Do you believe that the integration
of technology in education has overall enhanced the learning experience for
students? Why? Why not?
☆Let’s think
1
Have you ever
used any of the following in your studies? How much do you think you learned
with it?
YouTube video language-learning app generative
AI (e.g. ChatGPT)
2
Have you ever
experienced enhancement of your ability by using any of the following
technologies?
3
・learning practical skills like
dancing or drawing pictures
・information
search and other skills to widen your views.
・memorization,
learning languages, preparing for an examination, and other learning to
increase knowledge
・critical
thinking, such as coming up with ideas for a writing assignment
☆Reference
Universities
are embracing AI: will students get smarter or stop thinking?
Millions
of students arriving at campuses are now using artificial intelligence. Worries
abound.
“To
some, AI presents an exciting opportunity to improve education and
prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Universities such as Tsinghua
and Ohio State are already weaving AI into their teaching — and some studies
hint that AI-powered tools can help students to learn. A randomized controlled
trial involving physics undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, suggested that those who used a custom-built AI tutor learnt
more in less time than did students who were taught by humans alone.
But
many education specialists are deeply concerned about the explosion of AI on
campuses: they fear that AI tools are impeding learning because they’re so new
that teachers and students are struggling to use them well. Faculty members
also worry that students are using AI to short-cut their way through
assignments and tests, and some research hints that offloading mental work
in this way can stifle independent, critical thought.” By Helen
Pearson (“Nature” on 21 October, 2025)
☆Hints for Points
Yes
1.
Educational materials and sites help
students understand subjects more effectively than before.
2.
Information search and comparison of
multiple materials have become more efficient than before.
No
1.
Fewer students have the ability to read
complicated materials than before because most students do not read books
anymore as they learn from apps and social media.
2.
Many students learn less than before
because they copy and paste information.
☆Sample Responses
Sample 1 I
think information Technology has enhanced our learning experience mainly
because it has made information search and comparison of multiple materials
efficient than before. It now allows us to get necessary information for
studies anytime and anywhere. This has made it unnecessary to go to the library
or bookstores to find related materials. Google search provides numerous
sources, including newspapers and magazines, instantly. Even when a certain
book is necessary, ordering from online bookstores allows us to download a copy
in a few seconds or have it sent within a day or two. As Taylor says, the
distraction of social media can offset the time earned by this efficiency, but
the fact that information technology has made it physically efficient to
collect good materials won’t change. In the end, learning depends on the
individual’s concentration and IT definitely facilitates learning. (140 words)
Sample 2 With
reservation, I’m also concerned about the fragmentation of attention. Integration
of information technology and education exposed the workstation to infinite and
constant flows of distractors like notices or news feed, which can keep
students away from work till they lose track of their researches and thoughts.
Insights and inspiration require certain amount of time for the brain to work
on the subject undisturbed by the unrelated factors, but work on the screen
never allows it. Especially, time for reading on the tablet gets fragmented and
this directly affects the quality of reading. It is like a disturbed sleep.
Even if the total length of the activity is the same, the highest point of the
brain activity cannot often be reached in disturbed reading. However, Gen Z are
tech-savvy and multitaskers. They might not be so distracted by the incessant
assault of notices and alerts as to lose sight of the tasks they are working on.
They might even be taking advantage of the state of mind that is constantly
open to the online world, sorting out and processing information they get, and
get the task done utilizing the sense of reality they get from the process. Therefore,
I conclude that attention span may have become short without intentionally
constant intensive reading, while free working of mind may have been maintained
even when our minds are constantly online. (228 words)
Write
your draft on this topic. Show it to each other. Write down questions or
suggestions to each other’s draft.
DRAFT
