Technology Essay
Delsie Lopez English 1
Technolgy is inevitable. How we use it is up to us, so let's use it to our advantage!
how using technology benefits classroom settings
Introduction To My Mission
In this growing digital world, technology in the class is vital for the future’s minds to become prepared for the job force, everyday life, and the new aspects of the technological revolution. Not only this, but technology improves the quality of education for each student, by encouraging independence and individuality, and most importantly, equality. The access of technology ensures each student, even children with disabilities or less understanding of certain concepts can have an equal opportunity to make the most of their education and be the best they can be. The argument that technology is distracting or bad for a classroom is because the classrooms are not using it to their best advantage. I believe, if computer, phones, and technology in general is implemented commonly on classrooms, it will be more a learning tool than a distraction.
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Technology In Classrooms Prepares Students For The Changing Workforce
Using Tech in School is Vital for the Minds of the Future
The Future Of Our Digital World
People say that technology is harmful because it takes away from face to face connection and working harder to do tasks, but what good will it do to complain that one doesn’t like technology or how we are using it? Technology is not stopping it immense growth anytime soon whether we like it or not, and it is prevalent in out futures and life. Technology will change jobs, home life, and everyday things such as travel and research. The job of a school and education is to prepare and educate students for their future so that the next generation of adults are intelligent and contribute to the workforce. As new as it is, technology and digital factors are a big thing know and in the future, so It is only logical to make use of it in a classroom setting. This allows students to become comfortable with technology, understand it, and prevent any students feeling lost or behind when they enter the “real world”.
Preparing Students For A Technological Future
Jobs and Workforce Effected by Technology
To support my claim, Masood Ahmed from the center of global development, calculated that “it is suggested that 47 percent of all jobs in the United States could be eliminated or significantly changed by computerization and intelligent digital technologies compared to 57 percent in OECD countries, 69 percent in India, 72 percent in Thailand, 77 percent in China, and 85 percent in Ethiopia” This is because, as AI (artificial intelligence) develops and becomes smarter each day, many jobs once done by humans will gradually be handed of to robots, and this means people will be out of work. This also means that some jobs students study for will not be secure, and this is not ideal. A secure job in this growing technological world, it is only logical to pursue a job in that field. The people working on this tech and AI most likely cannot be replaced by AI. Using technology in the classroom prepares students for secure jobs and the technological workforce they will enter after they graduate. This means that with technology playing being so relevant in our lives, students should have the opportunity to learn about and understand it so they will be prepared for when they graduate.
Preparing Students
The Minds of Tomorrow Need the Knowledge of Today to Truly Excel
With technology playing such a large role in our society, It is only logical for students to learn about it in school and practice using it so they can be ready for the world outside of their educational setting. In an article from Walden university provides many persuasive arguments for teacher to utilize tech in the classroom, one of them being that implementing powerpoints, blogs, google drive, research, and more train student minds to learn how to benefit from the internet and technology. Saying, “According to a CompTIA study, nine out of 10 students indicated that using technology in the classroom would help prepare them for the digital future. By teaching students skills like PowerPoint, you can help set your students up for success. Introducing instructional technology in the classroom at a young age can help prepare students for future digital demands.”Many of these factors are used in everyday life and jobs today and in the future. It is most logical that students should be prepared for the world around them at home and school, so they are never less powerful than technology, and are never afraid of these machines.
Education Should Adapt to The Needs of The Students
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"We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher's hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world"
David Warlick
Fear Of Technology
All through history, humans have been afraid of things they do not understand!
Many people are afraid of technology, afraid of its power, afraid of its effect on the world. Us as a people being afraid of something so small as moving parts and circuits only shows how much we do not understand it. When we implement technological learning in schools, we protect the future minds of ever feeling afraid or less powerful than something humans created ourselves! To explain, in the 1800's when the first railways opened, people feared trains. They believed the human body was not made for such a machine and it would not be safe. They believed telephones would give you electric shocks, and televisions were an evil force and controlled minds. These fears of the misunderstood have been around for centuries, and until they learned about these new technologies, that fear continued. This is why eliminating technology from education is never the answer. Especially because of how many educational application are on computers and phones, it's wasteful to not utilize them to both teach students common core, and technology at the same time.
