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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Old ways or new ways?

One of the very popular topics now a days is the conflict between technology and traditional ways of learning.What do I mean by traditional ways of learning vs technology?
Captivating and entrancing, a good book is always welcome in my hands.I enjoy leafing through its pages and even the peculiar smell of each page as I read. I don't like reading a book on-line even if I could use the best and latest e-reader on earth.On the other hand, I take pleasure on reading a good on-line article or being blesssed by a well written blog.

I like going to the scrapbooking store to buy beautiful embelishments and originally designed paper which combined with my memorable pictures bring so much joy to me.At the same time,
the amazing and always available on-line scrapbooking keeps me working and building different designs for hours.

One of my favourite things to do is visiting museums. The excitement I found in witnessing a master piece makes me feel part of the history because I am standing looking at something that one day, in a different time, was the object in one artist's mind.
However,technology gives me the opportunity to travel in a matter of seconds to any place on earth to see famous masterpieces without even having to leave the comfort of my house. Especially when we are learning about a different culture or time in history.

Having a variety of dictionaries and thesaurus handy is quiet helpful still, using my laptop to find the meaning,pronunciation and spelling of a word at the same time is priceless.

Playing a good game of chess with my family in the comfort of our living room is such enjoyable as watching my husband and my son playing against each other on a videogame and thinking to myself "boys will always be boys".

What about textbooks vs on-line courses? We use both. We can be equally benefit from a good textbook like Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia Science http://www.apologia.com/ and still enjoy an interesting,interactive and sometimes free on-line course from  LearnNow BC http://www.learnnowbc.ca/.

We can't forget the now popular live conference or workshop vs webinars.I truly enjoy traveling to a different city and spending time with friends while learning something new and fresh  about homeschooling. I also delight on watching a good webinar in my computer while keeping my pj's on and enjoying a  hot cup of tea in the comfort of my home. I learn so much from both different yet fulfilling ways of learning that I constantly seek for more from both experiences.

So, I believe learning through the use of technology is as important as using the traditional ways and again both are enjoyable and invaluable methods we must appreciate and teach our children to use wisely.
Dynamic and uncertain, our world is changing constantly.Technology is leading the path in many ways. We can't rely on it all the time but we also can't deny our children the chance to learn how to use it.
We have the responsibility as parents to expose our children to good resources as well as to teach them how to be a resourceful person in this constantly changing world without forgetting the old ways that will always be rememberable and significant for people like me.