Incorporation of Technology into Modern Education
Education has long been a part of our society. In order to keep society progressing forward, education must also progress forward. Part of this forward progression is the incorporation of technology into modern education.
Technology has always been in schools. The development of things like the overhead projector, typewriter, and blackboards have all played key roles in education. However, the pinnacle of technological advances has been the introduction of the computer into the classroom. Since the computer first entered the classroom in the early 1980?s as more than just a tool for school officials, student?s exposure to the ever-changing world of technology has nearly quadrupled. Based on a study done by the National Center for Educational Statistics, between the years of 1984 to 1996, the percentage of 4th, 8th, and 11th graders who reported using a computer for activities at home and at school at least once a week increased substantially. Tables 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, represent that data by grade level over a twelve-year period (table values are representative of percentages);
( Table 1.1 )
Grade 4
Reason for Use 1984 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996
To play games 71.8 79 84.5 82.8 87.4 89.7
To learn things 67.9 70.4 75.8 82.9 82.1 87.5
To write papers 23.4 39.6 48.6 56.9 68.3 79.2
( Table 1.2 )
Grade 8
Reason for Use 1984 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996
To play games 84.1 85.3 83.7 84.7 86.8 89.1
To learn things 58.2 73.7 70.5 72.8 76.4 82.6
To write papers 15.1 58.4 61.3 73.1 82.3 91.2
( Table 1.3 )
Grade 11
Reason for Use 1984 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 ...
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...ogies not only have the potential to transform education, but also will change society in ways that make educational reform all but inevitable.
References
Khouri-Daghner, Nadia. Computers in Schools, a Virtual Revolution? Unesco Sources, April 1998. http://www.britannica.com/education/technolgy. [ Online ] March 7th, 2001.
Stellin, Susan. Shift for Education Technology Policy. New York Times, 2001. http://www.notesy.com. [ Online ] March 5th, 2001.
Strommen, Erik F. Constructivism, Technology, and the Future of Classroom Learning. Childrens Television Workshop, 1992. http://www.ilt.columbia.edu. [ Online ] March 7th, 2001.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. National Assessment of Educational Progress.
http://www.UnitedStatesDepartmentofEducation.com Almanac: Writing 1984 to 1996, 1998. [ Online ] March 7th,2001.
Andrew Zucker examines computer use in the United States in both elementary and secondary education. It addresses issues such as teacher training, technology availability at home and in schools, and current technology projects that were ongoing at this time. The article ends by discussing computer usage in schools in a larger context, which provides a different perspective on educational technology.
“Technology has provided the opportunity to create an entirely new learning environment; it has significantly increased the range and sophistication of possible classroom activities” (Hawkins 1997). The vast majority of youths today, grow up with computers and encounter some form of digital learning (Kolikant, 2009). The idea that has had the most impact is that the technology today will be outpaced by the next generation. Most of the technology seen today will never be used by an infant when he reaches school age.
Technology is growing every day. We use technology for everything we do, sometimes without even thinking about it. In our world, these advancements are used for communicating, entertainment, and education as well as others. Since technology is so ingrained into our lives, how much we use and depend on it is often not thought about. Our education system is on the front end of using new technology in classrooms. More and more class room and teachers are weaving it into their lesson plans and making it more available for students to use in the classroom. Technology is changing the way students are educated in America and across the world. In this paper I will discuss several ways that this can be seen and improved.
“Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other. And we need them all” (Re-inventing 1995). These words spoken by the distinguished author, Arthur C. Clarke, bring to light where exactly the technological situation in education is and the direction it is going. The discussion and debate of introducing and improving classrooms with technology has been a relatively heated topic as of late. Many have even claimed that if schools are to survive it is imperative for us to stand back and carefully rethink our notions of intelligence, learning, instruction, and evaluate the situation in light of the new age of communication. In discussing the use of technology in education a distinction needs to be made between itself and ‘tech ed’. The common definition of technology education is that it is an action based program for all students to use resources to design, produce, use, and assess the impacts of products and services that extend human potential to improve and control the natural and human made development (Patterson 1999). While these skills and practices are integrated into using technology in education it does not fully explain or utilize what is needed to provide affective technology in the classroom. A mission of this program is to help students apply technology to effectively make decisions and contribute to a rapidly changing technological society. But more than that, the purpose is to give students the best possible education for their generation with the suppli...
