The Influence of Modern Technology on Education Systems.
Written by Matthew Tacy.
Technology today has influenced schools in many ways both positive and negative. In my school experience we have had our work greatly improved by the increase of technology. It has changed how we do things and how efficiently we do things. Although this definitely has some drawbacks, in such a way that if we do not have access to the internet or power for our technology it hinders our work during that time period. On the other hand, we can turn in assignments digitally anytime, and share things digitally for group efforts. This technology is evolving constantly and being integrated into our school systems.
One huge topic I´d like to address is virtual classes. Virtual classes are classes offered online which in most cases are optional but provide further education and a even college credits. They can be trivial or difficult, depending on the class. They typically are using your personal time out of school so you gather a feeling of achievement like you’re exceeding so it’s good for moral but can also be stressful at times. Edtech Magazine´s author D. Frank Smith also informs that, ¨Each session can be programmed to exacerbate the classroom events and character quirks from any of the students, so educators can practice responding to a targeted behavior or even to student disabilities.¨ This is a major advantage with these classes allowing people with disabilities to continue to learn or further learn certain topics. For an example, I failed Biology during my sophomore year and then this senior year I have been granted what seems like a second chance at it with an online class. I have an online class now that if I pass I will get the F pulled from my transcript making me 4 year eligible.
Now let’s talk about how virtual classes can be inadequate. Most importantly one problem would be that you have to pay for most of these various classes, so if you’re a poverty stricken citizen who wants to get extra things done you are less likely to, simply because of your income and not being able to afford the class. Another immense problem is the lack of quality understanding associated with face to face contact or teaching as touched on in a New York Times article ¨We need to learn who the people in front of us are. We need to know where they are intellectually, who they are as people and what we can do to help them grow. Teaching, even when you have a group of a hundred students on hand, is a matter of dialogue.¨ So students may be learning less this way and reaching out for help is going to be increasingly difficult because the teacher could be all the way across the state from you. This personal teacher connection can prove to be very important for quality over ease of access.
Another huge advancement we have encountered is the use of our own pcs/ chromebooks. This personally has been the most luxurious change because we now can all work on everything in such a simple way being able to type away and find your homework online along with your grades. Everything is at our fingertips. Dian Schaffhauser states in her article ¨Charlotte-Mecklenburg began the evaluation for its latest device purchase (for 32,000 middle schoolers) by pulling together a dozen educators to test drive laptops, iPads and Chromebooks from a myriad of companies. The choices were ranked, and Chromebooks won.¨ This is important because many schools are integrating chromebooks making things extremely convenient and accessible. In addition these are now very affordable for schools really increasing the effectiveness of this whole movement and an entirety.
While they may sound nice they still have drawbacks as well as everything else. Its our responsibility to keep them in good condition and charged everyday. If you don’t have them charged you are at a huge disadvantage you now in school cannot see your grades, your assignments, you can even get detention or such because of not having it simply charged. If your chromebook gets damaged you are liable for paying for any of the damage that came that way and it can be very pricey the stakes are high and you must be responsible. I have damaged my chromebook slightly by mistake, I place my chromebook in my bag in the same orientation every time so over the 2 years the plastic on one corner has snapped, I’ll more than likely have to pay for that.
In conclusion technology in our schools is still an advancement consistently happening and whether or not your tech savvy that’s what this world is becoming fully tech capable which I personally love these are all very important to our communities keeping up to date every piece of technology is and achievement to me making us work much more effectively. I believe that we need these in all schools no matter what tech it may be computers, projectors, interwrite boards, chromebooks, etc. Just we all have to be mindful about all of this and be careful and thoughtful of the drawbacks.
