The Intimate Relationship between Technology and Young Learners

I was impressed with the term P.L.E.a.S.E which was presented by Prof.Dr.Raja Maznah Raja Hussain during our first lecture.The term P.L.E.a.S.E which sounds very pleasant, stands for "Personalize Learning Environment and Student Engagement". This means we should not teach the pupils instead make them learn on their own effort. I totally agree with this concept because this is where we integrate technology to assist the independent learning of the pupils. Teacher as the foundation of knowledge works no more when technological gadgets are used in schools in order to create a student-centered learning. As teachers act as facilitators, it is time for the pupils to gain knowledge on own with the help of internet and educational CD-ROM. This indirectly encourages students to involve in inquiry-discovery learning. I believe technology can affect our young chilren's learning positively. Firstly, one of the famous multimedia tools in classrooms is slide projector. The powerpoint slide shows that are presented through slide projector are known to be attractive as it is colorful and has a sense of motion. It is not something like the old 'chalk and talk' method where pupils would tend to be less interested with the lesson. With the usage of this slide projector, teacher could grab his or her students attentions and sustain them. Besides that, the pupils will realize that learning is fun. Apart from that, technology can enhance pupils' learning as they will be expose to latest news on economy, politics and social of the world.This is very helpful for the upper primary pupils to write essays. Besides that, teaching using IT gadgets can be very beneficial for primary schol pupils as this gadgets prepare more realistic views. For example, a child's learning would take place better if he or she is expose to an authentic picture of the Petronas Twin Tower through SmartBoard, instead of a drawn one on whiteboard. Furthermore, through the internet or specifically email, the pupils can exchange questions of monthly test with students from other schools.This not only encourage smart learning but also widen the pupil's horizon of friends.What's your opinion on this issue? Let me know and we learn together.