MODULE 2

Technology: Boon or Bane?

“Technology is in our hands. We can use it to build or destroy.”

Focus Question:

Is technology a boon or bane?

Answer:

Excess of anything leads to destruction. Nowadays technology has become an integral part of
our everyday lives. We are in ERA where we do not need to move physically to get most of our
work done, because technology can help us to accomplish our task in less amount of time.

Technology is BOON in terms of their own benefits they give us, portability to a lot of
information which in return boosts our knowledge but still there are two sides of the same coin.
Technology is BANE when not used properly, it can lead to heavy time destruction when we
didn’t used it properly. It can lose our social skills, creative minds and ability to interact to our
peers.

So… it is BOON as long as it is our slave, but when it become our master, it’s become a
BANE.

INTRODUCTION

After understanding what educational technology is all about, it may be good to reflect on
whether this thing called technology is a boon or a bane to education, a blessing or a curse to
education.

ACTIVITY

Read the paragraphs given below and analyse the message of the comic strips/photograph
given below, and then come together in small groups to discuss your answers to the question: Is
technology a boon or bane? Stated more simply is it a blessing or a curse? A blessing or a
detriment to a person’s development?

A. Barely a month ago, I gave a tele-address from Malacanang to the site of the 4 th National
Convention of Philippine Government Organizations for Information Technology (GO-
IT). The convention was held in Tacloban, Leyte, an Island in southern Philippines
several hundred kilometres from Manila. My rather heavy work schedule prevented me
from being present at the convention, but as a firm believer and a true disciple of true

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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technology as a management tool. I made that tele-address. I spoke with participants

over the airwaves and truly felt that the quality of my interaction with them was no less
meaningful and rewarding than if it had occurred in “real time” and “real place”. I had
saved valuable time, and as a result, I was able to do more for the day. Just as
importantly, my audience and I accomplished something valuable together.

... Technology can be fascinating and mind-boggling in what it can do. It can
bring distant places and people together, establishing invisible but powerful connections.
It can transform societies, economies and cultures by opening them up to other ideas and
other options, raising new expectations and creating new needs. It can release and
rechanneled previously unknown or wasted energies into more productive endeavours,
allowing its users to pursue more creative goals.

But the fact remains that unless technology and all other agents and factors of
modernization are invested with human values and used for the social good, then they
will be a little more than expensive toys for the amusement of a few.

… For one thing, the pervasiveness of technology has created learning

environment we never imagined from a few decades ago. Learning has no more
geographic boundaries. It is no longer confined to the school campus.

The learner now acquires knowledge anywhere, anytime in the home, in

workplaces, in recreation areas, in the streets, the learner has become his or her own
investigation seeking knowledge acquisition. These choices include the choice of place
and time where to access and receive instruction, the choice of learning styles, and the
choice of channels and delivery systems through which learners gain knowledge.

The learner today, theoretically at least has countless choices; and the teacher
must be there to help the learner choose wisely….

(Excerpt from the speech delivered by His Excellency President Fidel V. Ramos
on the 6th SEAMEO INNOTECH International Conference in Manila, Philippines on
November 11-13, 1997.)

Answer:

Technology is a blessings for a everyone because there are many ways that we
can do and many things we can’t do without technology.

B. Below the reactions to the question “Do instant messaging, e-mail, cell phones and
gadgetry bring family members closer or drive them apart?”

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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“Using a lot of high-tech gear to communicate at home is a poor proxy for face-
to-face communication and sees omnipresent technological ties as threatening to
intimacy.” B,L.

… Typing to each other instead of talking to each other can only lead to problems
down the road, such as teens using e-mail to deceive parents about their activities.”

“My wife and I talk more throughout the day because of instant messaging. My
communication with far-flung relatives is very much enriched by it.” R.K.

“I thought our marital relationship would suffer when I left my wife for a
consultancy job abroad for eighteen months. E-mail missives made us more aware, more
accepting, and more communicative.” M.C.P.

“How can computerized communication, in place of face-to-face family

communication and hugs, deepen dialogue?” T. H. Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article/cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/20)

ANSWER:

Technology when not used properly, becomes a affliction to learning and

development in education

ABSTRACTION
Technology is a blessing for man. With technology, there is a lot that we can do which
we could not do then. With cell phones, webcam, you will be closer to someone miles and miles
away. So far yet close! That is your feeling when you talk through a cell phone to a beloved who
is far away from home. Just think of the many human lives saved because of speedy notifications
via cell phones. Just think of how your teaching and learning have become more novel,
stimulating, exciting and engaging with the use of multimedia in the classroom. With your tv,
you can watch events as they happen all over the globe. President Ramos had a lively interaction
with his audience in Tacloban in his tele-address without disrupting his work schedule in Manila,
etc, etc.

However, when not used properly, technology becomes a detriment to learning and
development. It can destroy relationships. Think of the husband who is glued to tv unmindful of
his wife seeking his attention. This may eventually erode marital relationship. Think of the
student who surfs the internet for pornographic scenes. He will have trouble with his
development. The abuse and misuse of the Internet will have far reaching unfavourable effects
on his moral life. The teacher who schedules class tv viewing for the whole hour to free herself

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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from one-hour teaching and so can engage in “tsismis”, likewise will not benefit from
technology. Neither will her class truly benefit from the whole period of tv viewing.

