The Importance Of Technology In Education

Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrow’s leaders. Education is the process of giving or receiving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. There are many reasons why one would need an education. For example, having an education can help someone obtain an exceptional job, increase their knowledge, and even increase their earnings potential. Obtaining an education is not only learning math, science, or history, but it also teaches people about the world around them. Having knowledge about the world can teach people about other cultures and different types of lifestyles. People can also learn about different and higher paying jobs. Another way to gain knowledge is through technology. Technology plays a significant role in education. The role of technology in education is to enhance learning.

As a student in the modern era, where technology is at an all-time high everywhere I look technology is being introduced into a teacher's curriculum. Technology in school, although once banned it is now being praised to have technology intertwined with a school lesson. Everywhere I look people give up old habits such as keeping a planner because your phone now offers a new way to be organized in an easier and faster manner. One habit that students are giving up with this technological surge is taking notes by hand. Personally, I at one point tried to take notes on my laptop or even study pre-written notes, found myself distracted with such easy access to the internet. Consequently, I found my grades had become lower due to me not paying attention and not being able to truly grasp the lesson being taught. Eventually, I discovered that writing notes by hand benefited me immensely more and allowed me to try process the information being taught. In the article “Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away” written by NPR staff member James Doubek, he illustrates why my grades had decreased during my time of writing notes on my laptop.

Did the thought ever occur about how much technology is used in the classroom? Children today rarely use books, from kindergarten all the way to being a senior in high school. Although it is hard fought by old-school teachers, technology is far more helpful than a simple book. Teachers use every weapon in their arsenal to educate, and the internet proves to be the strongest. The internet can be used in the wrong way, like any other beneficial thing. However, when it is used correctly the internet is a powerful instrument. With more advances in technology, there becomes better education. In a world that is changing everyday, the future of education lies within our ability to change our technology to better benefit the ever-changing educational standards.

How important is technology in this day and age? I am sure we all agree that technology is one of the most important resources in this day and age. Now, how many people actually took more than just a basic typing class in K-8th grade? Or maybe even up to 12th grade. If you went to school more than 10 years ago, I am sure that all you were able to take was a basic typing class. So my question to you is, why is it so hard to implement technology into the school system? Teachers not willing to be trained? Parents thinking technology will be a distraction? Governments not willing to do away with standardized tests? Everyone pretty much uses mobile phones, tablets, and laptops on a daily basis. As digital natives, today’s students have grown up with technology integrated into every aspect of their lives. Education cannot be an exception. Yet, we are trying to fit 21st century students, into a 19th century system. We need to implement the effective use of technology into all of our education systems. I know this is not something that can be changed overnight. However, if we can get the educators, parents, and the government all to agree, then the effective use of technology should, and will be implemented in our school systems.

A child’s mind is always growing, with the advancement of technology, it will raise to new heights. Finding the most efficient way to teach and learn, has been an ongoing debate since the beginning of education. Since then, education has gone a long way. Students have gone from learning on chalkboards and memorizing all the information they learned, to having individual computers where they have access to tools to write, learn and communicate. But with all these new tools, many essential skills may be lost. Being reliant on online communication means that real face to face interactions will be gone. Children will not learn the valuable social skill that they will need when they grow up. Although this may be true, incorporating more technology into learning can lead to a more efficient and passionate education. Environmental technology will hugely enhance future technology.

Technology connects students to the world. Educators must use this as a teaching tool to influence thinking, learning, and achievement. According to Holzemer (1998), “the integration of multimedia into the curriculum has helped teachers create student-centered learning environments that encourage students to take responsibility for their learning” (p. 1). The students will receive the opportunities to think critically, provide substance to their activities, learn with their peers and the teacher, and adapt to a continuous learning experience. During multimedia projects, students must learn and apply the appropriate way to present the material. This can be accomplished through photography, videography, a multimedia presentation, and so much more. The more confident a student becomes, the possibilities will be endless. “Putting together a multimedia presentation is a lot of work”, but using an innovative and creative solution will foster creative thinking (Holzemer, 1998, p. 1). Multimedia allows students to work in groups much more effectively. The teacher can set goals, mentor the group and individual students, and keep their projects on task. If the students choose to use PowerPoint or GoogleDocs, for example, “students teach each other the details of the multimedia authoring program being used” (Holzemer, 1998, p. 1). Many students are already familiar with the programs, and occasionally know or can learn the program quicker than the teacher. Many teachers admit, “students

What once was a 4.0 student is now a person facing D’s and F’s on his next report card. Vishal Singh is a typical 17-year-old at Woodside High School, he was considered to be a motivated young student, until like most other kids in this century, he got increasingly captivated by the internet after getting his computer in sixth grade. Since then it's been late nights, and GPA downfalls (Richtel). The increasing screen time that teenagers are exposed to leads to distractions that often always lead to school becoming a their second priority. Students are constantly distracted by social media, when they should really be focusing on broadening their education, in order to create a better future for themselves, and to set better goals for the education systems we have today. Technology is controlling teenager’s education, but education is not controlling their technology, and this causing students to be encapsulated in the cyber world in the classrooms, and halls of almost every twenty first century high school. Knowing this, we need to limit electronic use and students must shut off their devices during studying hours and limit computer use to school related topics, in order to create a brighter future for our educational systems.

