Written by Tuomas & Joni
Internet is so full of information
that there is no actual need to memorize anything, but does that actually mean
technology is only making us dumber? Answer is most probably both yes and no.
Technology provides very easy to use learning tools, but does not oblige us to
learn from them. It is up to us to use the tools to help our memory and to
learn new things.
Memory can be divided to sensory
memory, short term memory and long term memory. Short term memory lasts only
about 30 seconds and can only hold from four up to six things. Long term memory
lasts longer, but needs little more encoding and memorizing for short term
memories to transfer to long term memory. For example associations, mind maps
and applying information in real life can help encoding to long term memory.
Different emotions can be linked directly to memories as well. [1]
Many of us use learning tools that
are provided through technology daily. Schools use different platforms to
distribute and create intuitive learning material that would not be otherwise
available through home computer [2]. This helps retrieval of old learned things
that have been decayed after the lecture as well as learning new things
directly only using the computer. In studies it has been shown that images and
visualization are very important when learning directly new things directly
through technology [3].
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| Figure 1: Duolingo. https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/better-duolingo-experience |
One good example of
machine assisted learning is duolingo software which makes learning new
languages much easier. Duolingo might not make you a fluent speaker of the
language but is it really required? Usually when starting to learn a new
language the sheer amount of work can feel overwhelming. The duolingo software
fixes this problem and divides the big mass of knowledge into manageable chunks
of information and this makes learning the language much more approachable.
Duolingo also measures your progression, which might give you motivation to
continue on your journey to achieve your goals. After all nothing feels better
than finding out “Hey, I am getting a reward for my hard work!” .
Technology might have
much negative effects on our learning by offering us much distractions and
unnecessary or even fake information but at the same time this technology
allows us the access to all the information in the world at any time and this
makes “study just in case” unnecessary. Instead one can focus on the really
important stuff.
References:
[1] Aino
Ahtinen and Aparajita Chowdhury, “Psychology of Pervasive Computing”, Lecture
3, 10.9.2018, Tampere University of Technology
[2] Santos,
Suélly Lima, Silva, Marco Antonio G. T. da, and Suzana da Hora Macedo.
'Distance Education: Computer-Supported Learning', Revista Vértices, vol.
14/no. 2, (2012), pp. 35-45.
[3]
Vössing, Julia, Christian Stamov-Roßnagel, and Kathrin Heinitz. 'Images in
Computer-Supported Learning: Increasing their Benefits for Metacomprehension
through Judgments of Learning', Computers in Human Behavior, vol.
58/(2016), pp. 221-230.
I think that technology makes "small information" like trivia, easily google-able things, less important for us ourselves to remember. But I believe that this leaves more time and energy for people to learn bigger concepts and build expertise.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that technology assists us in learning but a lot of the systems used by teachers or in education like duolingo arenta great. Duolingo is good at teaching you to learn vocabulary and perhaps 5 different basic sentences. But after you get past the simplest things it fails to teach you grammar. And then you can't progress anymore. I wish that there would be better systems than this.
Learning how to spot relevant information and filter out fake information is nowadays also a very important skill and maybe should have more focus in our education system.
I think the technology can definitely help you learn new things. I have used the Duolingo to learn German again after a long pause and I think it worked perfectly. Although it can also make you to forget things but most probably those things are not that important or not used so often. So maybe they are not that important to remember after all. And if you need to know it again you can always google it. And you can also use the technology to help you remember things. For example you can put reminders to your phone about important things.
ReplyDeleteAnu
I agree that there are both positive and negative sides to use technology in learning and recall. It takes really much time for teachers and students to search suitable systems and applications, then install them and learn to use these tools in a useful way and in this phase you have not learned the learning topic yet. As teacher you have to take account e.g. also that all students have not so good internet connections and technology use can cause inequality between students. It is also possible to find technologies which can tell you answers to the problems too easily and that is bad if you only copy-paste solutions (e.g. web pages like Google Translate or Wolfram Alpha) then you don’t get the information and skills to your long term memory (not neseccarily even to your short term memory).
ReplyDeleteOtherwise technology can help us to use different learning strategies and diversify learning situations which can help to learn, memory and keep us motivated. Technology allows also applied exercises and learning.
Jane