Debate Topic #3 – Schools should no longer teach skills that can be easily carried out by technology (e.g., cursive writing, multiplication tables, spelling). Agree or Disagree?
First off, both sides of this debate did a great job presenting their arguments through their videos, fielding questions during the debate and during their rebuttals. Many kudos to you all. There was passion and poise shown from both sides. Prior to the debate, I was leaning slightly towards the disagree side on this topic, as I do teach cursive writing and I do have my students learn multiplication tables. Alyssa, Kelly and Durston brought forth persuasive arguments here. However, Sushmeet and Leah also brought forth some great reasons to ditch the cursive writing and rote memorization of math facts.
Now that I have had some time to digest the information, let’s have a look at the arguments…
Agree
1. We rely on technology because it is convenient and makes our life easier. Education needs to adapt to this emergence.
In their intro video, Sushmeet and Leah provided the results of their class poll. They asked a series of questions related to technology use. Every respondent stated that they use technology on a daily basis. And over ninety percent stated that they use their calculator on their phone to calculate rather than calculate orally. Despite this being a small sample size and a quick classroom poll, the results were quite compelling. Check out some of the other questions and results here.
In the TedTalk by David Middlebeck, David explains that while working in the technology industry, he recognized a need for change… change in education. He states that technology is racing ahead and evolving at a rapid pace, and education isn’t keeping up. He believes that a combination of blended learning, personalized learning and community will help students learn for the future.
As societies evolve and adapt, so education systems and approaches also need to change and adapt. We can see this happening around us; as industry and work changes, as farms become increasingly mechanised, as robots take over the mundane, dangerous and repetitive tasks, as gadgets provide connectivity to artificial intelligence.
Mason et. al. (2019)
Education needs to adapt and continue to improve, and technology is going to play a central role in the future of education, just as it has proven to be present in our society.
2. Remove menial tasks… spend your time on more meaningful tasks
I am reminded of the personal life of Steve Jobs. As the leader of one of the world’s most successful companies, Steve reportedly embraced a sort of minimalism in his life. He wore the same turtlenecks and jeans each day rather than having a large wardrobe to choose from. By keeping these menial decisions easy he could concentrate and focus on the plethora of other decisions he would have to make and the tasks he would have to complete. Personally, I believe this could be beneficial to students. If we limit the amount of energy they need to spend on certain tasks, this could lead to a rise in higher order thinking on Bloom’s Taxonomy – like evaluating and creating. Could this lead to more creativity and critical thinking in our classrooms? Possibly. Insert “Genius Hour” and “Passion Projects…”
3. Assistive Tech
Technology in the classroom can help students who have learning challenges. In last weeks post, I listed some of the ways technology assists students in education by providing tools to focus on student-centered learning. I also noted the ways technology creates inequities within our society. We learn in the article, Shifting Pedagogies and Digital Technologies Shaping Futures in Education, teachers should be aware of the benefits and dangers as technology trends emerge but have a willingness to explore the innovations.
Disagree
As I mentioned earlier, the disagree side focused on reasons why it is important to teach skills that some consider are outdated, like grammar and spelling, multiplication facts and cursive writing. Some of the reasons we should still focus on these skills include:
1. These are skills that are still required in the workforce today.
Skills like spelling and grammar, as well as reading and writing cursive are still important, and several professions require these skills, like Nicole W. mentioned during the debate. As a nursing educator, she mentioned that nurses need to quickly use these skills, often in high-pressure situations in acute care settings. For example, the ability to read cursive may be needed to read medical notes, prescriptions and even personal notes. In addition, Kelly noted that her partner requires sharp mental math skills as an electrician in order to stay safe in dangerous situations. Lastly, some print literature is still printed in cursive as entire books, excerpts, historical notes etc. It is important for students to at least be able to read handwriting.
Technology may slowly be affecting a decline in cursive handwriting, but in the article What We Lose With the Decline of Cursive, Tom Berger notes that cursive improves “students’ composition, reading comprehension, brain function, and motor skills and that students who take notes by hand instead of on a laptop process the information better.” Personally, I prefer to take notes by hand instead of on a laptop, when I need to take notes. I process the information better and I retain it better. I want to mention that I am not a proponent of note-taking. It does not lead to critical and creative thinking. That being said, there is a time and place for taking a few notes to jog your memory and to get started on projects. Like everything else, we need to have a balance in teaching and learning.
2. We can’t rely on technology.
How many times has technology failed you in your professional work? I’m willing to bet, at least a few times. Computers like to “act up,” power sources fail us, connections become lost, or even “user errors” get in the way of being productive. As teachers, we plan for the unexpected and we pivot on the fly, but that isn’t always possible. In the case of Regina Public Schools the past few weeks, a major network breach has caused disruptions for teachers and students. This proves that we should still be teaching skills that allow us to work WITHOUT technology.
3. Societal inequities will continue to impact the disadvantaged
Technology privileges people who have access to it and as such, a digital divide is created where students without access to devices and assistive technologies fall further behind. In my blog post last week, I mentioned my non-verbal niece who uses a tablet to communicate. She is privileged to have the financial resources to access her device, as many kiddos who need assistive technology do not have funding and supports. Furthermore, we need to teach our students basic math and literacy skills, so they can use those skills to gain employment, calculate unit prices at the grocery store and even understand budget and financial literacies.
Final Thoughts
In the end, I feel that teaching to the individual learner is most important. If a learner struggles with their multiplication tables, then sure, let’s teach them to use a calculator if that will eliminate any barriers they have to learning. If you struggle with spelling, let’s use spell check or an online dictionary to look up that word. I do still believe that students should be taught basic mathematical and language skills because we all know that spell check may not catch a word used in the wrong context.
Share your thoughts on an interesting idea from this topic…
- Would you ditch the menial task of choosing an outfit each day and embrace a simple wardrobe if it meant you were more creative and productive?
- Do you do something similar to help make your life easier?
Thank you for sharing this useful information!
Although technology has undoubtedly made our lives easier and more easy in today’s world, we must not overlook classic teaching methods such as cursive writing, multiplication tables, and spellings. Students should be expected to have basic skills in order to teach them mathematics ideas. Learning to write in cursive, I feel, provides you some fixed formulas for forming and connecting letters, as well as a much better possibility of your writing being legible, even to yourself!
Great summary! To be honest, I am not sure how to answer either of your prompting questions. I am big on balance between basic skills and technology. I think they both have very important roles to play in the classroom and in setting kiddos up for their futures. If students are not picking up basic skills, then not only do we need to teach them in a different way, but maybe we also need to pursue other forms of testing and such to see how they learn, and if there is something else in the way of them being successful. Basic skills do not mean what they once did, and teachers can definitely make them more fun.