Technology in the classroom can be a good thing for many students. For example, it gives students easy access to information, but it isn’t always the best thing. Technology helps raise the illiteracy rate higher as it is used in school. In 2009, about 97 percent of classrooms had at least one computer in the classroom everyday, although approximately 54 percent could bring their own computers to their class. There was internet access available for almost 93 percent of the computers in the classrooms. Otherwise, 96 percent of the computers were brought in to the students. The average ratio of students to computers was 5.3 to 1. Since 2006 the spending rate for each school in the United States has increased about 1,250 dollars. It’s rate in 2011 was almost 10,250 dollars per pupil. Although technology can help many students and teachers, due to the fact that the use of it gets abused by some students therefore it isn’t the greatest to have at our fingertips.
Schools are still expected to provide books, pencils, and paper; however, they are now also expected to budget in computers, scientific calculators, and DVD players. Computers cost up to one thousand dollars a piece; scientific and graphing calculators cost around one hundred dollars a piece; in addition wiring the schools to accept this new technology can cost thousands. The cost to implement technology into our schools is enormous, tens of thousands per school, and millions per school system. In the 21st century, people are becoming more and more dependent on technology. We rely on computers and cell phones more than books and meeting people face-to-face. The internet is becoming a main source of information and communication. Schools, as the primary educational source, must then teach children at a young age how to use technology as an efficient and effective tool.
Traditionally the word knowledge conjures thoughts of comprehension, intelligence, discovery, realization and information. The following essay is aimed at exploring the notion that knowledge develops through time as well as the way reasoning and perception make the knowledge humans have today much more advanced. Throughout the decades disagreements and curiosity were key for new findings, which eventually led to the discarding of other realizations made in the past. Knowledge is defined as “facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject” (Knowledge). In my opinion, I would also interpret that; knowledge is regarding the accuracy of our acquaintance with existence, more importantly how accurately our concepts and statements represent existence. I believe that the two ways of knowing, reason and perception have greatly helped the development of knowledge in both history and the naturals sciences, but to what extent has knowledge been discarded due to new findings?
2.Guralnik, David B. Webster’s New World Dictionary. The United States of America.World Publishing Company. 1980
Education always tries to be as efficient as possible, and so the combination with technology, was inevitable. From the blackboard to the whiteboard and from the overhead projector to the computer projector, there has always been gradual up-scaling of technology in the classroom. Information technologies are keeping suit, and are being adopted into schools with open arms. Some schools, especially colleges, even go so far as to require computers (McCune pg. 3). Well over half of the schools in the United States today have been upgraded to include
“That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.” Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge.”
Over the past two decades technology has become an integral part of daily life and is an important resource for education. The landscape of education has changed dramatically and
Using technology in education for the purpose of better understanding is a positive step taken by most of the schools, colleges and universities all around the world. Technology can play vital role in improving education systems. You can see electronic gadgets and computers being used in schools, colleges and universities. Audio visual tools are developed to teach complex topics to students in fun way. Faiza Abdur Rab, in her articles ‘Recreational Activities vs. Studies’ said that the lifestyle and education had become more competitive as science and technology is progressing (Rab, 2009). This advancement had brought many noticeable changes in methods and approach of learning and education. This progress is making people of the developing countries to meet the challenges of world. This is also helpful in improving the style and standards of living.
Technology affects every aspect of our lives. From romance to business, it has shown its presence everywhere. But technology has had a huge impact on education that cannot be denied, and has done nothing but improve the quality and quantity of education.
Computers have been in the schools since the 1960s, but they were not used in the same capacity as they are used today. The use of computers is still expanding, and the future of education is very exciting when the full extent of this revolutionary phenomena is realized. In the 1960s computers were not widespread and most people who were educated during this decade hardly remember them at all. In the 1970s computers became smaller and less expensive, but the schools still did not use them much throughout most of the decade. By the end of the seventies, computer use in the schools started to increase. Students began to have hands-on experience.
As time goes by, advances in technology will provide more and more avenues for learning by way of the computer. The Internet has opened the doors of the world and unleashed limitless possibilities in research and education. It may be only a matter of time when the classroom is brought online to all children and attending a school classroom outside the home is a thing of the past. Looking back over the last 20 years, I never would have imagined that computers would come this far and impact our lives so much. Just imagine where they will be 20 years from now.