Studying, however, is an active process smaller, more workable chunks so that
complacency and the very possible and requires conscious thought. It increased meaning and understanding
demise of the presence of a human demands more engagement with is achieved. According to a research
teacher. The debate is, if learning the learning matter and deeper study by Mueller and Oppenheimer
digitally is so prolific, why are we not comprehension. at the University of California (2016),
creating more intelligent students? it was found that longhand notes
The ability to comprehend study involved superior processing, storage
There is undoubtedly a place for material is influenced by the medium: and encoding functions.
technology in the classroom, but the environmental reason for going
total reliance on it is not advisable. paperless is noble but the demise It seems there are still advantages to
Education seems obligated to maintain of the printed word endangers our doing things the old fashioned way,
the advance of technology, but fails to students’ ability to meaningfully and until the human brain rewires itself
advance itself. How can we expect our engage with information. to think and learn more digitally - and
world-wise students to tackle an ‘old’ education revamps itself to address the
curriculum using new technological Because studying is an active process, digital status quo - the use of the
principles if we fail to teach them how it requires physical manipulation of printed word and personal
to use these devices favourably? We information. Reading is passive and if penmanship is most certainly not
live in a society that has advanced students are simply reading digitally, on the wane. In response to the vast
phenomenally but education has stood they are not necessarily retaining amount of research being undertaken
somewhat still. Essentially, many of us information. across the globe on the use of digital
are teaching old principles to new-age media, e-books and electronic
students. Students learn better when they have learning in education, many new
access to tangible sources and are able technologies are being developed to
Technology is most definitely here to to interact with the study material support digital learning, but until we
stay but the concept of ‘too much, too using their own hands. This is true for are able to foster the same learning
soon’ is unfortunately a reality within the classroom experience as well as potential from a device as from our
many educational institutions. More the preparation for tests and exams. hand, viva the pen!

B Y KELLEY BL OEMINK

28 DPL issue 9 2023 DPL issue 9 2023 29