Technology: and symptoms of peritonitis. I never

Technology: and symptoms of peritonitis. I never

Technology: A Tool For EducationMore and more each day technology infiltrates deeper into our daily lives and routines. Infact, it has become such an integral part of society, that mass hysteria and panic would undoubtedlyensue should it suddenly be taken away. To allow technology to take control would surely lead toa disintegration of society. Today, most classrooms are connected to the Internet or at the veryleast contain computers to help educate the nations children.

Technology, although useful, is onlya tool and must be used wisely in regards to the education of todays youths.Technology holds the promise of delivering vast amounts of information in a very shorttime. The Internet alone contains a plethora of information for anyone who has the desire andability to use it.

With just a click of a button a person can surf the web finding informationranging from aardvark to zygote. The speed in which information flashes across the screen can bedizzying. Although general information is readily accessible, obtaining specific data can beJust the other day, I was on-line searching for information regarding to peritonitis. As istypical, I logged onto a search site and typed in the subject I wanted. The search found anddisplayed about a dozen sites related to peritonitis.However, it also displayed more than three orfour dozen sites on topics ranging from colon cancer to feline leukemia.

I cant figure out just whatrelation feline leukemia has with peritonitis. As far as I can tell, theyre like apples to oranges. Too often these searches seem to take the user to sites that only contain links to other sites, withlinks to yet other sites, and so on. It took me nearly an hour to find specific information providingdetailed signs and symptoms of peritonitis. I never could find anything regarding actual treatmentprocedures for the disease.

Maybe I should have taken a five minute drive to the library andlooked in an antiquated encyclopedia – it would have been faster and easier.Dont get me wrong, Im not saying that technology is a bad thing, but there are negatives toevery positive. Technology does offer an array of options, including those for educationalpurposes. Many college students are now able to take courses via television, cable, and theInternet – only attending classes on campus for taking exams. Although this form of educationprovides more scheduling flexibility, it deprives the student of being able to contact their professorreadily.

While in an on-campus class, if a student has a question on the material being studied,they can simply ask their instructor for clarification and receive an immediate response. Contrarily, by taking a television or Internet course, the student would have to e-mail the professorand wait up to several days to receive a reply.School is not just a forum to learn facts and theories.

One of the principal functions ofschool is to teach children how to behave in groups (Postman). In other words, by attendingschool children learn how to interact with others in a positive and constructive way. By allowingtechnology to take over the education of our children we deny them the feeling of being included asa member of society. For without social interaction, society itself no longer exists.

At one time,many years ago, dialing 0″ on the telephone connected them to a living, breathing person on theother end. Several years later technology took over and one had to navigate through a myriad ofcomputerized menus for information, bringing forth complaint after complaint from customers. Currently, various phone companies advertise how one can now dial 0″ and get a living,Although technology can provide a nearly endless supply of information, it cannot providethe tools necessary for understanding. A computer can simply display facts, insight can only belearned through interaction with others. If a child cannot comprehend a concept, a computer willnot be able to re-explain things in a fashion the child understands; it can only repeat the data.

Onlythrough personal interaction with another person can information be modified into a context thechild can understand and appreciate. Knowledge, certainly in the humanities, is not astraightforward matter of access, of conquest via the ingestion of data (Birkerts).Children today often know how to operate a computer better than their parents. Educational software, designed to captivate the short attention spans of children, do a good job ofteaching children in information, but fall short of teaching any social values needed to co-existpeaceably with others. For a child to be able to function as a member of todays society, bothtechnological and social teaching need to be balanced.

We must always keep in mind that althoughtechnology is capable of many things, it is only a device that helps deliver information, it cannotteach understanding needed to obtain true knowledge and social conscience.Bibliography:?Postman, Neil. Of Luddites, Learning, and Life. New York: Houghton, 1997Birkerts, Sven. Perseus Unbound.

New York: Houghton, 1997