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Demetri Alexander-Lukas

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Debate: Should students rely on technology for their homework?

Today, students use ipods, ipads, phones, laptops, and different tablets to use the internet to help them with their homework. Don't know a word? Google it. Don't know the answer to this math problem? Use a calculator. And so on. Does this make sense?

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Topics: education technology
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    Luis Javier Salvador 30+

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    Nov 6 2012: They should because that way they can learn the useful skill of looking for information. No one can aspire to know it all, so we should all know where and how to look for the information we require. We could apply here the old saying "what matters is not how good you are, but who you know". In this case, we could substitute "what resources you have" for "who you know". I'm not saying students shouldn't learn new things by heart, but I'm sure that in the future, at least in some fields, it will be more important to know how to find some particular information on the Internet than to know 99% of the facts by heart.

    But as I said, they should also learn to be as independent as possible, but if they don't learn to use technology to their advantage they will inevitably stay in an inferior position compared to others. I guess technology is like a smart big brother, can either spoil you or teach you properly, it's up to us to find the right balance.

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