textbooks versus computer teaching

Textbooks Versus Computer Teaching

Can computer teaching be a substitute for textbooks? Is it just an aid to teaching or a complete replacement for books? Here, we compare the two.

What would you have preferred? Computer teaching or textbooks? Computer-based teaching allows for better presentation of information. With the help of audio-visual media, the complex becomes easy and teaching becomes interactive. But due to infrastructural constraints, every educational institute may not be able to employ computer teaching methods. Though computers are a good aid in education, they may not be able to completely replace the conventional textbook-based teaching. This debate can continue for long. Think of which side you belong to, as we give you both sides of the story. Students find it easier to read from the screen than from books. Large amounts of data can be stored in a computer, and thanks to portable computing, it can be carried anywhere and accessed anytime. However, there are some who don't find computers very comfortable to use. For them, assimilating information by referring to different books is more enjoyable and more satisfying. On the whole, there are mixed views on the topic and the ideas of both computer teaching and teaching from textbooks have their own followers. Technology is the need of the day and it is ubiquitous. It has proved beneficial in all spheres of life. Computers have revolutionized common man's life and have brought a dramatic change in the life of every human being. Plentiful information is available on the Internet that can be read by means of a computer. Hence one might not want to be deprived of this new world of information. The Internet allows for access to all kinds of information; right from preliminary facts in science to the philosophy of life. Almost everything that the books carry is also accessible through a computer. Everything that textbooks have is already there on the web, and it is only a click away. Textbooks have been an integral part of education since long. School years were about studying from prescribed textbooks. The years of higher studies were drowned in textbooks and reference books. Once in a while, computer teaching supplemented books. Today, the picture has changed. We do not see books engulfing the educative years as much as they did before. Computer teaching is integral to today's education. A lot of things are simpler to teach by means of computers. If the information is supplemented with an attractive interface, it can result in greater readership. The different font styles, colors, and sizes provided by computer software enable ease in reading and understanding. Content on a computer can be made livelier than in textbooks with the use of eye-catchy pictures, colors, and animations. Information can be presented in different forms over a computer. Information can be in the form of an audio recording or a video clip. It is much more than just making the students read from a screen. It is about providing them with a learning system wherein they can view pictures, watch videos, and listen to speeches or lectures. It is about making the process of teaching and learning, interesting and interactive. There are concerns like saving paper and optimizing information storage. It is quite obvious that a lot of paper is used in the making of textbooks. For bringing out elaborate explanations on topics, books take up a lot of pages, thus contributing to a high amount of paper use. Information can be stored in a condensed form on computer systems, thus saving paper and the environment. The high storage capacities of electronic devices can be harnessed for housing large amounts of information. Electronically erasable memory devices can be used repeatedly. This minimizes redundancy and promotes reuse. Computer teaching can inculcate the idea of self-study in students. It can help them become self-reliant. It introduces the students to a new world of knowledge. It makes way for new technology to be a part of their education. In my view, computers can be a brilliant aid to teaching. It is time we harness technology for education but textbooks can never go out of date. The treasure enclosed in textbooks is still of great utility. Computers can replace textbooks to a certain extent. But the human component has no substitute. In any form of teaching, teachers are irreplaceable.

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