The Importance of Technology in Education
Educational technology is a powerful tool. The educational world has evolved,
and so have students. Learning does not just happen in a classroom on a
chalkboard anymore. Instead, technology has created interactive teaching,
diverse learning methods, and instant results. This has created an educational
world that is constantly changing in learning techniques and school structure.
Technology has changed the way schools look. There are less books and more media available to students. Even classroom equipment is now technologically advanced. Teachers use smart-boards, document cameras, flat screens, digital cameras, ipods, and laptops. These devices benefit and enhance learning to help students improve understanding and provide an interactive learning experience. With effective growth and contribution schools would not continue to be brick and mortar institutions, but would become a world where learner and teacher were replaced with user or participant. The new "school" would be a place with no walls, "where wikis, podcasts, blogs, online photo albums, and virtual worlds..." (Bonk, 2009, p. 43) existed.
In addition to hardware, many learning tools are available online such as magazines, texts, periodicals, and newspapers. The choices are endless. Students can download or stream audio and visual materials immediately such as podcasts, books, and classroom lectures. Teachers and students are able to participate in virtual field trips around the world, virtual lab experiments that would be too cumbersome to complete in class, and even virtual classrooms where learning occurs from across the globe.
Technology provides students with the ability to use applications such RSS feeds, wikis, blogging, and message boards for research, communication, collaboration, and organization. Through this active engagement, group participation, interaction and feedback, and connections to the real-world, technology proves it can help students learn. " Seventy-one percent of online teens said they relied mostly on Internet sources for the last big project they did for school and 34 percent of online young people ages 12-17 download study aides from the Internet" (Lenhart, Rainie, & Lewis, 2001). Using these media cross-curricular provide many authorship opportunities for students. They teach students how to properly cite and link, and to write digitally. They also give students abilities to navigate libraries anywhere and gives them control over web content they wish to view, reducing navigation time. Teachers can use these mediums to teach students to explore their interests or skim appropriately - which in turn makes them better readers. Finally, teachers can use any of these media to monitor student activity and participation, and syndicate student material to help students realize that these are ways to continuously and effectively communicate rather than just regurgitate information for the teacher. Students now have the ability to complete tele-collaborative projects and participate in world activities that are not restricted by time or money.
Technology is saving schools time and money (in the long run). Classes that might be too expensive to implement are now easily accessed via live streaming from other schools. Many states have virtual schools which help save transportation time and relocation expenses. This creates the possibility of increasing attendance population of students, even in remote areas. With decreased budgets and lack of supplies, teachers are able to use online resources, such as textbooks, personalized web pages, podcasts, and seminars, to enhance learning. With the increasing popularity of freeware and open source software schools are further able to save money. "First, free software can save schools money. Free software gives schools, like other users, the freedom to copy and redistribute the software, so the school system can make copies for all the computers they have. In poor countries, this can help close the digital divide" (Stallman, 2003, para. 3). Teachers are able to easily assess and evaluate students using specifically designed software programs, which in turn creates more time for learning. Professional development, meetings, and continuing educational opportunities are available online, saving districts money. Money is even saved with the program this research paper was created in. Google docs allows the free use of a document writing program so students and teachers do not have to spend money on word processing software or extra computer storage. This also saves time because this program creates easy collaborating options. Time and money are also saved because technology has provided students and teachers with the ability to see immediate results from their work with speed and efficiency, which is a shift from old paper-pencil methods.
Educational technology has created a shift in thinking. The shift has changed from requiring students to memorize material that is often quickly forgotten or quickly outdated. Instead, teachers are being trained to help students use technology to gain skills to learn how to quickly and efficiently access this information. With CBCI (Content-Based Collaborative Inquiry) it shifts the focus from teachers having students simply memorize information to learning with understanding. This means students organize facts and ideas into conceptual frameworks that facilitate retrieval and application in new situations (Zech, Gause-Vega, Bray, Secules, & Goldman, 2000, p.207 ).
Content knowledge is developed through collaborative inquiry within a teacher's own classroom. Through scaffolding, critical thinking skills, engaging in dialogue, and developing knowledge of practice, teachers will create a community of learning for students. This shift means technology users demand that performance is fast and user friendly. "At its best, technology can facilitate deep exploration and integration of information, high-level thinking, and profound engagement by allowing students to design, explore, experiment, access information, and model complex phenomena," note Goldman, Cole, and Syer (1999) . Thus, performance of technology is powerful in determining productivity, goal achievements, organization, interventions, and educational technology tool usage. Three major functions that help improve performance are creating, using, and managing. Evaluating each of these functionalities helps determine the performance of technology, not only for the learners, but also for the teachers and designers. With the improved organization, collaboration, performance, and evaluation, education is shifting in learning.
Educational technology provides students with global access to the educational world around them. It offers online, collaborative training and support for teachers, giving them the ability to integrate it into their classroom. Students and staff are using technology in the classroom for research, curriculum, communication, and interaction. Every single minute technology is advancing in the way of education. It is changing the way people are learning and interacting and it is imperative that educators and school systems understand the magnitude that technology will continue to have on society.
References
Bonk, C. (2009). The world is open: How Web technology is revolutionizing education (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Computer and Internet use by students in 2003. (2006, September 5). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006065.
Goldman, S., Cole, K., & Syer, C. (1999). The technology/content dilemma [Online]. Available: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/TechConf/1999/whitepapers/paper4.html
Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., & Lewis, O. (2001). Teenage life online. Research report.Washington,D.C.: Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Stallman, R. (2003). "Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software", para. 3. Retrieved from http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html
Zech, L., Gause-Vega, C., Bray, M., Secules, T., & Goldman, S. (2000). Content-based collaborative inquiry: A professional development model for sustaining educational reform. Educational Psychologist, 35(3), 207-217. Retrieved from Professional Development Collection database.
