Technology vs Books

JUSTISIA SHIPENA
Theofilus Kamueze

Living in the 21st century is hard work as everything moves faster as time drifts by. How many of us have heard our elders tell us stories of how much better the world was before? One would agree that the world got a little rougher perhaps, but you can’t argue with the fact that a lot has been simplified to save time and energy. Being learners, time management and saving energy is our number one priority or at least should be. The constant battle that arises is choosing between the things that waste our time and are beneficial to our scholastic progression. The common conclusion is that learners or students should stay away from technology and get closer to their books. While this is not bad advice, isolating someone or yourself from technology is honestly impossible. This is because tech is everywhere and part of our daily lifestyle. While you are dedicating yourself to making sure your little sister/brother stays off the net, they aspire to be internet sensations! However, can technology uplift the quality of education? Can books and iPhones co-exist? Technology is evidently taking over many aspects of human society. The same can happen to education. When technology is the subject of conversation the first thing that comes to one’s mind is a computer. In some schools laptops are made available for each student. This allows them to have access to the internet which is an online library in its own right. There will be countless of sources and unlimited information from which learners can choose from. This has an advantage as learners absorb information at different rates. The internet allows them to choose the format they want to take the info in, whether in writing or visual. Having learners know that they somehow have control of the information fed to them makes them eager to be informed. Technology is not all unicorns and rainbows though. Being on the net means that there is a chance of your account being hacked and your personal details exposed. However this can be controlled in the schooling environment. Safety guidelines can be taught in schools because internet safety is a worldwide concern! Anyway there is no peace without sacrifice or victory without struggle. Yes, books are informative but they carry limited information. How much can a person actually squeeze in a couple of pages? Let’s encourage our youth to explore and there is no better way than browsing the net. If we continue to look at technology as foreign, we will end up alienated.