Overdominance of Computers

“The Overdominance of Computers”

By: Lowell W. Monke

Overview:

This article discusses the positive and negative aspects of kids being put in the middle of a computer rich environment before they may be ready for it. Most people have some form of technology that they use daily if not hourly. This article addresses the effects it can have on young minds when they aren’t ready for the responsibility it brings. It asks the question, “Do computers help achievement?” While the study found that the more that student’s are exposed to computers the more it seems to hurt their achievement levels. They also stated that overexposure to computers and technology can create an altered view of the world in which students live in. It can hinder the learning process by robbing them of authentic experiences. The remedy to prevent this type of situation is to fill student’s early education with the types of experiences that will foster their creativity and create strong bonding experiences. The article stresses that this situation should not be overlooked. The fact is that technology is not going away, and it is time to start really taking a look at the effects that too much computers can have.

Reference Points:

1) “Nearly everything children do today involves technologies that distance them from direct contact with the living world.”

2) “...the more access students had to computers in school and at home, the lower their overall test scores were.”

3) 80 percent of kindergarten students used a computer in school in 2003

4) “Nearly everything that a child does today – from chatting with friends to listening to music to playing games – tends to involve the use of technologies that distance children from direct contact with the living world.

5) “How can young people develop the wisdom to judge high technology if they are told from the moment the enter school, implicitly if not explicitly, that they need high-tech tools to learn, to communicate, to think?”

Reflection:

This article gave me some good insight into something that I had never really thought about before. It sucked me in with the first paragraph. We don’t prepare kids for drinking by giving them alcohol when they are young, so why should we be almost forcing computers and technology on them when they are clearly not ready for everything that comes with it. I think that exposure is good for students at a young age, but overexposure to anything is bad. Something else that isn’t really mentioned here is video games. Between video games and computers a young child’s perception of the world around them can become very distorted and unreal. Children need the real life experience and the understanding that computers and other forms of technology are tools and not a way to experience life.