In There Will Come Soft Rains, one may notice a fault of the humans that led to their demise. Ray bRadbury’s short story reads, "Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills." Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes. Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o'clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one! But no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels. It was raining outside. The weather box on the front door sang quietly: "Rain, rain, go away; umbrellas, raincoats for today. .." And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing.”. When one reads this passage, It is clear that the house is put in a more powerful position than the people who lived in the house. They let the technology, a robot, handle the bills on it’s own, keep memory or their dates and obligations, and basically run their life. The humans soon became controlled, because they never put themselves higher than the technology and they became less of people. They lost their own responsibility for themselves because instead of using the technology efficiently to their advantage, they misused the technology and lost their own selves. They clearly did not have a clear and educated understanding of AI if they let it in this position. We can prevent misuse, misdirection, and harm of technology becoming more powerful than humans by simply educating them on how to use it correctly. It is wrong to hide it away and try to push down a spring loaded box. Technology is inevitable, but how we control and use it must be up to us.
Technology helps students embrace Individuality and Independence
Use of Technology in School Encourages Students to Take Charge of their own Learning and Excel!
Building Bright Futures
The focus has been on the future and preparing young minds, but technology in a classroom does much more than that. Implementing technology in a classroom setting has many benefits, such as engagement, performance increase, and more. Technology allows students to develop a strong sense of both independence and individuality in a place previously mirrored with conformity and being fed the same information as everyone else, the classroom. Individuality and One’s own knowledge is very important and we should not all be getting the same information, so each individual can have the opportunity to have a unique outlook on life. A classroom can feed the same information to each student, limiting independence. Yet when they have access to almost all the knowledge in the world, they can explore and learn on their own.This increases passion and interest on learning, while engaging students in educational opportunities.
A New Perspective
My Own Interpretation of F451
In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the concepts of independence are strong. Seeing Fahrenheit 451 supporting technology may seem strange, but I found a different meaning from Ray bradbury's famous novel than I have seen in analysis and projects. The theme of individuality is constant, represented by the fact that books were banned to control the thoughts and information of their people. In the fear that someone would express individuality and they could not know what that person is capable of. On page 55, Captain Beatty addresses the fear of expressing ones individuality, “Surely you remember the boy in your own school class who was exceptionally ‘bright,’ did most of the reciting and answering while the others sat like so many leaden idols, hating him. And wasn't it this bright boy you selected for beatings and tortures after hours? Of course it was. We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute.” Technology in the classroom provides a way for students to learn on their own and by their ways, and access to a world full of knowledge. This represents books place in F451, and the conformity of the television can be greatly mirrored to the conformity of materials and information in a classroom without technology. This limits independence and exploration, and can leave a child without their own identity.
About Technology Essay
Building Bright Futures
The use of technology in the classroom allows students to take control of the what they learn in the best way. If they simply don’t understand a topic, the access to a world of knowledge, educational websites, and videos on every subject, each student has the opportunity to be the best student they can be, or more. Technology makes independence in the classroom extremely easy and beneficial to students engagement in the classroom. It allows students to research their own interests and allow them to control how they learn. In an article by Jacque Murray, entitled, 13 Reasons for Using Technology in the Classroom, In this article, Murray goes into detail on how using technology in the classroom can benefit the classroom setting, “It's easy for students to pursue anything they're curious about with technology. Make available online dictionaries to quickly look up unknown words. Teach students the tricks of quick and accurate online research... Tech makes it easy to provide options for accomplishing goals. Consider a book report delivered with Voki, Prezi, Glogster or a video. Students make a decision as to which approach is best suited to their communication and learning style” Murray argues that using technology allows students to learn on their own and review or skip materials. The ability to learn at their own pace helps students control and take responsibility for their learning and make sure they are learning in a way that allows them to excel in anything they put their mind too.
The "Hole In The Wall" Experiment
Independence and Curiosity of Students in the Digital Age
Studies have shown that students who are left alone with access to all of the knowledge in computers and technology, have been shown to take charge of what they are learning and curiosity drives their learning and exploration. A man by the name of Sugata Mitra, A Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, England. He is best known for his "Hole in the Wall" experiment where he
placed computers in walls (low in the ground to ensure it was only at children’s eye level) for students in a village in India, and let kids go on it, with no directions or assignments. Mitra states, “My wish is to help design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their innate sense of wonder and work together. Help me build the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. I also invite you, wherever you are, to create your own miniature child-driven learning environments and share your discoveries. The bottom line is, if you're not the one controlling your learning, you're not going to learn as well.” This experiment was proven to not only learn to search the Internet for answers to questions in a few months time, but teach themselves enough English to use email, chat and search engines, form independent opinions and detect indoctrination, and improve their mathematics and science scores in school. This shows that when students have access to technology, they can truly be the best students they can be, and teach themselves their interests and grow as learners.
