You know, what fascinates me oddly is how technology is transforming education. People (mainly students, teachers, and administrators) are affected by what technology is giving them. A lot of good has come from technology. However, there are problems that have arisen, and other problems that have not been solved. But, fortunately, the good has really outweighed the bad, and technology has blessed people with convenience, further comprehension, and various other perspectives on topics that would have otherwise remained obsolete or vague.
How is technology changing schools? It is changing right in the eyes of students, faculty, and even administration. For students, it is becoming a a necessity. Most of their assignments rely heavily on the use of a computer in one way or the other. Math courses require the use of calculators. Books, handouts, transcripts, and presentations are accessible on websites so students (need they be absent) can keep up with their lessons and lectures and not be lost from missing a day or two of studies. Students, when taking academic placement exams, do not have to wait for their results to be returned to them in a few days or so, but can receive their scores as soon as they complete their studies. Computers can also now create a new form of schooling: the online school. This is where students can have access to an education from their home via computer. This is a product of effective academic communication also, as things such as text messaging and e-mail can help create social networks with other students and teachers.
Teachers and other faculty members are able to access grades and teaching material via the Internet, reducing their workload at home and at school. This really reduces the back pain and stress of carrying grading notebooks, unbound papers, and teaching plans for the week. Faculty members are able to save paper by sending and receiving memos and important notices via email, rather than asking students to deliver notes or other critical information to other teachers or aides. Pedagogues do not need to rely on notebooks to plan out their day of teaching and grading students. Teachers do not have to make mistakes while creating and grading exams, as Scantron devices and tabulating machines can create, grade, and return tests and their scores to the students. This is a boon to students and administrative personnel, who usually bear the brunt of the teachers' demands and requests.
Administrators can listen to the needs of students and teachers with the aid of computers. Important forms are able to be posted on a school website, mainly as a portable document format. This is great for those who are unable to meet with the school administration in person or by phone. However, there seems to be some needs that cannot be fulfilled, and problems that have been created, by technology.
For students, the assignments that are being given are gradually relying on the use of a computer. It mandates them to have daily access to a computer. However, not all students are able to have access to a computer, because of parental constraints or possibly because of various other issues. Students have also been known to further compromise academic integrity by using electronic devices. There has been constant misuse of the school computers, and it has been noted that there has been cheating on tests with communicative means such as text messaging. Teachers have to bear the brunt of the students' antics with technological breakthroughs.
Teachers can have difficulty with what they are using to teach and grade students. Some teachers require further education in order to use the advanced equipment in order to teach certain materials, such as projectors and server networks. Teachers who are more used to grading by hand are unable to adjust to the new system incorporated by computers. Some teachers have difficult in utilizing the equipment, while others completely refuse using the said equipment, even if some aspect of their job requires its use. Administrators have to control the behavior of the students and teachers in order to have them cooperate with their protocols.
Administrators have to pay a lot of money for the technology. Some schools are unable to afford the required equipment, and by the time they gather enough funds for it, it is replaced with the same thing, but with various improvements and variations. If there is a problem with the equipment, a school day (approximately .555% of a school day) can be possible compromised due to the inability to maintain a roll call or grade a test. All in all, it is still controversial as to the fate of education.
Is technology really a boon, or a burden, to us? It is really difficult to tell. Moderation may be the key. Heavy reliance on technology may make it run efficiently in the short run, but can falter and hinder progress due to technological glitches, computer viruses, and various other problems. Minimal reliance on technology is becoming difficult because education is gradually requiring the use of some elements of technology. It is also on the attitude of the students. Students can be blessed with all the technological gains but will achieve nothing if they do not actually take time to study and understand the materials given to them. And viruses and glitches can create hysteria and cause resentment of progress. However, soon problems will be fixed, and the academic realm will reap the benefits of such technological breakthroughs.
