Computer Caution by Ann Lahrson Fisher
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My computer is a fantastic tool with myriad fascinating and useful applications. And yes, the Internet is the greatest research tool on the planet. And yes, the networking, communications, educational, and commercial capabilities are astounding. Yes, yes, yes, the computer is transforming our lives. This glamorous tool fuels our idealistic hopes and dreams for a better future.
Still, a full array of disadvantages and dangers lurk behind the potential for misuse and abuse of computers. The disadvantages and risks are readily glossed over by the zealous promotion of computer believers. Parents and teachers must find a balance of caution and common sense when using computer technology to educate their children.
I offer one curmudgeonly voice for caution. I suggest that we review several trends and assumptions about computer use with young children, and take seriously the potential disadvantages and abuses.
Popular trend: A mad race is on to get very young children started using computers. Parents of children as young as one year old are targeted, and parents scramble to obtain these products. Promoters use clever marketing drives to empty parents’ wallets for their children’s sake.
Danger: Excessive computer use flies in the face of what we know about how young children learn. Developmentally sound educational practice and good parenting is abandoned in the effort to have the first computer literate baby on the block. No matter how lovely and interactive the software or Internet site, learning at the computer pales when compared to the sensory vividness of hands-on immersion type activities. Interactivity claims ring hollow when compared to the richness of learning through actual life experiences.
Wouldn’t we scream in outrage if untested medications were being injected into infants to build a better baby? Yet computer use by young children is untested and the impact will not be known for many years. Information and training put into children’s minds through their eyes and ears may not have immediate danger, but who can guess if there is a potential of harm over the child’s lifetime?
Computer use wastes precious childhood. Computers consume an enormous amount of time. Given the knowledge that the current generation of computers will be obsolete many times over by the time today's children reach maturity, do children really need to proficiently use today’s computers in order to be computer literate as adults? Instead of promoting computer use, parents and educators should use computers/Internet selectively and balance that use with a variety of other methods and media that offer first-hand experiences as a priority.
Popular trend: Traditional workbook type curriculum has become widely available on the Internet at an affordable price. Promoters of online or software based curriculum suggest that all you need is a computer to get an excellent education with their materials.
Danger: Traditional workbook type curriculum on computers is inaccurately promoted as interactive. Don’t believe for one minute that a workbook with clickable answers is more interactive than fill-in-the-blank answers in paper workbooks! Traditional workbook curriculum has essentially the same advantages and disadvantages whether on computer or in paper format. At least with a paper workbook, a kid can take it under the table, in the car, or up a tree, and if he's really lucky, he'll lose the darn thing!
For some children, the pre-chewed and spewed content of workbooks, whether paper or computerized, is mind-numbing. Instead of providing an efficient learning opportunity, the carefully sieved content backfires, turning the child away from her interests and dulling her natural desire to learn.
For children who learn easily from a traditional workbook type of curriculum, the computer does offer a nifty choice of paper or electronic formatting, and of course children will enjoy having a choice. Still, for the majority of children, computer-based workbooks are best used as occasional reinforcement rather than as a primary instructional tool.
Popular trend: Theorists suggest that computers-as-teaching-machines, high quality computer based learning simulations, are the ultimate in educational practice, and that it is only a matter of time before simulations can take over many of the functions of teacher, parent, or educational facilitator.
Danger: Enthusiasts who project that simulations are a panacea to all teaching and learning problems misunderstand the nature of learning. A key problem is that much of what we learn is “how we learn” not “what we learn.” With that in mind, we can see that simulations may indeed have a dark side. For example, fascination with sharp shooting skill is a common and unintended result of popular educational computer programs. Do we really mean to teach young children to shoot? Other concerns: Do competitive simulations develop a drive to win without regard to human sensibilities or life itself? Does the loss of contact with actual humans during the early years harm healthy human relationships and understanding?
Curriculum developers should bear in mind that children are superbly adept at learning. The best sites and software allow many options for children to create their own learning experiences.
Popular trend: The computer and its many peripherals are believed to save enormous amounts of time.
Disadvantage: In reality, computer use is a massive consumer of time. While my computer saves a great amount of time with tasks such as bookkeeping and word processing, that is not the only way I choose to use it. I am addicted! I suspect that I have inadvertently developed some lazy mental habits, such as substituting the ease of computer use for rigorous thinking and planning. Mental habits will certainly change, for better or worse, as individuals spend more of their days at the computer.
Popular trend: Hive-mindedness. I can see it all now: each family member curled up in his own cell--I mean room--with his own computer, sharing e-mail messages and friendships with people they have never met, even with mom and pop, at their computers in the next room. Playing games, getting the news, working, shopping, studying, all from the comfort of our screens.
Disadvantage: Are we prepared to deal with the loss of humanity that accompanies hive-like behavior? Shouldn't we concern ourselves with potential dangers as we continually separate ourselves from real people and real experience? We can pooh-pooh these concerns today, but what might the impact be on society in thirty or fifty or one hundred years?
Popular trend: Many daily activities can take place at the computer.
Danger: Am I the only one whose eyes, back and neck ache, whose optometrist, chiropractor and physical therapist have been enriched by my computer use? Am I the only one whose pocketbook is emptied again and again into ergonomic keyboards, new and improved mice, chairs, workstations, lighting, bigger and better monitors, etc? Am I the only one who doesn’t get quite enough exercise to compensate for the physical inactivity of computer use? Am I the only one who is concerned about a generation of young people developing computer-aggravated health problems by excessive use during the early years?
Now, with all these dangers and disadvantages, should parents completely forego computer use for children, especially in the early years? I don’t believe that is the best answer. Instead, I would suggest finding a balanced way to use this powerful educational tool. Use computer curriculum for reinforcement, not primary instruction. Select sites and software carefully. Pay attention to how a child responds to particular software and adapt as needed. Perhaps the most important thing parents can do is restrict the amount of time (some would say as little as twenty to thirty minutes daily per child) spent at the computer, especially for young children. The benefits of the computer can then be enjoyed without worrying about risks.
If parents and educators maintain a cautious approach, resist being swayed by marketing hyperbole, and instead demand that computer products be developed to suit their own standards, they can squeeze the most out of this very useful tool with minimum risk.
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© Copyright 2000. Ann Lahrson Fisher - All Rights Reserved.
ann@nettlepatch.net
http://nettlepatch.net/homeschool.