TECHNOLOGY NOT A REPLACEMENT BUT A COMPLEMENT IN SCHOOLS
In this modern society, technology has made its way into many industries, including education. While it has changed some industries drastically, technology can never be a substitute for teachers.
Imparting values to students in a personalised way
School is not just a place for academic knowledge, it is also a place for personal development and growth. Principals and teachers are the role models in school. Their actions and the way core values are enforced in the classroom will have an effect on students.
Teachers are capable of identifying the individual needs of their students. They are then able to encourage each individual student in a personalised way, instilling values needed for that particular student. This is something technology is unable to do.
Technology as an assistant in schools
Being a small and densely populated country, Singapore does not require technology to takeover schools completely. This is in comparison to bigger countries where their population are scattered all around the land, especially in villages, and their teaching resources are scarce.
The Singapore’s Education Ministry (MOE) has since rolled out an online learning platform, the Student Learning Space (SLS), to all schools in 2018. While this platform allows for videos, games and quizzes to make learning engaging, teachers are still needed to customise the learning materials in this platform and to provide feedback to students. Teachers also need to facilitate classroom discussions after using this platform.
Teachers still play a very important and relevant role in student’s learning and growth. On the other hand, technology will continue to serve as an enhancement to student’s learning and to aid teachers in customising to both the students’ and their own needs more effectively. Even as technology advances, it will continue to be a better assistant in schools and not a replacement.