Equal Opportunity
How Technology in a Classroom Enables Every Child to Succeed
Students with Disabilities and Assistive Technology
Enabling Each Student To Have Equal Education No Matter What
Technology in the classroom setting enables each student in that class to have an equal opportunity to succeed, and never be held back or seen as not smart due to disabilities or different learning styles and understanding. In the past, students with disabilities, whether physical or mental, were unable to reach the same level of education as other students. Whether this was because lack of special instruction, suffered from low motivation, could not complete assignment the same, or did not receive the specialized help needed. This is unfair, and each child should have the chance to be an incredible student. Technology has turned their world around, in a very positive way,. Today, each child can learn and grow at their true pace, while still excelling. Whether students have physical impairments, dyslexia or cognitive problems, assistive technology can help them to function within the classroom. The Masters in Special Education Program states, “Students with learning disabilities like dyslexia can use electronic worksheets to complete their assignments. These worksheets help students to line up words, equations and numbers on their assignments. On some of the worksheets, text-to-speech or speech synthesizing technology is even available...Everyone has a different learning style, and many students struggle with understanding auditory lectures. For these students, a variable speed recorder is an ideal solution. In essence, the student just has to hit record while they are in class. Afterward, the recording can be slowed down or sped up for the student to listen to it again and again. If the pitch of the recording is hard to understand, students can modify the pitch up or down to make their lectures more accessible.” These tools and many more allow students struggling to learn as well as any other student and make sure their future is bright.
"In education, technology can be a life-changer, a game changer, for kids who are both in school and out of school. Technology can bring textbooks to life. The Internet can connect students to their peers in other parts of the world. It can bridge the quality gaps."
Queen Rania Of Jordan
Individual Learning
Use of technology in the classroom encourages individual learning and exploration of information. This is because by allowing students to take control of how they learn, they can control their education to best cater towards them. In an article entitled Top 6 Benefits of Using Technology In the Classroom by Pano Savvidis says, “No one learns in the same way because of different learning styles and different abilities. Technology provides great opportunities for making learning more effective for everyone with different needs. For example, students can learn at their own speed, review difficult concepts or skip ahead if they need to. What is more, technology can provide more opportunities for struggling or disabled students. Access to the Internet gives students access to a broad range of resources to conduct research in different ways, which in turn can increase the engagement.” This Article explores many points and “pros” of technology in an educational environment. It acknowledges benefits such as collaboration, teacher benefits, and engagement. Many students have different ways of learning and abilities, and with the use of technology in the classroom, kids are able to learn at their own speed, review difficult topics, and skip ones if they have a grasp of them. Technology allows students to explore knowledge on their own and control their learning.
Conclusion
Technology is a grand part of our future and world, and it will only grow up from here. The education system’s goal is to prepare students and allow them to flourish and grow. Technology only helps, due to the ever changing workforce, independence, and equal opportunity. In this day and age, understanding technology and embracing this power is how we can make the most of technology. So why is technology in school so important? Because the minds of tomorrow should have every chance to be successful and the best student they can be.
"There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails."
Kassebaum
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Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray, and Neil Gaiman. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2018
Mitra, Sugata. “Build a School in the Cloud.” TED, www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud
“13 Reasons for Using Technology in the Classroom.” TeachHUB, www.teachhub.com/13-reasons-using-technology-classroom.
Ahmed, Masood. “Technological Revolution and the Future of Work.” Center For Global Development, www.cgdev.org/blog/technological-revolution-and-future-work.
Walden University. “Top 5 Benefits of Technology in the Classroom.” Walden University, Walden University, 5 Feb. 2019
Bradbury, Ray. There Will Come Soft Rains. Diesterweg, 2012.
“5 Examples of Assistive Technology in the Classroom.” Masters in Special Education Degree Program Guide, www.masters-in-special-education.com/lists/5-examples-of-assistive-technology-in-the-classroom/
Top Benefits of using technology in the classroom by Pano Savvidis
Webanywhere.co.uk. “Top 6 Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom.” Webanywhere Education Blog, 27 July 2018, www.webanywhere.co.uk/blog/2016/02/top-6-benefits-technology-classroom
“Using Assistive Technology to Support Learning.” YouTube, 30 Jan. 2015, youtu.be/b0udSG_OyT0.