With modern advancement in technology the educational sphere is being largely impacted. From computers to smartphones to interactive projectors, classrooms are changing and although there are clearly pros and cons to this influx of modern technology, the question remains, is it bettering our educations or hindering them?

Most people would argue that the pros to technology far outweigh the cons, especially within education. But the cons must still be addressed in hopes that they too can be addressed and handled well as technology moves its way further and further into fields of society. I asked two friends to share their views on technology within education, one of them shared that, “technology should be used minimally in any aspect of society, face to face interaction promotes higher educational experiences and a reliance on technology is dangerous.” A surprising but valid standpoint, in the sense that face to face interaction is so key and social skills need to be developed further especially during our educational times. But the article, “Pros and Cons of Technology in Education,” by Susie Kelley addresses this point by saying that although there is a valid concern that technology could hinder our social development, it doesn’t need to. We can institute greater use of technology and do it in such a way that promotes social work and relational development. Technology can improve group work and presentations as well as group learning. Rather than limiting social interaction, it could provide a new dynamic to it and help students learn to adapt and incorporate more parts when interacting with one another.

My other friend, shared his opinion on technology within the education field by saying, “Many pros and cons to technology in education; a large pro is that it enables research and provides a huge resource but one of the biggest cons is that it is also very distracting.” And he is so right! One of the biggest cons to technology in education. In this article, “Technology and Student Distraction,” from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University,  it is shared that according to studies, over 92% of college students report using their phones to send text messages during classes, and I am sure that if any Penn State professor was asked they could support this statistic. When giving children a piece of technology to learn from the fear of distraction is even greater and more real. This con can be seen as an outlet for teaching children about how to be responsible and engage when they need to. And if that isn’t a strong enough argument there are learning programs and systems that limit technology uses during learning or instructional periods of time. As far as college students learn, technology will always be a distraction but once that age is reached students must learn for themselves the consequences of not paying attention during lecture.

According to the article, “7 Ways Technology is Impacting Modern Education,” technology is pushing our educational levels to new heights in many ways. One being that students can actively engage with their learning material. This means that students can learn by doing in new ways that weren’t possible before. Geography can be seen via google maps, rather than just via an image. Another aspect is that technology strongly ties back real issues and real world application to what students are learning. Via websites and news articles, billions at the fingertips of each student, they can clearly connect how what they are learning about is affecting and part of the world around them, this then makes them more eager and motivated to learn. Modeling and simulation software also enables students to learn in ways that they never could have beforehand. This technology allows them to visually see how planets orbit or how storms develop or how the earth has changed over thousands of years. Another huge way that technology is bettering education is in the connectivity of the world that it enables. Virtual groups and discussion boards connect students to people around the world that know more than they do and are different from them, by doing this they are able to gain a larger perspective and understand the world around them better as a whole.

 

Although I’m sure the debate surrounding technology will continue for years to come, the benefits that come from technology in school settings and beyond are undeniable and will certainly continue to shape the course of learning forever.

 

Differing levels of education, or perhaps more accurately, differing qualities or extents of education, vary greatly depending on region as well as many of the other factors I have examined throughout the course of my past blog posts, but one that corresponds largely to the aspect of region is that of urban, suburban, or rural status.

Urban regions tend to be hubs of sorts. Hubs of culture. Hubs of intellect. Hubs of people naturally, but also hubs of poverty and hubs of high living costs. How does this all play into education? Well essentially in every way, with more people and more diversity comes a larger importance on the schools and the need for high levels of education, and high quality levels of education in order to better prepare citizens as positively contributing community members.

And this need corresponds quite directly to the reality of the differences and disparities between urban and rural educational results.

The graph above reflects the differing levels of education attainment between populations in the urban area versus those from rural areas, as well as between the year 2000 and 2016. Both regions reflect a positive change over the last 16 years as more people are recieving their college degrees and there are less people without at least high school diplomas. But it is clear that the urban populus has a higher percentage of individuals with college degrees and fewer individuals with high school diplomas or less. This statistic alone favors the educational opportunities in urban areas but when attempting to see a more wholistic view of educations across regions more than just numbers need to be examined.

There is a general consensus that although the statistics may show better percentages in urban areas that does not necessarily mean that their educational systems are “better.” Rural high schools largely depend on public or religious schools and often lack college level academics, meaning that there may be more high school graduates but the move to a college level degree would be harder to achieve. Urban populations often rely on public and religious institutions as well but due to the large number of citizens who populate cities there is also a larger push towards private institutions, institutions which often require money. But then within urban settings colleges are more readily accessible meaning that the transition to higher education could be somewhat easier for those who are already living in urban environments. What’s more the culture surrounding the educational environments is very different, with less emphasis put on the importance of education often in rural communities.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 1/4 of public school students attend rural districts and although the quality of these schools is often higher with a beneficial ratio of students to teachers and students to resources statistics show that many students do not go farther than a high school level degree. This has been decreasing but specifically white males continue to fall short in this category and are being surpassed by their white female counterparts, according to the article, “Solving the Rural Education Gap.” Sadly it is also much more challenging for minority populations in rural communities to statistically perform well. It is no surprise then that areas in which the educational levels are low there are worse economic outcomes, the root of many issues within communities stem from poor levels or poor qualities of education.

The challenges that face the urban community are more geared in the direction of lack of resources and educators as well as motivating students and general cost that is associated with high quality educations. Public schools too often do not support the high populations that crowd them in urban communities, there is then a push towards religious or private institutions which segregate students, face their own issues with diversity, and are exclusively geared, not towards the students that need the most help, but towards those already succeeding, those who excel athletically or musically, or those who have parents to fit the bill.

According to an article entitled, “Most Urban Schools in the U.S. Get a Failing Grade,” from Futurity, an online newspaper, out of the 50 cities they collected data in, less than 15% of the students took the SAT/ACT! This statistic alone is staggering, but then partner that with shocking statistics about the issues of racism, such as the fact that black students are twice as likely to recieve out of school suspensions, and we should be appalled as Americans that our cities are failing at educating the young people of our country.

This issue surrounding our educational system and where/how frequently it falls short could be discussed forever and analyzed again and again. The true question and discussion needs to be about what is next? How can we solve this issue? Because first and foremost we need to be supporting our young people to create a better environment for the young people to come.