Technology use in education is continually on the rise, as many people have probably experienced first hand now. Naturally, with improving features, it is only becoming more popular, and for good reason. Technology has many benefits for learning, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t have its drawbacks as well.
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For years, policy makers, teachers, parents, and students have been weighing the potential benefits of technology in education against its risks and consequences. The debate is more pressing than ever as more curricula incorporate technology and teachers experiment with new teaching methods. A major benefit is that it generates new learning opportunities as student engage in online practices with new models for collaboration and innovative learning strategies. It also promotes full participation through the use of tactics such as online polling, which in turn can provide good summative feedback for the teachers to evaluate.
Another big appeal is that technology introduces ways for learning to be more fun and effective. With different apps and platforms made for the classroom, there is no shortage of ways to make learning more interesting. Teachers can now even pose classwork as a type of fun game that students have to compete in to motivate them. There is also the basic overlooked benefit of speeding up simple tasks, thus providing more time for engaged learning. Students also have a much broader access to information with technology use, with everything they could need to learn right at their fingertips.
Of course, this poses the issue of possibly giving students more than what they need to succeed, and making them too dependent on having technology and all information right at the touch of a button, and more inclined to want to use it in situations to cheat or cut corners. It can also be a distraction in class when students start having too much fun with things like apps and games. The internet is a blessing and a curse. Students still have to learn how to find trustworthy, appropriate sources fro information, all while trying to stay away from the lure of online distractions.
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From my personal experience with technology in the classroom however, I find that it is mostly beneficial. Throughout the majority of middle school and high school, my school provided us with iPads. The transition in the very beginning was a little rocky, after being used to paper and pencil notes for so long, but it became so natural, that it was almost weird to leave it and transition back to computer and paper notes for college. My friends and I got extremely used to handwriting notes on the iPad screen and simultaneously using it for research. I can also vouch for the fact that it did make learning more engaging. We were given tools for applied learning and could also use apps like Kahoot more easily in class for a fun, competitive quiz environment that everyone always looked forward to.
Technology has definitely transformed education, and mostly for the better in my opinion. Moving forward, it will likely only continue to grow so we must keep a level of caution to not become overly dependent on our devices, and rather use them to supplement our learning.