Lesson 2

                                                               
                                         Boon or Bane ?

Technology is blessing for man. With technology, there is a lot that we can do which we could not do then. With cell phones, webcam, you will be closer to someone miles and miles away. So far yet so close! That is your feeling when you talk through a cell phone to a beloved who is far away from home. Just think of the many novels, stimulating, exciting, fresh and engaging with the use of multimedia in the classroom. With your television, you can watch events as they happen all over the globe. President Ramos had a lively interaction with his audience in Tacloban in his tele – address without disrupting his work schedule in Manila. I know of one Ph. D student who defended his dissertation with one member of the panel in Japan interrogating the Ph. D candidate through teleconferencing.

However, when not used properly, technology becomes a detriment to learning and development. It can destroy relationships. Think of the husband who is glued to television unmindful of his wife seeking his attention. This may eventually erode marital relationship. Think of the student who surfs the Internet for pornographic scenes. He will have trouble with his development. The abuse and misuse of the internet will have far reaching unfavorable effects on his moral life. The teacher who schedules class television viewing for the whole hour to free herself from a one – hour teaching and so ca engage in “tsismis” likewise will not benefit from technology. Neither will her class truly benefit form the whole period of television viewing.

Educational, technology is bane when:

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·        The learner is made to accept as Gospel truth information they get from the Internet.

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              The learner surfs the Internet for pornography

·         The learner has an uncritical mind on images floating on television s and computers that represent modernity and progress.

·         The television makes the learner a mere spectator not an active participant in drama of life.

·         The learner gets glued to his computer for computer assisted instruction unmindful of the world and so fails to develop the ability to relate to others.

·         We make use of the Internet to do character assassination of people whom we hardly like.

·         Because of our cell phone, we spend most of our time in the classroom or in our workplace texting.

·         We use overuse and abuse television or film viewing as a strategy.