By Sasha Pei-Silovo – EM TV, Port Moresby
Modern technology is increasingly becoming available to children worldwide, and technological advancements come with their own set of pros and cons with impacts varying based on consumer trends and other factors.
Children’s access to technology, from mobile phones to computers and the internet, is becoming a topic of concern where children are vulnerable to cyber harassment, sexual exploitation, and pornography, among other problems.
It is often thought increasing technology in education can boost a child’s learning; however, a new study has revealed quite the opposite of what many had thought was the way forward for education in the 21st century.
According to the report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the overexposure of students to computers and the internet is a cause for the decline in the academic outcome of students.
The OECD report was based on studies of students in more than 40 countries where computer habits were surveyed and written and digital tests conducted to determine the impact of increased access to computers and the internet on students.
The report states: “while student access to computers leads to overall better performance in the classroom, how those computers are used and the amount of time spent on them have a great effect on performance as well.”
The report also outlined the importance of having a solid classroom plan for the use of technology, with the need for students to be taught on how to use technology effectively for learning purposes.
“Students, who use computers for schoolwork, but do so for a slightly below-average amount of time, performed better than average on both written and digital reading tests; and students who spend an above-average amount of time in front of a computer at school performed the worse than other students, including those who might not use them at all. ”
