Technology in the Classroom
Technology plays a crucial role inside and outside the classrooms in the contemporary society. Technological tools, for instance, computers, tablets and other devices have the power to influence the learning of students in achieving their goals. Learners carry Smart-phones that are far more powerful to the classroom to use them for learning purposes. Technological tools which include, cellular phones, personal music and portable video game systems. This technological have been seen to be both beneficial and distractive in the classroom because of the impacts they have on the creativity and innovativeness of the learners. However there also exist other technological tools which positively impact on the instructional experiences of all students. New technologies such as smart boards, the internet and e-books allow students to access information in an easy way unlike before when they relied on traditional methods. This essay discusses the extent to which technology should be used in the classroom and its impacts on learners.
The current technologies that are being used in the classroom should be used to a certain extent because they have both positive and negative impacts on both the learners and teachers. Although they prove to be expensive, the advantages they provide students have been clearly observed for instance, they help to create a more dynamic environment which engages today’s students. Using technology, a teacher is able to determine how each student is learning and use the information to make a difference with every child. The use of hand held devices aids in understanding each student and know how they are grasping the material thus making the teachers to be able to assess the capabilities and creativity of each leaner. Incorporating e-mails links to web pages, and text messaging in order to communicate to students helps to improve the skills of the students in various technological fields. Technology provides a personalized learning experience for a rapidly growing, diverse body of students who have different knowledge and academic backgrounds (Butler, Andrew, et al 339).
Technology should be integrated into the classroom to an extent in which it enables students to learn and get the requisite skills that are required for life. Technology resources infused into classroom instruction should create engaged and better students so that the students can be able to create meaningful connection or aid in creating classroom content rather than simply using the tradition way of auditory learning. Technological tools have provided the opportunity to create an entirely new learning environment and increase the range and sophistication of possible classroom activities because teachers use them to prepare a techno savvy generation to function in a complex demand culture. Technology is essential in many aspects of the contemporary society because it makes it easier for people to perform their duties more efficiently. This can only be achieved if teachers incorporate some practical training through successful models in trying to make the learners to be techno-savvy so that they can easily cope up with the ever-changing world. Technology that is used should support what the students are learning rather than replace the traditional ways of imparting knowledge on learners. Implementation of technology in the classroom does not mean a radical change from the traditional way but it needs more than making learning activities digital. The technology that is used in the classroom should create ‘contexts for authentic learning that use new technologies in integrated and meaningful ways to enhance the production of knowledge and the communication and dissemination of ideas (Montrieux 18). The technology that is integrated into the classroom should be checked to a level that supports innovation rather than that one that makes students to be lazy.
Integrating technology in the classroom demands teachers to acquire new technological and pedagogical skills because teachers need skills to be able to transform the learning content and make it easier for students to understand. However, it is known that most of the teachers integrate technology in order to provide content in a digital way, instead of using them to enhance learner-centered approaches. Technology should aid teachers to easily covey the message to students in ways that are best understood by learners because the use of technology in the classroom has shown that students become more innovative and creative. For instance, the iPad device is desirable and innovative because it is sleek, shiny and relatively compact and thus making learners to like using it in the classroom. The resolution and long battery life of the device makes it an attractive alternative to a traditional textbook or notebook that can be used in the classroom. Learners should be made to understand that technology is both relevant and critical to the course content and in real life situations. Teachers should be mindful to integrate and asses how the technology that they use enhances student productivity both in the classroom and in real life situations. Using technological tools like computers in teaching creates interest among makes students to be interested in what they are learning and thus want to try out new things. Traditional methods of teaching create boredom and thus technological tools can be used to stir up things in the class and make learners to be more active. Traditional methods of teaching should not be done away with but they should just be complemented by the use of technology in the classroom. There is a passionate affair between young children and animations which appear on technological tools as compared to illustrations which has been drawn by the teacher on the traditional blackboard. Technological tools are also helpful for the reason that they are a quick way to get information which is vital to the learning process. Students can skim through various sites on the internet to learn more about what they have learned in the classroom or to clarify a point they did not understand. Students greatly can benefit from vast information that is found on Google through the use of technological tools. The slow moving pace of other students in class can also greatly benefit because they would use the time outside classroom to learn new things using technological tools. Those who have difficulties in understanding and also keep switching schools will not be negatively affected because all learners provided with technological tools to help them to access the syllabus. Interactions and opportunities for collaboration are vital in teaching, learning and collegiality in the classroom, for example, iPads can address Peer-to-Peer, Student-to-Faculty and Student-to-Content types of interactions. Access to a variety of cloud-based platforms enables students to co-create and co-edit many different types of documents and thus improving efficiency in the learning process (Edmonds and Ruch 128).
Educators should not let technology to take up their role of teaching students but it should only facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the teachers to the learners. Technology should be introduced in the classroom at a stage where learners have the ability to acquire skills without depending on technology. If technology is overused by the learners then the students especially those who are in elementary school will not acquire any hands on techniques. This is because the excessive use of technology affects the creativity and innovation of learners. Learners can have their creativity affected through the excessive use of technological tools which expose them to high intensity images. Excessive use of technology in the classroom denies learners the opportunity of applying what is learnt in class to the real world because they rarely visit the field. The students over depend technological tools which display pictures as they appear in the field and therefore they see no need of practically visiting the field. Students just turn to their computers and other technological tools like tablets when a demonstration of a field lesson is needed instead of going to the field to get first hand information. This denies learners the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques by going to the field and carrying out demonstrations which could give them diverse experiences. Technology has made the learners in the contemporary society to be robot like in that they cannot thing creatively but just know how to type commands that are executed by technological tools like computers.
Technological tools are essential in today’s classroom but their excessive use interferes with the creativity and innovation of students. Technology should be used but to an extent that does not tamper with the creativity of learners because the excessive use of technology can have detrimental effects to the learners. Technology should not replace the traditional methods of teaching in the classroom but it should just be used to facilitate the learning process.
Works cited
Butler, Andrew, et al. “Integrating Cognitive Science and Technology Improves Learning In A STEM Classroom.” Educational Psychology Review26.2 (2014): 331-340. Professional Development Collection. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Edmonds, Jennifer, and Matthew Ruch. “Ipads in the Business Classroom.” Business Education Innovation Journal 7.2 (2015): 127-134.Business Source Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Montrieux, Hannelore, et al. “Teaching and Learning with Mobile Technology: A Qualitative Explorative Study about the Introduction of Tablet Devices in Secondary Education.” Plos ONE 10.12 (2015): 1-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.