Techlearning blog

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article in which I posed a few questions that I've been thinking about of late, and over the next week or so I'd like to explore them one at a time, mainly on my own website. Today I'm considering question 1, which was:

Is it always better to use a computer than pen and paper, in terms of productivity, creative output or better learning?

The important issue for me is what might be called "appropriate use". So, to take an extreme example, if you were quickly exchanging phone numbers with someone you just met, it probably would not be appropriate to ask them to wait while you fired up your laptop so you could enter their details in a database. It may be appropriate to enter their details into a phone or a handheld computer. It may be better in the immediate term, though not necessarily in the long term, to use a pen and notebook.

It seems to me that whether the use of a computer is "appropriate" from an efficiency point of view depends on a range of factors:

Does the data need to be stored electronically?

If so, is it quicker to enter the data electronically now, or quicker to write the details now and enter them later?

Should you even keep the data electronically?

Clearly, the answers to these questions will differ according to circumstances.

Efficiency is not the only consideration. When it comes to creative writing, many people find it better to use pen and paper. So, although it is apparently inefficient to write something by hand and then type it up, in terms of quality it may be the better option. I have to say that recently, much to my surprise, I discovered that I could write sections of a book chapter better by hand than with a computer. It was a pain having to type it all up later, but somehow the use of a notepad seemed to free up my creative juices.

"So what?", you may ask. Well, I certainly think it has implications for the way schools organise their computer rooms (if they still have them), and how they organise the pupils in lessons. For example, I have always advocated that pupils should have space to work away from the computers, both on their own and collaboratively. Those computer rooms which have been designed to house as many computer workstations as possible, with no room for anything else, are not only hopeless from a collaboration point of view, but may also leave something to be desired from a personal creativity point of view.

In fact, my ideal computer lab has easy chairs and coffee tables too, and my ideal rest and relaxation area has computer workstations dotted about.

Whichever way you look at it, the technology should serve the learner, not the other way round.