Developing new and better methods for teaching and instruction is, and always has been, one of the primary goals of education. There are many things that teachers and experts use to mark the success of the current curriculum and teaching methods. One of the newest developments in classroom education is the extensive use of technology. Technology can advance traditional teaching techniques, facilitate a more engaging learning process, and help students be more successful in their studies.
Technology has many uses and applications within the schoolroom setting. Portable and light laptop computers and tablets have made the classes more enjoyable with interactive multi-media presentations rather than boring lectures. Students can take notes and conduct research faster and easier than ever before – research shows that, after just three months of practice, typing speed becomes much higher than handwriting. Education does not end when the school day ends because students are connected to their teachers, resources, and assignments through the internet which allows communication, research, and learning to continue once the student is home. Whether it is in the morning before class or at a late-night study session, that connection is there. Students also have access to help and tutoring anytime anywhere with the new technology that allows for online lessons, reviews, and mobile access to online resources. This has become especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic as virtual learning allowed for non-interrupted education when in-person schooling was not possible due to lockdowns. Most education experts agree that virtual learning is here to stay past pandemic.
Parental involvement has always been a very important factor in student success and achievement. Many parents have extremely full schedules and can’t always be there to help their child when they need it or be there for the parent-teacher conference. Technology can help fill in these gaps and keep parents involved in the education of their children. Parents can attend internet conferences or watch video recordings from the last conference they could not attend, they can contact teachers via email and through the school website, parents can stay in contact with their child’s teachers and be alerted of any problems that arise, and they can even keep up with attendance and grades with the use of new technology. The new advances and applications for education and technology can also help parents stay involved in their child’s life while when they cannot be there because it gives them a chance to talk to their children via email, instant messenger, or video chats.
Technology can also have a great impact on the way kids learn in the classroom. Inquiry-based projects that are founded around the interests of the students are more efficient at helping kids learn and apply material rather than simply memorizing and reciting facts and figures. This type of learning will help students build important skills like effective communication, teamwork, leadership, research and analytical skills, critical thinking, organization, and problem-solving. Technology can lend a hand and make the learning process more enjoyable and more applicable.
One interesting aspect of using technology in a classroom is enhancing students’ ability to focus and memorize new material. It has been proven that early age exposure to the Internet, TV, and video games causes somehow reduced response to conventional learning stimuli. Children get used to easily attain visual information with a very short retention span. Ironically, technology comes to help repair damage caused by another technology. There are now special types of video games that teach students to focus and retain acquired information. One of such games is Cogmed. This special program was developed by a group of European neuroscientists. Research studies claim that, by the end of the 5 weeks training program, some participants show working memory and attention improvement rates as high as 80%. Other studies claim that the effects are short-lived and, six months after completing the program, the residual effects are very minimal. Despite the conflicting studies, the Cogmed program is approved by American Psychological Association and it has been used in many schools in California and Massachusetts for memory and attention training. The program is mostly used for mitigating working memory and executive functioning deficits in children with learning disabilities and ADHD.
Critics rightfully point out that we live in an age when children have less and less face-to-face social interactions outside school (both with peers and parents). One of the few social interactions that children still have is with their teachers at school.
The use of technology can jeopardize these interactions and make education even more impersonal.
While this concern is certainly valid, the technology in schools is there to stay. The world around us is changing and the education system has to follow to remain relevant. Technology is essential in bridging the gap between the school and the "real world". Students learn better when they can see real-world use or application to what they are learning and technology now makes that possible. Students can create websites, blogs, and multimedia presentations that go along with their project or studies and it helps them see how they might use the information and skills they are learning outside of the classroom.
When we move towards the use of robotics and virtual and augmented reality in the classrooms, the obvious concern here is the initial cost involved. But in the long run, modern advances will more than pay for themselves in the improved learning and the money that is saved in other areas. Money is always an issue within the field of education and technology can help. Virtual field trips save on admission and transportation fees, electronic forms save on mailing and printing costs and help save paper resources, email notices make parent involvement easier, virtual labs save on costly materials and supplies, electronic textbooks can save students thousands of dollars during their academic career, and the thousands online resources that are available to schools and student for free will also help money and give students a better education. Technology is a very powerful tool for education; it has made its mark and will continue to influence classrooms and future generations to come.