The Importance Of Technology In Education

Jenny Arledge, a first grade teacher in Valparaiso, Indiana states, “Technology can become the ‘wings’ that will allow the educational world to fly farther and faster than ever before—if we will allow it.” In today’s society, technology is all around us and ever changing, especially in schools. Technology can help give students a better education by allowing more opportunities for learning. Some people claim that technology is a distraction from learning and that it is more negative than beneficial, but this is not true because technology helps students learn more than they would ever be able to. Without technology students would not have the opportunity to learn to their potential. Although technology has its drawbacks, schools should consider how technology helps schools change in preparation for the future, allows students to retain new information, and increases interaction and communication.

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 However, much of the knowledge currently taught is becoming increasingly outdated.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.

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.

“ We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” Technology in the classroom is beneficial because it provides students to access things faster, It also benefits students to use apps to enhance their learning, and it makes learning more fun.

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.

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

The Impact Principle states effective practice yields evidence of learning. The look on each student’s face will provide evidence as to whether or not they are learning. An educator should assess the faces and student work samples to check for learning. If learning is not present, the educator should accept responsibility for not being impactful, and begin implementing a more effective practice so that the students demonstrate new knowledge. I have discovered this first hand in my practicum placement. I taught a lesson, and as a whole class my students understood the content. However, when I was reviewing their individual work, it was obvious that the students missed the point of the lesson. Therefore, I took responsibly for not teaching the objective in an effective way, and I retaught it in a more relevant manner. Then, my students were successful on the next sample of student work. Due to all of the factors in students’ lives that can hold their interest, an educator must gain and maintain their interest to be impactful. It is then the child will learn. If the educator’s delivery of the content is effective and impactful, evidence will be produced.

As humans living on the earth, society send people to learning institutions for education. A learning institute is one of the most popular place where people get knowledge based on what they have choose as field of study. In this twenty first Century, technology has improved human’s education systems a lot. Although, technology is now part of everything that human does in daily basis, a balance should be established between methods of education and technology. Getting knowledge today is done by utilizing traditional education system, keeping the basic of learning and maintaining the use of technology tools in education.

The research behind technology in education demonstrates numerous types of techniques and devices that have been found to affect the success of students and teachers. Why do students and teachers only succeed when utilizing certain technologies? To answer this question, technology as a whole has an immense impact on education, but the technology must be integrated correctly and effectively into the classroom in order to be triumphant. Proper integration of technology will lead to success in the classroom.

Today’s school systems show an increase towards technology enriched environments. From K-12 schools into college, students are relying on technology now more than ever. Classes, homework, in-class work, and the majority of the books are available in an online setting. I understand colleges using technology to help keep the class connected and for a learn at your own pace setting, but in K-12 teachers are in the same building Monday through Friday and the school distributes books to students. Moreover, replacing textbooks and school work with laptops is unnecessary in the K-12 education system.

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.

In the past, for thousands of decades technology has not been a part of human’s everyday life. What is technology? According to the journalist, Karehka Ramey, “Technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and extracting of materials”. In the 1980s, people have struggled to figure out ways to improve technology, yet there were no sufficient results. However, in the past few years, technology has improved changing and affecting people’s lives on a daily basis. Technology influences our lives, by making education more advanced, giving doctors the opportunity to save more lives, yet wasting people’s time on entertainments.

1. Not everyone can afford to buy good quality books, so an e-book will be a real

Despite its importance, writing is not given enough attention in schools compare to reading. Since the turn of the 21st century, “there have been a number of significant changes in the contexts in which we teach and in which our students learn to write”. Our culture has taken a digital shift in all aspects of life, including schooling and the way students are exposed to writing curriculum. Robinson, McKenna and Conradi state that “The context of schooling has also changed, with programs and practices affected most directly by an emphasis on standards and assessments as a part of a growing concern with accountability. Given a focus on reading, rather than writing or literacy more generally…this movement has had an impact on teaching and learning at all levels of public education” (Robinson, McKenna & Conradi, 2012, p. 243).

Technology is here to stay and appears to be ever advancing, but teachers are struggling to adapt with learning about the new software and tools that the districts are trying to implement into the curriculum. Teachers shape the minds of our future; thus making teaching the most important occupation in the world. In order to achieve maximum greatness in the classroom a teacher must be open to changing the methods in which they teach. With time, technology has seemed to shimmy its way into almost every aspect of the average American’s life; including the classroom. Technology is ever changing and with new advancements teachers must be able to adapt. The main issues that teachers as well as schools are facing with technology is the price of