Technology Reduces Creativity in Students - Essay Example

Technology Reduces Creativity in Technology Reduces Creativity (Outline) Topic: Technology reduces creativity in students General purpose: To argue Specific purpose: to argue that technology reduces the level of creativity in students Thesis statement: Technology reduces students’ levels of creativity since: (1) it reduces critical thinking and self-regulation; (2) it takes away first hand experiences and play time from students; (3) reduces handwritten task confidence Introduction i. (Attention getter) Look back to your kindergarten up to sixth grade school days a. Were you a fan of technological inventions such as ipads, computer games and smartphones? b. What if these forms of technology led to a reduction in your levels of creativity? ii. (Topic justification/establish controversy). For the first time, researchers who have analyzed children’s creativity for the past 50 years have noticed a significant reduction in their creativity (Bjorklund & Pellegrini, 2000). a. Parents and teachers alike are searching for materials or activities that lead to the brain development and learning of children b. Some parents and teachers argue that the use of technology both at home and at school is the only viable way to enhance children’s creativity, thus, they ignore the negative side of technology c. However, some researchers argue that technology reduces children/students’ levels of creativity. I also subscribe to this argument. iii. (Speaker credibility) the use of technology has made me to become poor in certain things which I wouldn’t have if I had stopped relying on technology. a. Technology has made me to rely heavily on calculators for calculations. As such, I am very poor in overhead calculations b. Technology deprived me off vital playtime iv. (Preview of main ideas) technology reduces creativity in children and students in three critical ways a. First, technology reduces a child’s ability to think critically since he/she finds information over the internet easily. b. Secondly, technology reduces a child’s play time hence taking away his/her first hand experiences c. Thirdly, technology leads to a reduction in a child or student’s confidence in doing handwritten tasks. Transition: in light of this, it is evident that technology reduces a child’s level of creativity. Lets commence with the strongest argument which supports the claim that technology is detrimental to a child’s creativity as outlined above. Body i. (Constructive argument) the use of technology on a continuous basis leads to a reduction in the critical thinking aspect of a child. a. Easy access of information through the use of technology lowers critical thinking 1. It is very easy and simple now days to write about an idea unlike in the past where the idea had to be thoughtful. Today, a student or child undertaking a creative writing task will look for an idea, search it online and then read the relevant articles before writing his own. This reduces the thoughtful process (Noddings, 2013). 2. Batten & Russell (1995) stated that the use of technology elements such as spell checkers and grammar checkers has made students to be scared of performing handwritten tasks since these tools are absent to correct or check their mistakes. Thus, students or children who have developed this dependency will be reluctant to use a pen since they will are scared or afraid of failing. Transition: The use of technology should be minimized since it leads to poor development of critical thinking skills and low confidence in handwritten tasks among students and children. Further, there is another significant reason as to how technology reduces creativity among children and students. ii. (Second constructive argument) technology reduces children’s play time hence limiting their creativity a. First, by spending time indoors playing computer or tv games, technology deprives them off their playing time 1. Students need to be engaged first hand for them to learn properly. This can only be achieved through physical activities such as playing (Valkenburg, 2001). 2. Playing enables children’s braid brains to develop properly. Lack of play and the use of technology reduce brain development. This limits the ability of a child since poorly developed brains are less efficient when it comes to creativity (Ginsburg, 2007) Transition: The computer and tv games children play only act as a representation of real world events. On the contrary, there are others who support the use of technology by students or children ii. (refutative argument) a. the use of games and digital story telling tools enhances creativity in students and children 1. Educational games ignite student’s imagination and interaction elements leading to creativity (Annetta & Park, 2006). 2. Digital storytelling tools represent a great way of telling children stories. These tools enable students to create their own stories (Annetta & Park, 2006). b. audio and video tools are very significant in arousing the creativity of children and students 1. Teachers can use video tools to teach students in class. Also, students can share their own videos. This will encourage the development of their creative skills (Annetta & Park, 2006) 2. According to Annetta & Park (2006) audio tools are very vital in enhancing student/children creativity. Students or children can record their discussions and then share them to their friends. c. (impact statement) Although technology is vital for enhancing learning and creativity in children or students, its draw backs outweigh its benefits. Children and students need to get first hand engagement through play and interactions with real people or things. First hand interactions stimulate brain development and learning leading to an improvement in creativity. Transition: Children should minimize the use of technology since it tend s to reduce their creativity. Rather, they should interact more with people in addition to playing. Below is a conclusion of the essay. Conclusion i. (Restatement/ summary of main ideas) in summary, I have analyzed three primary or main reasons as to how technology reduces creativity in children or students. a. First, technology reduces a child’s ability to think critically since he/she finds information over the internet easily. b. Secondly, technology reduces a child’s play time hence taking away his/her first hand experiences c. Thirdly, technology leads to a reduction in a child or student’s confidence in doing handwritten tasks. ii. Closing statement. Parents and teachers should minimize or regulate the time children and students interact with technology. Instead, they should encourage children to play more. As the old cliché goes’ work and no play makes jack a dull boy’ Speech I am (INSERT NAME) and my speech is going to focus on the impact of technology on a child or student’s creativity. To begin with, we all know too well that change is an inevitable concept that is experienced by the global community. One of the major changes in the society is the advent and massive improvements in technology. As it is today, human beings are using modern technologies in their homes, industries, schools, churches, theatres, and basically everywhere they are at any given time. This has been prompted by the invention of mobile phones, iPads, tablets, laptops, computers and a wide range