The face of the world saw an irreversible change at the dusk of the nineteenth century. This change was the Industrial Revolution that introduced mechanical ways of doing things. The Industrial era, though started in England, did not stay confined to one continent and soon the whole world was benefiting from the fruits of this new technology. Industrialization and technology changed the way everything was done previously. All fields of science and arts began making use of technology as it made work easier. But this picture was not going to be as rosy as it seemed initially.
Technology functioned, but it was paradoxical in nature. Where it caused a rise in industrial production, it rendered a plethora of labourers’ obsolete for they were no longer required. Their jobs were replaced by the machines. This led to workers exploitation, mass unemployment and a rise in colonial ambitions. The industrialized colonizers now wished to seek new markets for their surplus produce, and colonies were their dump ground. Where scientific technology provided a cure for numerous diseases saving millions, the creation of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project, killed millions and left the world at the lurch of a staggering nuclear dilemma. It is easy to say that education, which is an endeavour to discover the truth in all its manifestations, has had its fair share of costs and benefits of modern technology because this is how the technology works.
The acquisition of education by the masses ensures the socio-economic stability of a state. Education has been revolutionized by the induction of modern technology. Technology now is a student’s best friend and computers are his teachers. Where it has broadened the world horizons for students, it has done the same for the teachers. Computers along with the World Wide Web, being one of the finest inventions accomplished by the use of modern technology, have made the lives of students immensely easy. Whether it is mastering the art of applying mathematical formulas, or derivation of scientific equations; learning of various languages or getting a grasp of literature; making an assignment about a country that you have never visited or gathered research statistics for a study you did not conduct yourself; computers have got it all under their control. There are websites that have teachers’ available 24/7 for all sorts of homework help.
These things help a student outperform his classmates, gain higher scores and increase his confidence by strengthening the areas that were once problematic for him. With the system of online submission of homework assignments for children at an early age, technology gives rise to a computer literate generation. Studies, intermittently have shown, that such societies where the use of computers is prevalent have a higher literacy rate, compared to those that lack this feature. It is not hard to deduce that post technology generations have been generations with a better understanding of the world and how it functions.
Another strand of this modern technology is the use of smartphone and tablets. With their multiple features and high storage capability, these are a ‘must-haves’ in the priority lists of the modern students. They help them capture and record the moments they would want to re-live, record their class lectures, read electronic books anywhere and design new applications that many students began selling to get money.
As positive as all the above-mentioned things sound, technology does have its dark side. With websites such as those that help students get their homework done for a small amount of money, students lose their interest in studying themselves. The use of the internet has decreased the time span of sexual development of children because of the visibility of sexually explicit content on almost all websites and the easy availability of pornographic material. According to an Indian NGO in Bangalore, 70 per cent of the children in India, start watching porn at the age of 10. These early exposures indeed have a strong impact on the social attitudes of the people, and this can be proven, with More Magazine calling India the rape capital of the world and reports that every twenty minutes a woman is raped in India.
Such impacts of technology are not only alarming but thought-provoking. Technology then, by the end of the day, is what we make of it. Efficient counselling of the students can help them reap the positive advantages of technology, avoiding the negative. When everything is one click away, why not make the best out of it.
[1]Survey: 70% of boys began watching porn at 10 years http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Survey-70-of-boys-began-watching-porn-at-10-years/articleshow/48209402.cms