School children are becoming far too dependent on computers. This is having an alarming effect on reading and writing skills. Teachers need to avoid using computers in the classrooms at all costs and go back to teaching basic study skills.
Do you agree or disagree?
School children learn how to use computers from a very young age due to the technological advances in a modern classroom and because they are required to be computer literate in their adult life. As a result of the increased use of computers in the classroom some people are worried by the negative effect that this may have on their reading and writing skills.
Being dependent on a computer for writing often means that a student will become lazy with respect to spelling. As computers are equipped with a spell check programme, a child often will not know how to spell a word. They will also get used to writing words in a short form for example ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ which they will carry over to their pen and paper writing. In terms of reading, audio books are now available so children listen to passages being read instead of actively reading them and engaging in the written words.
Reading and writing are basic literacy skills that need to be mastered at a young age. In my opinion, traditional methods of teaching these skills for example through dictation, essay writing and creative reading should be used in the early years of education. Once these have been firmly grasped then technology can be introduced.
To sum up, although recent technology has considerably improved standards of education, it has nevertheless had a negative impact on our ability to think. Due to the importance of having strong reading and writing skills, I believe these should be taught initially without the aid of technology and computers should be introduced to the classroom at a later stage.