of software used in entertainment, communication and managing information. These technologies have been fully embraced by people who use them to make life cheaper, efficient, faster and complete. Despite these advantages, technology leads to the loss of creativity in people. Both at home and school, children and students use most of their time by interacting with these technological inventions. A recent study or research carried out over a 50 year period found out that for the first time, there is a significant decrease of creativity in children or students. Thus, technology reduces students’ levels of creativity since it leads to a reduction in critical thinking and self-regulation in addition to taking away first hand experiences and play time of students and children. Moreover, it reduces student’s confidence in doing handwritten tasks. I think most students and children of our generation have had a vast interaction with technological devices such as smartphones, computer games or movies since kindergarten. What if I tell you that research has proved that these technological devices have a negative impact on a child/ student’s creativity? From a personal point of view or experience, I can relate to these findings. For instance, my overreliance on calculation tools such as the calculator has made me to be very poor in doing overhead calculations. In fact, I find it difficult to add up numbers or do basic calculations without the help of the calculator. Additionally, I used to spend most of my time playing computer games at home. Therefore, I neglected playing real world games or interacting with real people. As a result, my social skills or communication skills with other people were wanting from kindergarten to sixth grade. This is are some of the many instances that technology has had a negative and long lasting impact on me. As stated earlier, technology contributes greatly to a reduction in the critical thinking skills of a child or student if it is used on a continuous basis (if it is overused). A balance has to be created to ensure this does not happen. Parents and teachers should allocate or minimize the time children or students spend with their computer games, phones or other technological devices. Since students easily access information through the internet, they do not have to think for themselves. Instead they just Google or search the web and use the information found there. Without the internet, students and children have to critically think and figure out answers themselves for the relevant situations. This would stimulate the critical thinking part of the brain leading to creativity. For example, when a student wants to write an article or about a certain topic, all he/she has to do is search for related articles online or information related to the topic and then compose his/her idea based on the information got from the internet. Hence, the idea in most times is not original. By easily accessing information online, students become lazy and they subsequently lose their thinking independence. They cannot figure out issues by themselves without the help of the internet. Thus reduces their creativity. Further, continuous use of technology makes students and children to be scared of undertaking handwritten tasks. Students use technological inventions such as grammar checkers and spell checkers to correct their mistakes. Without the use of these softwares, students and children’s confidence in successfully doing handwritten tasks reduces simply because they do not know the spelling of most words. the spell and grammar checkers suggests words to students or automatically corrects wrongly spelt words. Hence, a student does not take the initiative to learn the proper spelling of most of these words. Another vital point where technology reduces creativity is by reducing the paly time of students and children. Play time is a significant aspect of a child’s life since it helps in brain development and learning. Children now days spend a lot of their time indoors in front of their computers and tv screens. By doing this, they do not go out to play. Although there are various games children can play on their computers and online, this is not as beneficial as going out to play physically. For students and children to learn properly, they have to undertake activities that engage their brains and give them first hand experiences. It is only physical activities which can provide this experiences and not online or computer games. So, children and students need to physically play to ensure their brains develop efficiently. A developed brain is more efficient when it comes to creativity than a poorly developed brain. On the other hand, there are those who argue that technology enhances creativity in children and students. They support their argument by saying that the use of digital story telling tools and games enhances creativity in children and students. Educational games and digital story telling tools ignite imagination in the brains of students and children leading to improved levels of creativity. Additionally, there are audio and video tools which students and teachers can use to arouse creativity. These tools can be used both at home and in class. Students can use these tools to record discussions and then share them to others. These will make discussions easier leading to enhanced creativity and learning. Nevertheless, although technology can be used to enhance creativity in students in some instances as argued above by the proponents of technology, its setbacks outweigh its benefits. Technology mostly reduces a child’s interaction with the outside world. As we all know, play is an integral part of a child’s life and development. By reducing playtime, children will develop poorly. Also, they will miss on the first hand experiences that tend to shape their lives. first hand experiences through play stimulates a child both psychologically and emotionally leading to good development. This translates to better critical thinking and creativity in children. In conclusion, technology reduces a child’s or student’s creativity by minimizing his/her critical thinking skills, reducing their playtime and reducing their confidence in doing handwritten tasks. I do not argue that technology should be completely banned from children’s lives; rather, there should be a balance between the time children spend in using technology and interacting with real life events. Thus, parents and teachers should encourage children to play more and avoid the use of technology so as to enhance creativity. References Annetta, L., & Park, J. (2006, March). Video games in science: A model for students and teachers creating 3D role playing games. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (Vol. 2006, No. 1, pp. 3950-3956). Batten, M., & Russell, J. (1995). Students at risk: A review of Australian literature 1980-1994. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research. Bjorklund, D. F., & Pellegrini, A. D. (2000). Child development and evolutionary psychology. Child development, 1687-1708. Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191. Noddings, N. (2013). Standardized curriculum and loss of creativity. Theory into practice, 52(3), 210-215. Valkenburg, P. M. (2001). Television and the childs developing imagination. Handbook of children and the media, 121-134. Read More