Is Technology Hindering Student’s Academic Performances?
If someone were to imagine a classroom, what would come to their mind? Chances are, they imagined a static image: chairs arranged in neat little rows, a teacher’s desk, and a whiteboard/chalkboard on the front wall.
But in the year 2018, are classes truly like this? Isn’t this image outdated?
What about all the technology?
Of course, this refers to the implementation of digital teaching methods in recent years. High school students receive laptops with digital textbooks rather than the cumbersome paper copies. Middle schoolers, too, often read their homework from a screen. Student’s grades are a tap of the finger away, along with all their assignments and received points.
But is technology actually hindering student’s performances?
The answer is, of course, no. Why would it?
When ancient-era computers (left) were released, was it viewed as a hindrance? Of course not! It was an advancement in technology, a step forward to a brighter future. There had suddenly been a much easier and cleaner method for writing and holding mass amounts of information. Yet, in the classroom, technology can be viewed as taboo: even though it has done far more help than harm.
But how? A paperback book and a book PDF file hold the exact same information, but information being delivered through a screen is vastly more interesting to a child: a bit like serving cough syrup with sugar. In fact, regarding Kahoot, a popular educational quiz game, the results of using the site twice a week had many positive effects. Rowan University’s study on Kahoot states that student’s vocabulary test scores improved, as well as the student’s abilities to focus. A seperate study, also from Rowan University, states that student scores “significantly improved” upon the use of technology for educational purposes.
However, the benefits of using technology in schools go beyond the classroom. It is no secret the world is quickly reaching a digital era, where all jobs require experience with machines. Name any job, and it will require the employee to have some level of experience with technology. Doctors use high-tech machines to perform surgery. Jobs like accounting and law enforcement require technology to communicate. Even librarians have to use a computer server to host information of where a book’s location and price is.
Using technology in educational scenarios is not a bad thing. It is not “giving in” to millennial pressure. It isn’t doing anything to our system but enhancing it, and it is doing nothing to our youth but preparing them for their high definition future.
