Technology In Education - Essay Example

Through technological advancement, most of the human needs and actions are conveniently carried out. In most sectors, the use of technology increases the efficiency of the operations and reduces the time involved in undertakings. These benefits are common to all sectors that have implemented the use of technology in their operations. However, technology does not only come with benefits but limitations too. The benefits to education might be universal like benefits that cut across all sectors like convenience, speed and efficiency. The challenges, on the other hand, are specific to the situation in which technology has been applied. The main argument, given as to why technology is a problem is based on the fact that it is expensive to implement, and it cannot be efficient in the dissemination of knowledge as teachers. In the education sector, increasing technology use will have the several benefits to both the students and teachers alike. First, combining the aspect of technology has the potential of improving the productivity of the teacher while also encouraging a faster learning of the students. For instance, the use of laptops, while the teacher is offering instructions in class, will eliminate the need for whiteboards. The white boards are not effective because the presentation of information is based on the teachers ability to write on this board. However, through technology, the presentation of content has no visual or ability barriers as the content is drawn or written as it should appear. Secondly, the use of technology in a class has the highest chance of increasing the efficiency of teaching. The time needed to capture the notes and learning materials is reduced and large database of information can be easily shared amongst the students in a matter of seconds. Apart from this fact, a large volume or pool of information is available on the internet that can be exploited through technology. This considerable reduction of time and the large pool of information conveniently available through technology are the main aspects that make technology an efficient tool in learning (Brock 1994). From this preceding discussion, technology in the education is painted in a positive way. In most cases, technology like laptops and IPads can be used to give lesson instruction even if the teacher is in a remote location. This is made possible by the use of the internet and telecommunication devices. Teachers can be physically absent from the classroom area but still get through with issuing instructions to learners through technology. The ability of the teacher to be away from a classroom and still be able to give instructions is a subject that raises concern. The concern here is that can technology exist in education without instructors or a teacher. Many people believe and know that technology in education is very essential in offering great opportunities to learners. However, the ability to replace teachers is a position that many would debate against. The main reasons for the inability of technology to replace teachers are attributed to the unique roles of teachers in schools. First, in a classroom setting, the teacher is not just a source of instructions to the students. This role can be effectively replaced by any gadget. The connection between the students and the teacher is essential to making a customized learning concept to the students. The computer system or any technology cannot understand each student at a personal level, but a teacher can deduce this psychologically. This implies that despite the computer system being an efficient method or teaching aid, it cannot produce a similar quality of work as a human instructor would do. The reason behind this notion is that the teacher can understand the students, connect with them psychologically and create a conducive learning environment. Teachers or instructors also act as models that encourage the learning process of students (Blake 2013). A computer system might display a high power and proficiency in delivering in a subject area like in arithmetic. The students would not believe that they too can be of the same power as the computer simply because the computer system is not human. On the contrary, when a human instructor delivers proficiently in a class, the students are likely to be inspired to do the same. This inspiration to be like the instructor is motivated by the fact that human ability are almost equal, and one can work. Technology, as presented in this paper, cannot replace the teacher but remains an important aspect of learning in schools. Its importance stems from the myriad of benefits that combining an instructor and technology comes with. Integrating Technology within classroom is therefore and essential process that should be undertaken to improve the quality of learning. This integration process requires the participation of all the stakeholders in developing or modifying the current policies that govern the flipping of classrooms through technology. Current education policies for flipping a K-12 classroom through technology require the teachers or the instructors who make presentations for students to adhere to the rules regarding their use. The most notable rule concerns the equitable use of such technology. For instance, it provides that all students must access such presentation within the classroom (K-12 Blue print 2014). The aim of this is to eliminate the disadvantage of some students failing to view the presentation due to lack of resources at home. In district 75, the initiative that has been launched to support the learning of students through technology is a one to one IPad project (iPads in D75 2014). The project has been initiated in selected seven high schools in the district and aims at investigating some aspects of using technology in learning. The aspects investigated are the ease and effectiveness of learning, school attendance, and the ability to extend learning to beyond a class equitably (iPads in D75 2014). Critics to equity position would argue that it is necessary to use technology if the student has ability to and should not be within the K- 12 policies. According to this school of thought, the notion is that a different relaxed setting other than the classroom would provide a better learning atmosphere. What the group does not understand is that it would be unfair if these presentations were meant for an environment outside the classroom. To this fact, the reasoning remains the accessibility of the information by all students. Policy suggestion to improve the handling of classroom flipping to include technology can be handled school district level or within individual schools. At district level, a complete ban on flipping or imposing a requirement on parents to purchase communication gadgets to students in a particular grade are viable options. A complete ban will sure have negative impacts, but it is one way of ensuring that the level of equity is maintained. Imposing requirements on the parents to purchase the gadgets, on the other hand, has several benefits but would be met with general public resistance. This resistance to the move would be a consideration mainly because these communication gadgets are not cheap. As such it will impose a financial burden to the parents of the students. Because of the expensive nature of these gadgets, some schools in New York City have decided to buy for their students these gadgets, specifically, iPads (Hu, 2011). For instance, schools in New York City have ordered more than 2000 iPads for their students (Hu, 2011). The total costs of these iPad are approximately 1.3 million US Dollars. Kinsbridge International High School that is situated in Bronx was the highest beneficiary, with 300 of these ipads going to the school (Hu, 2011). Money used by these schools to order iPads emanated from grants provided by the Federal Government (Hu, 2011). In conclusion, technology is an important tool for enhancing the learning process in the education system. Technology will lead to a faster more efficient and better understanding of the concepts taught in class. However, the use of technology cannot replace the teacher or the instructor. The reason for not replacing the instructor is that instructors connect well with the learners to develop a novel learning approaches. It is, therefore, a necessity to develop policies that will facilitate the effective integration of technology in to the education system. References Blake, R. J. (2013). Brave new digital classroom: Technology and foreign language learning. P. 14 Brock, P. A. (1994). Educational technology in the classroom. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Educational Technology Publications. P. 24 Hu, W. (2011, January 4). Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?_r=0 K-12 Blue print (2014). Thinking of flipping: Policy considerations for school leaders. Intel Education Ipads in D 75: implementing the 1to1 iPad program, 2014. Available at [24th March 2015] Read More