It is no longer news
that the world has become a global village where everything is now at our
fingertips. More importantly, mobile
phones and other similar gadgets can be seen as either a blessing or a curse to
the education sector. Whichever one chooses certainly makes a direct impact on
one. Edu-Focus in this edition will be looking at the pros and cons and
possible measures to check any foreseen danger which these gadgets pose to the
education sector in our country.
The good
The invention of mobile
phones and other mobile gadgets has primarily enhanced communication for man in
our world today. Beyond that, it is has also made learning easy and convenient
for all and at all level. With the aid of internet facilities one would want to
wonder if there is anything on earth that is still hidden or perhaps cannot be tapped.
Every mobile gadget and mobile phone gives one the opportunity to stay ahead
with the trend in the society as well as with activities in school at one’s
comfort. Although sometimes there can be misleading information on the internet
which will require one’s discerning mind to recognize, there are however
endless relevant information that comes in handy for our specific purpose at
any particular time. And coming to other features that come with some mobile
phone and gadget such as radio, television and instant messaging applications
(Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc), these, you would agree, have further
aided learning, interaction and communication all on the go. Every stake holder
in the education sector would also agree to the fact that he/she at one point
in time or the other has learnt or benefitted from these devices. The endless
list of benefits however leads us to some of the bad which is really a big
concern for all.
The Bad
As much as we resonate the laudable things
mobile phones and other communication gadgets have done to our education
system, this great invention has been observed to be bastardised by most users,
especially students. Some of these negative uses can be traced to the unexplainable
addiction to the gadgets today. One then begins to remember that we actually
lived and learned without these mobile phones in the past. It is also
undeniable fact that these gadgets are guilty of inducing laziness amongst students and even teachers, who, instead of
sourcing for hard copy materials relevant for studies, would settle for
unbalanced soft copies extracted on the internet through the mobile gadget. An instance
that aches the heart of parents and school administrators in particular is the
use of mobile phones in classrooms; this is simply unthinkable as the students
will certainly be distracted during lectures. Rather than focus on their
studies, they are always engrossed, chatting with friends, surfing on the
internet or perhaps listening to music or radio, all of which are irrelevant at
that moment. That is just a few of the
growing mannerisms that have misled many today. The decline of standard in the
educational sector can be traced to one of the world’s greatest inventions, i.e.
Mobile phone, and other communication gadgets. Let us take a look at the ugly
side of mobile phone to our education sector.
The ugly
This is the moment we
will take time to reflect on the harm the invention of the gadget has done to
the educational system, and perhaps carefully weigh the benefits as well as the
cost of mobile phone invention. It may
however interest you to know that the invention of this mobile gadgets is
responsible for the increase in examination malpractice in our education sector
which in turn has rubbed off on the product that comes out today in terms of
human resource. In truth, this ungodly act of examination malpractice is always
carried out with the aid of mobile phones. This has been the case with JAMB, JSCE
and SSCE and all other external examinations. Many also have found themselves
in wrong associations with people they barely know through social interactive
platform. This had led to peer influence which
resulted in teenage pregnancy for the young girls, cyber crime or other form of illicit and
unimaginable acts for the boys.
Here
are some straight pointers to what is expected of all:
A strict rule must be
laid down by the school preventing students from bringing phones to school.
Parents on their part
should not sabotage this by ensuring that phones are not given to their
children until perhaps they get to the right age when they will be responsible
and accountable for some of their actions.
For the students, it is
advised that phones should be used at home only. When they often have access to
mobile gadgets, it should be a time to source for information that will make
them better academically rather than engage in needless and harmful
conversations or surfing.
On a final note, no
matter how much we weigh or examine the effect of mobile phone to the educational
sector, one thing is certain: that is, our individual and collective
responsibility to see to it that this great invention to mankind is in proper
use not to damage our future but to help shape it.
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