Technology: A Trend or a Friend?

S. Indira Narayan is an educationist with more than 35 years of rich experience in the teaching field. She has held multiple portfolios. She has been associated with St. Ann’s High School, ICSE, ISC, Secunderabad, for over three decades, teaching English language and English literature for classes 10, 11 and 12. The last portfolio she held was as Academic Coordinator, St. Ann's High School at Kompally, Hyderabad, under the same management. 

Indira Narayan has conducted numerous workshops for schoolteachers and continues to do so. She is also interested in writing and blogs regularly on http://vinplaksha.wordpress.com/ 

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We take pride in saying that we belong to an age of technology, of advancement, so to speak. There was a time when the telephone was a rarity in our homes. Not many could afford a personal telephone facility. Calls were made from outside, from telephone booths, shops and restaurants, all on payment. The speaking time was monitored/noted either by the booth in charge or by a beep that indicated that 3 minutes (the time allotted) were over and charges would increase thereafter. Conclusively, since speaking for a long time meant paying more, most kept a check on their ‘talk time’.

Soon, the telephone became a common possession, but there were still tabs on speaking too long to prevent heavy bills. Again, international calls were charged much higher than domestic ones. Local calls cost less than outstation calls. The latter were under STD. 

Enter the mobile phone, which was initially considered a privileged possession but, thanks to competition, soon became not only common but a must in the hands of everyone, just everyone. Mobile manufacturers began vying with each other to make the gadget affordable to every category of society. ‘Talk Time’ could be unlimited!

In came the computer, a helpful possession. The computer, and thereafter the internet, storing immense information, became a necessity. Now sending messages is as fast as the snap of our fingers. WhatsApp has taken over letter writing and phone calls (though one has to type the message)

The computer, as is always debated, is both a boon and a bane. It is a boon in that knowledge is at the click of a button away for those who want to use this medium effectively for moving forward. Sadly, it is more of a bane because people, students especially, end up just copying details required for, say, their project work or articles they have to ‘write’ and submit. If there is a debate competition, the matter is almost literally cut, copied and pasted to learn to rote and present it. Very little effort is taken to use the information to make up their own points for the debate or the article, and little effort is put into understanding the depth or the finer details of the topic. Learning and assimilation of relevant details do not happen. The reason for these deliberations is to convey how dependence on technology for a large number of people has dried up the springs of imagination which otherwise would have been kept perennially flowing.

Mobile phone Chatting and going through WhatsApp group presentations leaves little time to read, think and analyse. Reading is a very healthy and productive activity which helps develop creativity, imagination and skills of communication. Technology is a powerful tool but can be a potential threat.

Undoubtedly, it connects people across the world, thereby giving our lives a motivation to move forward. On the other side, we see that it can affect mental health, especially of children where adult monitoring of their use of technology is not followed. Friends have a great influence in a child’s life, exchanging views on how tech-savvy they are that in turn may make some feel inadequate and low. Not a good quality for a growing child. You must agree that not all have equal access to technology. The economic status varies from parent to parent.  A digital divide will widen the gap for healthy communication.

Whatever the discussion, dependence on technology has come to stay. Parents and teachers play a crucial role in educating children on the use and misuse of technology, throwing light on the benefits of proper use and the problems arising from misuse. My take: Read, if you must, and gather material from the net/phone, but develop the talent of assimilating the information and putting it in your own words. This not only activates the thinking power but also aids in retaining knowledge.

Also, let us give time for healthy conversations with family and friends, exchange views in person and be ‘connected’, not ‘wired’. It is nice to be humble, but humble does not mean looking down constantly at the mobile. Give this a thought: is technology a friend, or is it subtly working against us and our children?  Is it a good friend or a bad master?