Many students today use technology as a tool for their education. In the COVID-19 pandemic, technology was the only way schools could continue to run. There are many good ways technology is used from creating presentations to performing interactive labs. Unfortunately, there are also many negative implications of using technology in school such as using it to look up answers to homework. Today, I will give insight into what I have experienced and provide a few ways that technology can be used more effectively.
Results from a survey done at a common high school
As I explained in a previous blog, education may be shifted for good in the coming years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I explained why instructors may allow students to use the internet for exams. However, I did not explain the negative effects of that. Yes, students should be able to use the internet as a tool for their learning, but I have witnessed many people rely too much on the internet, and it limits their learning. They simply know how to take information from the internet and regurgitate it onto their homework. This is bad because it does not teach them the problem solving skills necessary in life. Finding answers on the internet may get students through school, but they will not have the life skills to solve a real problem that has not been searched before.
Another drawback of actively using technology in schools, is that they can distract. There are thousands of free games on the internet that are much more fun than class, and even I can say that I have fallen victim to playing them rather than paying attention. As an immature student in middle school, I should not have been allowed to play a game on a computer during a lesson. I am sure that put me behind the class, but I was fortunate enough to have the abilities to catch up quickly.
Students utilizing and being distracted by technology.
Despite these negative effects, technology is still effective in education. Students are able to become fluent in technology and they poses the technology skills they will need in the modern workforce. However, alternate ways to utilize technology should be implemented to limit their drawbacks. For example, there could be a set time of non-technology learning put into place so that students must be able t problem solve without the internet’s assistance. This would allow them to learn those crucial life skills that they need to succeed.
April 8, 2021 at 10:31 am
I believe there is a really complicated system of looking up answers to a homework. On one hand, students can look up answers just to get through an assignment and learn nothing about the material. This is the worst case, and I agree that in this case, students fail to learn problem-solving skills. On the other hand, some students may look up answers if the problem is unclear, or they need a hint to solve a question, or to confirm that they have the right answer so that they get full credit on an assignment. This is slightly different in that students are still doing the questions and learning the material, and the internet is just used as a safety net to ensure a good grade. Professors could counteract this by taking less pressure off grading and putting more emphasis on learning material.
April 8, 2021 at 11:14 am
I also agree that reliance on the internet is potentially damaging to the quality of education some students are receiving. But, to a certain extent, I think it is on the student themselves to decide that they want to use their education as an opportunity to learn and not just use the internet to answer their questions for them. I do think that a large part of this issue is simply the fact that we’re in a pandemic and classes are less engaging so students have more opportunities to not pay attention and then use the internet when they need help. But, based on our current schedules, it’s looking as though the vast majority of classes in the fall will be in person, and as a result, so will the exams. Due to this, I think this problem will probably work itself out because students are less likely to disengage at a lecture in person and all exams will be proctored.
April 8, 2021 at 11:15 am
Freedom is a bit of a double edged sword, and technology is a steady supplier of freedom in the academic world. Freedom to access information that sits in a library across the country through ILL or freedom to look up the Irish Annals to write a paper about the Battle of Clontarf. But there’s also the freedom to buy a chegg subscription and post test questions for a course. I sort of see technology as one another one of those tests of self-discipline and assessing what you really want from your education.