Bangkok Post : Why Thailand's children need tablet computers
Why Thailand's children need tablet computers
The current government has promised to introduce free tablet computers to all school children and already 1.6 billion baht has been put aside to purchase 470,000 tablet PCs for first-grade students.
Students at Wat Thammapanya School in Nakhon Nayok, enjoy working on free laptops given to each student in Mathayom 1 and 2 (Grades 7 and 8) under the pilot ‘‘One Laptop Per Child’’ project in March 2008.
Predictably, gainsayers have lined up to pick at this policy and one argument recently tabled is that there are not sufficient educational programmes in Thai, leading to children using the tablets mainly for English learning.
The problem with that, so this contention runs, is that young children should be concentrating on Thai; if they get involved in English this will distract them from the more crucial purpose of mastering their native language.
Even if this were correct, it is rather negated by the fact that there are several companies which currently have educational programmes available in Thai language and more would become available, as this market will grow once the tablets are in every child's hand.
However, it is worth discussing the concern about Thai children studying English too early. Indeed, is it even desirable to make English a major component of the education of Thai children, and if it is, at what age should they be introduced to English, and finally, what part could tablets play in learning?
Of course most businessmen, educators and politicians recognise that English is a vital component of Thailand's future expansion in international business. Yet despite acclaim for the importance of English and despite the dismal state of English education in most parts of Thailand (partly because Thai students have few chances to practice English outside the classroom, and which could be partially remedied if tablets loaded with self-access English programmes were available), in 2010 the last government turned down a reform committee's recommendation to make English a second official language, saying that such a move could make people think Thailand had once been colonised!
This ambivalent attitude to English (somewhat mitigated by the large numbers of the middle class and rich sending their children to schools with international programmes) combined with the outright fear of the internet shown by governments, needs to change if Thailand is going to take its full role internationally.
Agreeing then that English is essential in the global environment that Thailand operates in, at what age children should start learning English. Is 3, 5 or 8 too young and should we wait to 10, 12 or 15? Let's consider Singapore. At independence from Britain in 1963, rather than choosing to downgrade English in favour of a local language, Singapore put aside patriotic fervour and kept English to the forefront. This was based mainly on economic reasons and I think few Singaporeans regret this choice, and most would attribute some of Singapore's amazing success to the widespread use of English. Singapore introduces children to English at a very young age, usually around 3 years old years in the pre-school education system. Does this introduction of a non-native language at such a tender age cause problems? Well, while it may not be absolute proof of the benefits, it certainly shows that a nation can introduce English as a second language from a very young age and achieve excellent results. How much Singapore is aided in international business by the widespread use of English is unknown, but it surely doesn't hurt.
So agreeing that English is okay, even for young children, what are the reasons to give tablet computers to every child?
They are many, but briefly: the divide between the quality of education received in rural areas compared with Bangkok, and even within Bangkok between the well-off and the less fortunate, could be narrowed, I believe, by children having tablets.
Would it completely eliminate the gaps? No, simply because self-access learning is only one factor supporting education; quality teachers, input from parents and a host of other influences will still play their crucial roles. But at least giving individual access to useful applications, especially for English, mathematics and science will be a boon to the ambitious and intelligent children of rural Thailand.
Specifically, the one-to-one nature of tablet content gives children direct input in a way that a classroom with many students and only one teacher usually cannot. Most applications also intuitively pace the user to suit their current abilities, allowing the gifted to romp ahead and the slower to get the extra repetition they need. Further, it will allow streaming of the best teaching videos, many of them interactive, both from within Thailand and internationally, right to the student's classroom or home.
My own children, now fully bilingual, were introduced to computers from age 3 and I installed vocabulary, mathematics and science applications. All were educational and, because of the game-like competitive nature of them, highly motivating. This, mind you, was some 16 years ago, when educational programs were a fraction of the sophistication of today's. My children still attribute part of their academic success to those early years spent playing those "games".
Will there be problems and will some children not take advantage of the opportunity? Yes undoubtedly, but this is a world of choices and children, too, can see advantages in study and be funnelled into the activities that will be feed their natural curiosity and zest to succeed.
Robert Kirkpatrick lectures at the Master of Education faculty in Shinawatra University, is a reviewer of "Studies in Self -Access Learning" journal, and the editor-in-chief of "Language Testing in Asia" journal.