Teachers Union: Computers Can Negatively Impact Children's Ability To Learn

Rambo Tribble (1273454) writes "A teacher's union in Northern Ireland is asserting that children spending too much time on computers are impairing their ability to learn. The asserted excessive computer use is being blamed for an inability to concentrate or socialize. As one teacher puts it, '... these gadgets are really destroying their ability to learn.'" This has been a topic of debate for as long as kids have had computers.

Article is about computers OUTSIDE the classroom..

[CorporalKlinger]

The summary makes it sound like computers in the classroom are the problem. That's not what the article says at all. The teachers' union is accusing out-of-school exposure to "instant gratification" digital devices and games for ruining attention-spans before kids are old enough to go to school. The article claims youngsters are aggressive and inattentive due to past conditioning by games and always-on entertainment. It doesn't even mention computers or tablets in school. Misleading title & summary.

Re:Really?

[Jmc23]

Most people learn best from people.

FTFY.

I, like others out there, was totally incapable of learning from others. They basically thought I was retarded until I taught myself to read and started reading lots and lots of books. Which, unfortunately, meant I talked like one of the very first text-to-speech algorithms.

Re:Really?

[MaskedSlacker]

This post is hysterically misinformed, or based on the school district in Teacher-Shangrila.

I have no prep time during the school day. None. I teach four 75-min classes, two before lunch and two after. During Lunch (70 min) I supervise students in the cafeteria or I tutor students who are behind on their work. In between sentences I shovel a peanut butter sandwich down my throat. After school is the same. I work from 8am to 5pm without so much as a piss break most days (thank god I have a strong bladder). All prep work occurs either before 8am or after 5 pm, which means that my work day normally runs 6am to 5pm (I prefer that over 8am to 7pm).

I'd love to know where this babysitware or paraprofessionals I'm supposedly offloading my job onto are. That'd be nice.

Re:BASICally

[Shadow of Eternity]

Socrates didn't actually say that, it was part of an ancient greek play spoofing him however.