Technology has changed the way schools look. There are less books and more media available to students. Even classroom equipment is now technologically advanced. Teachers use smart-boards, document cameras, flat screens, digital cameras, ipods, and laptops. These devices benefit and enhance learning to help students improve understanding and provide an interactive learning experience. With effective growth and contribution schools would not continue to be brick and mortar institutions, but would become a world where learner and teacher were replaced with user or participant. The new "school" would be a place with no walls, "where wikis, podcasts, blogs, online photo albums, and virtual worlds..." (Bonk, 2009, p. 43) existed.
In addition to hardware, many learning tools are available online such as magazines, texts, periodicals, and newspapers. The choices are endless. Students can download or stream audio and visual materials immediately such as podcasts, books, and classroom lectures. Teachers and students are able to participate in virtual field trips around the world, virtual lab experiments that would be too cumbersome to complete in class, and even virtual classrooms where learning occurs from across the globe.
Technology provides students with the ability to use applications such RSS feeds, wikis, blogging, and message boards for research, communication, collaboration, and organization. Through this active engagement, group participation, interaction and feedback, and connections to the real-world, technology proves it can help students learn. " Seventy-one percent of online teens said they relied mostly on Internet sources for the last big project they did for school and 34 percent of online young people ages 12-17 download study aides from the Internet" (Lenhart, Rainie, & Lewis, 2001). Using these media cross-curricular provide many authorship opportunities for students. They teach students how to properly cite and link, and to write digitally. They also give students abilities to navigate libraries anywhere and gives them control over web content they wish to view, reducing navigation time. Teachers can use these mediums to teach students to explore their interests or skim appropriately - which in turn makes them better readers. Finally, teachers can use any of these media to monitor student activity and participation, and syndicate student material to help students realize that these are ways to continuously and effectively communicate rather than just regurgitate information for the teacher. Students now have the ability to complete tele-collaborative projects and participate in world activities that are not restricted by time or money.
Technology is saving schools time and money (in the long run). Classes that might be too expensive to implement are now easily accessed via live streaming from other schools. Many states have virtual schools which help save transportation time and relocation expenses. This creates the possibility of increasing attendance population of students, even in remote areas. With decreased budgets and lack of supplies, teachers are able to use online resources, such as textbooks, personalized web pages, podcasts, and seminars, to enhance learning. With the increasing popularity of freeware and open source software schools are further able to save money. "First, free software can save schools money. Free software gives schools, like other users, the freedom to copy and redistribute the software, so the school system can make copies for all the computers they have. In poor countries, this can help close the digital divide" (Stallman, 2003, para. 3). Teachers are able to easily assess and evaluate students using specifically designed software programs, which in turn creates more time for learning. Professional development, meetings, and continuing educational opportunities are available online, saving districts money. Money is even saved with the program this research paper was created in. Google docs allows the free use of a document writing program so students and teachers do not have to spend money on word processing software or extra computer storage. This also saves time because this program creates easy collaborating options. Time and money are also saved because technology has provided students and teachers with the ability to see immediate results from their work with speed and efficiency, which is a shift from old paper-pencil methods.
Educational technology has created a shift in thinking. The shift has changed from requiring students to memorize material that is often quickly forgotten or quickly outdated. Instead, teachers are being trained to help students use technology to gain skills to learn how to quickly and efficiently access this information. With CBCI (Content-Based Collaborative Inquiry) it shifts the focus from teachers having students simply memorize information to learning with understanding. This means students organize facts and ideas into conceptual frameworks that facilitate retrieval and application in new situations (Zech, Gause-Vega, Bray, Secules, & Goldman, 2000, p.207 ).
Content knowledge is developed through collaborative inquiry within a teacher's own classroom. Through scaffolding, critical thinking skills, engaging in dialogue, and developing knowledge of practice, teachers will create a community of learning for students. This shift means technology users demand that performance is fast and user friendly. "At its best, technology can facilitate deep exploration and integration of information, high-level thinking, and profound engagement by allowing students to design, explore, experiment, access information, and model complex phenomena," note Goldman, Cole, and Syer (1999) . Thus, performance of technology is powerful in determining productivity, goal achievements, organization, interventions, and educational technology tool usage. Three major functions that help improve performance are creating, using, and managing. Evaluating each of these functionalities helps determine the performance of technology, not only for the learners, but also for the teachers and designers. With the improved organization, collaboration, performance, and evaluation, education is shifting in learning.
Educational technology provides students with global access to the educational world around them. It offers online, collaborative training and support for teachers, giving them the ability to integrate it into their classroom. Students and staff are using technology in the classroom for research, curriculum, communication, and interaction. Every single minute technology is advancing in the way of education. It is changing the way people are learning and interacting and it is imperative that educators and school systems understand the magnitude that technology will continue to have on society.
References
Bonk, C. (2009). The world is open: How Web technology is revolutionizing education (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Computer and Internet use by students in 2003. (2006, September 5). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006065.
Goldman, S., Cole, K., & Syer, C. (1999). The technology/content dilemma [Online]. Available: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/TechConf/1999/whitepapers/paper4.html
Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., & Lewis, O. (2001). Teenage life online. Research report.Washington,D.C.: Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Stallman, R. (2003). "Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software", para. 3. Retrieved from http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html
Zech, L., Gause-Vega, C., Bray, M., Secules, T., & Goldman, S. (2000). Content-based collaborative inquiry: A professional development model for sustaining educational reform. Educational Psychologist, 35(3), 207-217. Retrieved from Professional Development Collection database.
