Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Opinion: Technology and children

"All entries in this blog is just for study/assignment purposes only"  



Technology and children

     It is undeniable that today’s technologies have a major difference as compared to during the 80s and 90s. However, this kind of transition has a deep effect to children.  We can clearly see that nowadays, even a standard one child would have their own mobile phone. For those who are more fortunate, they would have own a mobile gadgets like tablet pc or laptop bought by their parents for special occasion or just as a present to their child. 



     According to Specialist in Early Childhood Education, University of Management and Technology (UMTECH), Prof Dr Bustam Kamri, the emergence of gadgets such as laptops and tablets on the market is inevitable. This is because this technology will continue to grow rapidly in line with the modernization of the country.

     One of the drawbacks of this transition is that one of the gadgets, which are the computer, is said can decrease children creativity. As compared to manual style of learning, computer can offers more interesting way of learning. It can attract children’ interest with its sound effect and graphic that will appear in assorted colours. However, through a study conducted on the use of software in the classroom show that there is a sharp drop of 50 per cent in terms of creativity among children. 

     Apart from that, their interpersonal skill will not flourish as they made no interaction in real life with people. From the perspective of socio-emotional, children will have their own selfishness and do not want to give up. To nurture such ‘never give up’ attitude among children is good but it is no longer if they only applied it on games. 

     Most children can sit in front of a computer playing due to rewards and offers the game provides. Because of the high curiosity nature embedded in them, they play continuously so as to know what happens at the end of the game. The worst thing is they become addicted to computer over time.



     Sometimes, it is very shocking when you see even a four-year-old child can manage to handle a laptop by themselves without parents guidance. Nevertheless, technology is not the one to be blamed. We can always choose either to make a stride or accept the bad influence of their existence. Or whether the presence of variety gadgets can affect the emotional and social development of children depending on how you use it. It can bring positive effects if used properly and the negative impact if not controlled. All in all, they actually can bring lot of advantages only if it is being used in the correct way.