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Children's literacy and skills in maths and science could be undermined by increasing use of computers, according to researchers.
An international study has looked at the learning of 100,000 15-year-olds in 32 countries.
Its findings, to be reported at a conference in Nottingham, cast doubts on the increasing use of PCs in schools.
Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann of Munich University say their research shows diminished performance in students with computers.
According to newspaper reports, children with computers at home could be distracted by PCs rather than helped.
"Holding other family characteristics constant, students perform significantly worse if they have computers at home," says the academics' report.
"Learning with computers may not be most efficient way of learning ... because computers can be used for other aims than learning."
The researchers claim books are a better source.
They found that "students with more than 500 books in their homes performed better in maths and science than those with none."
In Brtiain, the Government has pursued a policy of "personalised learning" with computers and the latest Budget included an extra ?50m for IT in schools.
"Learning with computers may not be most efficient way of learning ... because computers can be used for other aims than learning."
Yes, not like paper and pencil and books. Those can only be used for learning, yessiree.
"You know, I have a great, wonderful, really original method of teaching antitrust law, and it kept 80 percent of the students awake. They learned things. It was fabulous." -- Justice Stephen Breyer
This is only aimed toward idiotic teenagers who don't want to go to school.
For those of us who care about our education, computers are a huge boost.
First off, if it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't have a place like this to communicate with a diverse group from around the world such as DCEmu. Because of DCEmu, I've greatly improved my debating skills, and my writing skills have been put to much more use and therefore have been improved upon. If communication is done in such a manner, great things can come out of it. However, if you sit around talking about teenage drama on AIM with AOLer grammar, the effect is going to be detrimental. If I wasn't exposed to so many viewpoints, I'd probably have the opinions of a backwards hick like the other 90% of Louisiana.
My second point is that I don't have 500 books or the will to scour 500 books for one small bit of information every time I need it. The internet is an infinite resource in which I can search and find any bit of information I need instantly. This works for me because I care about my education and I do my part to learn things I don't know. If some of my friends were having a discussion about something that I did not know and I therefore could not participate, I would go home and pull up the Wikipedia page for that subject.
Let's not forget that some people feel uncomfortable about discussing certain subjects and the anonymity of the internet allows people to learn without being in contact with other humans. There are a number of topics that most would not discuss with their parents and would be too embarassed to research at a library. The number one would be sex. However, anything I would want to know about sex is readily available on the internet.
Let's say that I don't quite grasp a math concept. My teacher didn't explain it in a way I would understand, and the book seems to be written in Greek. I can hit up Google and get a ton of explanations from different angles of a specific concept, while otherwise I'd have to go to a library and spend hours scouring different math books to get multiple angles on a specific concept.
The internet is powerful, and like anything else with power, it can be used for negative purposes. A good enthusiastic kid with the Internet will find his way down the path of a greater education, while a bad apathetic kid will find himself staring at the face of adversity.
I agree, |darc|. The internet has been my resource for a wide variety of information. I've been interested off and on for the last few years about learning about Scottish history and mythology, and the mythology of the Highlands in particular. I can hit up google and find all sorts of information. Also, if it weren't for the internet, I wouldn't know anything about programming, which is something I enjoy a lot. It's all about how you use it.
I also agree with |darc|. The internet has taught me so much, more than I ever learned at school anyway.
Also forums such as this one is where I have also learned a lot of stuff, it is nice to get the points of views from friendly, like-minded people who can share their knowledge with you and vice versa.
I do think there is value in forcing kids to do research in books. It's an important thing to learn how to do (which most kids didn't seem to understand when I was in high school, and still don't understand now that I'm in college), as there is still an incredibly huge amount of information and research only available on paper, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
Not to mention the percentage of BS is MUCH MUCH higher on the internet than in print.
Anyway, for me personally, certain types of learning I can't do very well on the computer. Math is one of those. However, other things I learn equally well or better on computer. How well people learn through various means varies greatly. Some learn well through reading, some don't. Some learn well through lecture, others don't. Ideally, children would be exposed to all the ways to learn and figure out what works best for them, but still know how to learn every possible way.
How to be a Conservative:
You have to believe everything that has ever gone wrong in the history of your country was due to Liberals.
|darc| wrote:
First off, if it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't have a place like this to communicate with a diverse group from around the world such as DCEmu. Because of DCEmu, I've greatly improved my debating skills, and my writing skills have been put to much more use and therefore have been improved upon. If communication is done in such a manner, great things can come out of it. However, if you sit around talking about teenage drama on AIM with AOLer grammar, the effect is going to be detrimental. If I wasn't exposed to so many viewpoints, I'd probably have the opinions of a backwards hick like the other 90% of Louisiana.
I feel exactly the same way.
Remember the debates we had when I first got on the forums?
Man, looking back, that was imbarassing.
I too agree with everything that |darc| said. Especially forums (like this one) where you can have nice long, well structured discussions with people from all over the world with different viewpoints and opinions. Really, it all depends on howyou use the computer.
|darc|, I agree 100%. Without the internet, I probably would be some dumb, ignorant ass kid. As it is, I am still ignorant. At least I know how ignorant I am. Plus, I never have conversations like these with anyone at school or any of my friends. No one makes me think, or when I do think about something, my buds are plain crap. It is like BlackAura trying to talk with someone in the Null forum. It just wont work.
What kind of crap research was this. Next thing you know they will say computers lower education, but the internet raises it by 50%. Total oxymorons.
Caboose wrote:I too agree with everything that |darc| said. Especially forums (like this one) where you can have nice long, well structured discussions with people from all over the world with different viewpoints and opinions. Really, it all depends on howyou use the computer.