Most people think of the phones in their hand or pocket when they think of technology, but the first roots of technology started all the way back in the Paleolithic Era. This era brought us the first set of stone tools and the famous cave paintings that have helped us learn about the past. Following the Paleolithic Era, we had the Mesolithic and Neolithic Eras which both brought us more advanced stone tools and the start of copper tools. After the Meso/Neolithic Eras, we had the Bronze Era which brought us our bronze tools and weapons. The next era was the Iron Age; this age brought us our iron tools and bullets which further improved hunting. Next was the Middle Ages that gave us our armory and many more improvements on weaponry. Following the Middle Ages, there was the Renaissance, then the Industrial Ages where hundreds of inventions were made like the steam engine and the telegraph which advanced travel and communication. The last era is the Information Age which gave us our phones, computers and the internet. Throughout history, technology has improved and given society many benefits including the improvements of the educational system, medical and the many communication systems.

These advantages have given students help and tutoring at any time. Sometimes when lessons in classes are not understood well students are able to contact the teacher

The United States education system has evolved a remarkably since there were minute school houses on the prairie. In modern times, today the school systems continue to evolve in various ways. This includes the integration technology into the curriculum and instruction of the schools. However, this can come at a great gain and cost so the factors that contribute to technology in school should be taken into account.

As the educational system is expanded and altered, so is our students. For a school system to work, the students must be able to show improvement from one grade to another. The teachers are required to demonstrate how their teaching method is affective compared to others that are qualified for the job. Although one teacher could have more experience in education, another might be able to display the knowledge better. Along with history, education has been shaped primarily on the invention of technology. Without computers and cell phones, the world would not have evolved as it had. The same can be said about education.

When learning arithmetic, students were constantly told that they could not rely too heavily on calculators, as they would not always have one on hand in the future. Today that statement couldn’t be further from the truth. The widespread prevalence of portable electronic devices has allowed literally everyone to carry a calculator wherever they go. While technology has been rapidly changing and evolving in the past few decades, the school systems has almost stagnated and has shown nearly no change within 150 years. Based on a variety of expert anecdotal accounts, when students are asked what they think the purpose of the school system is for, most of them will reply that it’s either to prepare them for higher learning (university or college) and/or to prepare them for the workplace. However, much of the knowledge currently taught is becoming increasingly outdated. As schools are straying increasingly further from their intended purpose, changes ought to be made. This problem would be easily solved if technology is integrated into the teaching system. Moreover, by enhancing the learning environment with technology, students will be able to instantly access innumerable websites’ worth of information, use computers to lessen their workload, and gain the necessary skills to achieve success in their future work endeavors.

Technology has greatly revolutionized the healthcare industry. It has streamlined patient care and opened networks to make information more attainable and concise which has allowed for the improvement of patient care and drastically eliminating the chance for error. One of the most influential ways technology has been changing the industry has been in education. More and more schools in charge of molding the next leaders of the healthcare industry are using technologically advanced tools to train the students in procedure and patient care. Simulations are becoming one of those widely utilized tools in the education of healthcare professionals. They provide a safer learning environment where students can explore a variety of scenarios and how to tackle them, and can improve patient care and aid professionals in making better more educated decisions.

Well before college and career, at the grade school level, there too is a growing demand for students to have access to integrated subject learning experiences. Because integrated subjects are the more accurate renditions of reality that feels most natural to students’ lives, lessons are more transferable to their real world experiences, which makes it easier for students to obtain, understand, incorporate, and modify or alter knowledge. Further demand for integration of technology is also sought in upper childhood, childhood, and even early childhood institutions as technology becomes a more core essential part of students’ lives as well as their potential academic and career futures. In a time driven by email and virtual communication, it is now just as important that a student know email or online communication etiquette just as much, if not more, than it is that they know how to write and send a letter by post. The demands of the grade school institutions for evolution of the system to meet knowledge needs are increasingly being served as new teachers are being taught to serve those demands through their higher education institutions; however, those same higher education institutions refuse to evolve their systems to also meet those demands.

July 3rd, 2017 www.statisticbrain.com said that “84.3% of schools have high speed internet.”, if this many schools have high speed internet then they should be using it to their advantage by using technology to help their students learn. More schools have been integrating technology into the kids learning, some people think that technology in schools isn't need, but really technology is very helpful in school. Schools only integrate some technology into schools and don't always find a way for the best technology to enhance the learning of the school and to help them go more into depth with the technology.