WHEN you ask if there is room for the use of technology in class, it is like asking if it is okay to breathe.
Technology– computers, applications, the Internet – has its uses in education, especially in this digital age when students are connected from their smartphones and laptops, that it becomes almost ridiculous to ask if modern technology should be used in class. Technology has become as basic as air that we need it to improve how we do things and how we communicate.
The point of how to use technology in education is one of the challenges being discussed as the country celebrates National Teachers’ Month from September 5 to October 5. Even organizers use social media to promote activities and give the public a venue to say thanks to their teachers. On Facebook, go to web.facebook.com/NTMPhils/ or search for National Teacher’s Month, and on Twitter, use @NTMPhils to get updates.
The Facebook page opens to this message, “If you can read this, thank your teacher.” Very appropriate. But if they can read this because they have a Facebook account and a smartphone or computer and Internet connection, they should be able to thank their teacher also for exposing them to the benefits of technology and the best practices.
I point this out because there is still some disagreement on the ground, in the real world, over the uses of technology in the classroom.
A SunStar Cebu report Monday by Justin Vestil asked the question, “Should teachers be tech-savvy?” and cited experiences of two teachers. One found technology useful and said it broadened her methods of instruction, while another preferred the old ways of lesson plans and visuals written or drawn by hand.
Evelyn Dy-Andrino, Grade 9 English teacher at the Abellana National School, encourages students to bring their smartphones as part of their learning experience, the report said. Andrino has been teaching at that school for three years. She uses smartphones, tablets and free Internet to teach her students about literature. “Technology is useful because we can teach students through visuals, not just plain pictures and photos,” Andrino said.
Grace Sta. Iglesia, Filipino language teacher at the same school, said she prohibits the use of smartphones in class. Iglesia, a teacher for 16 years, said smartphones distract her students from their lessons and can cause trouble. She caught one student watching pornography on his smartphone during class and one playing Pokemon Go who had the temerity to tell her not to move because there was a Pokemon on her forehead.
One thing I found encouraging was that Iglesia, according to the report, looked forward to getting help from younger teachers like Andrino on how to develop teaching tools using technology. She isn’t averse entirely to using technology because her school has seminars on it.
When people ask if technology should be a necessary component of education or health or finance, I usually find the question contradictory. It’s like the term online journalism. Journalism now encapsulates online for newsgathering, writing, publishing, dissemination and audience growth. There is no contradiction but a conjoining of journalism and online. No contradiction between technology and other aspects of life, including education.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)