In education, technology is bane when:

 The learner is made to accept as Gospel truth information they get from the
Internet
 The learner surfs the Internet for pornography
 The learner has an uncritical mind on images floating on televisions and
computers that represent modernity and progress
 The tv makes the learner a mere spectator not an active participant in the drama of
life
 The learner gets glued to his computer for computer-assisted instruction
unmindful of the world and so fails to develop the ability to relate to others
 We make use of the Internet to do character assassination of people whom we
hardly like
 Because of our cell phone, we spend most of our time in the classroom or in our
workplace texting
 We use overuse and abuse tv or film viewing as a strategy to kill time.

Let’s go back to the question ask in the beginning of this lesson. Is technology boon or
bane to education? It depends on how we use technology. If we use it to help our students and
teachers become caring, relating, thinking, reflecting and analysing and feeling beings, then it is
a boon, a blessing. But if we abuse and misuse it and so contribute to our ruin and downfall and
those of other person, it becomes a bane or a curse.

APPLICATION
A. Come up with your own listing on how technology can be a blessing or a curse to
mankind. Feel free to give examples drawn from life, not only from inside the
classroom. Use the table provided for you.

Technology as Boon Technology as Bane

1. With cell phones we can be closer to 1. the internet for pornography, used
someone million miles away. LDR works. internet for playing online games
2. Teaching and learning can be more regularly.
exciting with the use of multimedia. 2. Because of our cell phones we spend
3. With TV, we can watch any events most of our time texting and browsing.
happening all over the world. 3. We overuse TV that kills our time.

B. Each group must get a question and together must explain its meaning.

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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1. “Technology or perish.”- John R. Pierce

Answer:
- in technology we can new things and make our life easier, we can explore
things that would make us progress.

2. “All our technological progress, our very civilization, is like the axe in the hand of the
pathological criminal.”- Albert Einstein

Answer:
- doing the right thing at the right time for the right cause develops the society,
but sometimes things are done to destroy the same. For example, criminal mind can
carry out their evil intensions using technology like axe in their hands, it help them to
create their paths or ways for their plans. Meaning technology is not only for the good
things but it can be used in bad things.

3. “If there is a technological advance without social advance, there is, almost
automatically, an increase in human misery.”- Michael Harrington

Answer:
- when we didn’t use technology in proper way, there will be no progress. We
must know how to use the technology in most efficient ways.

C. Can technology take the place of the teacher in the classroom? Discuss in your small
group.

Answer:
No!, The mere fact that technology can contribute to the improvement of the
teaching and learning process but it cannot replace the teacher in the classroom
because technology is made for the teacher, meaning technology made to serve a
human or people in all aspects of life including instructions, the teacher will
determine how technology should be use in order to obtain the maximum benefits of
the technology.
“Technology will never replace great TEACHERS, but in the hands of great
TEACHERS, it’s transformational”. – George Couros

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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D. You are a school head. For technology to serve its ultimate purpose of improved
learning, you involve your faculty in the formulation of guidelines on the use of
technology in the classroom. Simulate a faculty meeting and come up with written
guidelines then pass to your professor.

Answer:

GUIDELINES ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM:

1. NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING WITHOUT TEACHER PERMISSION.

2. ONLY VISIT APPROVED INTERNET SITES TO AVOID THE VIRUS.
3. NEVER LEAVE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
4. ASK PERMISSION IF YOU WANT TO PRINT.
5. GAMES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CLASSROOM.
6. LEAVE YOUR WORKSPACE AS YOU FOUND IT.

Technology contributes much to the improvement of the teaching-learning process and to

the humanization of life. It is indeed a blessing. But when not used properly, it becomes a
detriment to instruction and human progress and development.

Technology is made for man and not man for technology. Technology is made for the
teacher and not the teacher for technology. This means that technology is meant to serve man in
all aspects of life including instruction. It is man, and in the context of the classroom, the teacher,
who determines how technology ought to be used in order to reap the maximum benefits that
come along with technology.

The integration of technology in the instructional process must be geared towards:

 Interactive and meaningful learning

 The development of creative and critical thinking
 He development and nurturing of teamwork
 Efficient and effective teaching

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1
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MAKING THE CONNECTION

Recall computer applications that you learned from your basic computer courses. How
are you applying them now in your studies? Do an act of service. Find out how your computer
applications can help a teacher who is not yet computer literate. She may be your mother or sister
or friend.

Answer:

I remember when I was in high school we have computer subject, in that subject I learn
about Operating system, understanding the word processing, using spreadsheet and about the
web browser. Computer applications can help the teacher by simply knowing the use of
computer applications. It’s a big help to the teachers to know the use of computer because it
could be easier for the educator to present or demonstrate the lessons, it can be use to compute or
record the students grades, calculate average. Etc..

Postscripts- Thank God for the gift of new technology!

I recall at this point how I came up with the final manuscript of both my Master’s thesis
and doctoral dissertation. Computers were a rarity then so I had to type the final copy of my
thesis and dissertation. In my haste, many times I would not notice I would be typing beyond the
margin or would commit typographical errors. To remedy, I had to repeat typing the page again.
There was no other recourse.

Now with the computer, I may commit as many typographical errors as I can and I have
not to re-do the whole thing again. How convenient! What a liberation!

DR. EPIFANIO P. SAN GASPAR JR., LPT. SIENA COLLEGE TIGAON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1