Wednesday 2 November 2011: Changes to the Education System, Perhaps?

Editorial time.

Picture this; a classroom of 30-something students sit in a normal-sized classroom, on normal sized desks. But there's a catch. They all have computers on these desks instead of books. Computers have modernized the world; made it much easier to communicate with other people, develop ideas and say what we think. Like I'm doing now. So what if there was a possibility of having computers in schools? Surely it would increase classroom productivity, organization of notes and therefore, simplicity of study. But what about the cost?

Yes it would. Classroom productivity basically boils down to "the amount of work you can do, divided by the time you have". Naturally, then having a computer would increase this. I know from personal experience that you can type faster than you can write. In amongst the sea of facts, you also don't have to sit in class copying out a worksheet, because you can't write on the sheet, when all the teacher has to do is press one or two buttons to then forward the lesson's notes and worksheets on to the students.

This modern way of teaching would surely do away with writing using pieces of paper. Actually it wouldn't. Even now, there are still things that the human can produce without using a computer. Drawing, for example. This would require the same fine motor skills as it does now, and I would recommend that if this new method does come into force, the computer not completely take over.

Notes would then be more organized. There would be one folder with all notes from Social Studies, say, and not notes spread over multiple books that are also jam-packed with worksheets that don't help with revision. So you decide what goes in your file layout, and what doesn't even make it past you Gmail account. Studying with multiple people would also be easier, as you don't have to type out the notes from a book, just email the people you're working with the appropriate files. However, then poorer families would be stuck in an even larger ditch than before, because they either have a computer, or they don't and are rapidly falling behind.

For some schools, the issue of cost is what has kept the computers out. (Imagine a prison door, if it helps). It is partially true. But think; seven or eight books a year, plus 5 lots of maybe $40 worth of stationary (which comes to about $300/$400 over 5 years), is about the cost of a small netbook. Now, I'm not saying netbooks are good, but they do the job. It's just all the money you'd spend in four years, in one hit. The schools could also amp up the school fees slightly, or put the photocopying budgets towards the new technology, if it helped to "ease the pain".

So, while it is in fact possible to have computers in schools, it would be an enormous undertaking to convert a whole school to this new method. However, I believe, if they were to do this, they would benefit form the advantages of the new technology more than reel from the debts. As technology will become more prominent as time goes on, it is also wise to slowly update the existing technology, or at least realize that the "Windows 95" computer in the corner's train has well and truly passed it by. Computers in schools would be a massive asset, to the students for ease of work, and for the school, in means of adaptability, and not being left in the dark.

But we all secretly know that's not going to happen.

Until the time I next have something to say.