Keep the focus on schools, not on tablets

Education of high quality has become a main priority in many countries. There is a great focus on how students could learn most efficiently. Technological devices play an important role in this development. Whiteboards and classroom projectors are already often used by schools to enrich learning. Nowadays, more and more schools consider using tablets instead of textbooks. However, the problem is that tablets cannot fully replace textbooks.

At first, the use of tablets are linked with health problems. This seems to be one of the biggest problems, tablets cause. At least seven hours a day will be spent behind a technological device when books are replaced by tablets. American studies conclude, that spending more than two hours a day behind a screen can be harmful.(Makosa, 2013) Digital eye fatigue and mainly myopia, an eyesight deviation, can be the outcome of this intensive activity. In addition, eye deviation can be linked to dry eyes, headaches, blurry sight and the less concentration (Polman, 2018). Besides myopia, psychological problems can also be seen as a result of using technical devices extensively. As it is pointed out, the biological rhythm can be disturbed by the blue light. Due to the blue light, the amount of melatonin decreases. The level of melatonin regulates the ability to fall asleep(Makosa, 2013). The effect of the insignificant amount of sleep can expand into dizziness, memory loss, anxiety and even depression (Polman, 2018). Hence, tablets should not replace textbooks in educational environments.

Besides health issues, another problem that occurs with tablets replacing books, is the loss of concentration. Studies on ‘How Teens Do Research In The Digital World’, show that 87% of the pupils encounter distraction and are less concentrated. (K. Purcell, november 1, 2012)    As claimed, 90% of the students choose a printed version of books instead of tablets. W. Gogolek, this is because of the ‘book effect’. While reading from paper books, student memory is trained and student are able to recall phrases, words and chunks quickly. Thus, reading comprehension is more effective with books. Additionally, the lack of concentration is also caused by distractions on tablets. Tablets not only provide educational software, but also social media, games, videos and advertisements. Students could get easily distracted  through these entertainment apps.

Thirdly, tablets and technological devices need high qualified employees who are familiar with hardware and software problems. Before tablets can be fully introduced in educational institutions, teachers should be trained and informed about how tablets work, as well as how new methods have to work properly. This process is not only considerable time-consuming, but above all very expensive. To give an example, tablets are not only costly but also maintenance costs increase when tablets crash, freeze or get hacked. This requires technicians to repair the technological devices.

Overall, tablets cannot fully replace books, as has been mentioned previously, the costs of providing technical education are expensive and the additional costs are underestimated. Besides that, the overuse of tablets have also negative effects on human beings’ health and student get inattentive during classes. Overall it is inevitable to prevent the influence of tablets inside educational institutions, but it is important to maintain the old-fashioned way of working with textbooks.

Bibliography

Makosa, P. (2013, oktober). Advantages and disadvantages of digital education. Geraadpleegd op 13 maart 2019, van https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264419797_Advantages_and_disadvantages_of_digital_education

Polman, P. (2018, 24 augustus). Wat is blauw licht en waarom kan blauw licht schadelijk zijn? Geraadpleegd op 13 maart 2019, van https://www.slaapinfo.nl/weetjes/blauw-licht-waarom-schadelijk/