Education Ministry Urged to Review Pros & Cons of Using Gadgets in the Classroom

Remember going to school and having your cell phone or Mp3 player kena rampas because it was against the rule to bring them to school? Or maybe you had pengawas friends to tell you when they were going to have a spot check! 

Well, the Ministry of Education has recently been urged to review the use of technological gadgets in the classroom.

According to the New Straits Times, West Malaysia Teachers’ Union president Jasni Md Kechik said that the review should be done because it would allow the ministry to ascertain the pros and cons of using these technological gadgets in the classroom.

Source: MumCenter

Jasni further added that the ministry should create an outline or a special guideline on the use of such gadgets for maintenance and to prevent abuse among others.

“In terms of teaching and learning, the use of such gadgets are beneficial. But there are factors that can lead to problems including maintenance and weak data connection.”

“There should be enough infrastructure to support the use of such devices, suitable with the classroom environment and current needs,” he said when contacted today.

Source: sinar harian

However, he also brought up the actions of the French government, which had begun to do away with the use of such gadgets this month (Sept 2018) due to negative factors that have affected the students’ span of attention in class, as well as online bullying and using the technology to visit unnecessary websites.

“If a developed country like France has decided to repeal the use of such gadgets, surely it was after an extensive study.”

“Students can get distracted by the use of handphones, for example, spending more time surfing the internet because there was no one to properly monitor their use of such gadgets.”

Source: The Star

Jasni added that the use of handphones among school students would also bring about extra costs and lead to a wastage of time and resources.

Do you think gadgets like smartphones and tablets should be allowed in the classroom? Do you think they help or hinder a student’s learning and development process? Let us know in the comments! 

Also read: Primary School Installs CCTVs in Classrooms for Parents to Monitor Their Children