Digitalization in Academics: It's Draining Me

I was tutoring my younger son, making him read a chapter in his English text book and answering certain related questions. He was performing the task quite smoothly. The text appeared pretty easy to me, just apt for his class 2.

I wondered if the text book had changed from what it was three years ago, because I remembered the time when my elder son was in class 2, both of us faced a lot of hardships to make him learn his lessons.

I examined the chapter more carefully and realized that the lesson was exactly the same my elder son had in his course. However, there was a fundamental difference between the learning resources of the two times.

It was the time of Covid when the elder one was in class 2. The books were not available in printed forms and we were compelled to study from digital images. The inavailabity of printed books and other learning material made reading, writing, understanding and remembering a tedious task.

Later, when the covid restrictions were removed and school turned to normal, the school still used digital resources for learning material. The worksheets and homework assignments were shared on WhatsApp group.

Reading long comprehension passages from the worksheet and marking the answers of the given questions became frustrating. For reading the text on the mobile screen we had to zoom out the image which often changed it shapes after a slight touch. A lot of our precious time used to waste catching up again and again where we were.

At times, we havework from two different documents simultaneously. Juggling between the files consumes a lot of my mental strength and I feel drained.

Additionally, as both of my sons have been studying, I often have to juggle between the two WhatsApp groups. When one group is opened, the other is closed. It exasperates me looking for the relevant group and then digging the required message.

Besides, we all know, mobile phones contain a lot of distractions which steal our attention and devoid us of our learning abilities, causing greater stress, fatigue and exhaustion.

The use of homework diaries in the school has almost disappeared. The assignments are shared via the WhatsApp group every day. The diary in black and white helped maintaining proper record of the to-do work; if some work was missed it could easily be traced back or be marked for later access. On the other hand, tracking an assignment back in the WhatsApp group is cumbersome. The group is a clutter of several notifications and messages other than the homework diary.

I have displayed my concerns multiple times to school administration about they are of the idea that this digitalization is creating more ease. To whom? I don’t really know.

As the new academic session began, the use of digital media has expanded further. Now the teachers are sharing pdf of complete chapter on the group. The pupils are required to copy down the stuff in their notebooks. The situation is extremely annoying.

Firstly, my son has weakened eye sight. The doctor has prohibited him to use mobile screen. So copying material from pdf files is dangerous for his eyes. He feels itchiness in the eyes only after a short time of screen consumption.

Additionally, I get stuck when my mobile is booked with him. I cannot use it for my work or he is distracted. For instance, I needed to look up the meaning of a word for my younger son's assignment while my elder son was doing his homework from the device. I had to ask him for the mobile causing him distraction.

I really feel exhausted because of this unnecessary and counter productive integration of technology in the academic system. The annoyance caused during the tutoring time extends to my other activities as well. The tiredness effects my productivity in general.

I feel anxious about where the things will go as the time progresses. How I would manage the workload for both of my sons if the school kept up with their current methodology.

Some of us might be thinking that I am inflating the situations as a old school. Nevertheless, I believe my concerns and experiences are real.

Reading the case study of Sweden’s education system strengthened my belief. After 15 years of replacing printed books with technology, they experienced deteriorating affects of their intervention, and now have allocated 104 million euros to reverse the system.

As the technology is progressing, it is crucial to adopt the new tech and make the most of it. However, we need to be prudent and mindful about the usage. It is never healthy to be swayed by the waves of trends without weighing the long term implications. A balanced approach, considering both convenience and effectiveness is essential. Most importantly, the concerns raised by the parents like mine, must not be brushed aside. It must be ensured that the technology enhances but not hinders the learning experiences.

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This post is my participation for Hl-featured contest week 163 edition 2.

The image is created by me using prompt on Meta AI.