The use of Technology in Teaching

I was watching a football show the other day and the pundits on the show were debating on the use of technology on the football pitch. The topic caught my attention instantly as there were major debates on the same issue in cricket as well.

One of the gentleman on the show strongly supported the use of technology and criticized the referees who at times make the wrong decisions and grab the headline on tabloids the next day. The other gentleman voted against it by citing the fact that human touch is required on the football pitch as it adds excitement and add uncertainty in the game which is required. He also argued that to many referals for the TV umpire can break the continuity of the game.

That discussion got me thinking on the use of technology in the field of teaching. In last year i along with my colleagues have been on the road for training on teaching. During that we had the privilege of meeting and talking to scholar teachers and trainers in the field of education. And it was evident that there were 2 different views on the use of technology in teaching.

I thought it would be very interesting and important for me to analyze these views as a teacher. One of the views and which is very widely popular all over is to support and encourage the use of technology. Use of videos, presentations, animations as teaching aids while teaching students. I can not help but give my thumps up for this. The reason being i always felt being a student that listening to an audio or watching a video always helps to understand the concept better. I can go on and write whole lot of statements supporting this view, but before i do that let me put across the other view.

The other view which of course does not encourage the use of technology in great extent. This view is mainly from the management perspective. The management of the schools are ready to splash money to bring these technologies to their schools and make their school a better place for students. But at the same time what they don't want is their teachers' lake of preparations for the teaching different topics. They think that playing a video or showing a presentation will make it very easy for the teachers and they won't work harder. One of the other concerns is that teachers become very dependent on technology and which cannot be a good thing.

Again a very valid point from management perspective. Both the views are very strong and have points to be considered like those football pundits on the TV show. But here is what i am thinking.

I think we need to strike a right balance to use the technology very effectively for the benefit of the students. At the end of the day teaching learning process is more about the learners than it is about the teachers. Having said that i would also like to see the use of traditional chalk and talk method being used in the class room. It is very important that students and teachers make that connection during the process and i think chalk and talk method can provide that opportunity to both sets.

Instead of replacing black(white boards) with projectors and LCDs, i would like to use them as a supplement to the black board teaching. The concepts which are difficult should be taught using these technological teaching aids. I think this way we can keep the management happy without affecting the quality of teaching with the technological advancements around.

Coming back to the use of technology in sports, i strongly believe that we should use technology but to empower the umpires or the referees on the field and not to replace them.

What do you guys say?:)