Positives and Negatives of Technology in Education
Technology has come a far in the last decade and will only continue to grow. Everywhere you go you can see some sort of technology being used. One of the places where technology is really starting to become implemented is in education! Technology is education has come a long way from teachers having to rent out a classroom full of desktops to almost every kid now owning their own personal Chromebook or iPad. These resources have created huge impacts on education, both positive and negative.
Some of the positive impacts include:
Active learning - Teachers can receive instant feedback from students when creating digital work and lessons.
Countless Resources - Technology has created a world of opportunity for digital resources that, well let's face it, make learning fun! Between games, apps, and e-books students have a huge variety of things to utilize right at their finger tips.
Automated Tasks - Not only is technology beneficial for the students, but for the teachers as well. Keeping track of student attendance and performance no longer requires pages upon pages, but rather clicks upon clicks!
Some of the negative impacts include:
Distractions - Without proper monitoring and maintenance kids will find a way around doing the work they're supposed to and will distract themselves with other things to do on the technology.
Social Interactions - Having students glued to their technology all day can stop some of the once pleasant interaction and socialization among students. This can lead to a generation of shy and ineffective face to face communication skills.
Equal Access - While technology has become much more affordable in recent times, it is still not cheap. Some students can have a hard time gathering enough money for lunch let alone a +$200 piece of technology.
Technology in education in this era is a double edged sword. It definitely has its pros and cons. I believe if presented and monitored efficiently though it can make a huge impact on how students can learn in infinite amounts of new ways.
Source:
HIMMELSBACH, V. (2018, July 16). 6 Pros & Cons of Technology in the Classroom in 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018, from https://tophat.com/blog/6-pros-cons-technology-classroom/
Some of the positive impacts include:
Active learning - Teachers can receive instant feedback from students when creating digital work and lessons.
Countless Resources - Technology has created a world of opportunity for digital resources that, well let's face it, make learning fun! Between games, apps, and e-books students have a huge variety of things to utilize right at their finger tips.
Automated Tasks - Not only is technology beneficial for the students, but for the teachers as well. Keeping track of student attendance and performance no longer requires pages upon pages, but rather clicks upon clicks!
Some of the negative impacts include:
Distractions - Without proper monitoring and maintenance kids will find a way around doing the work they're supposed to and will distract themselves with other things to do on the technology.
Social Interactions - Having students glued to their technology all day can stop some of the once pleasant interaction and socialization among students. This can lead to a generation of shy and ineffective face to face communication skills.
Equal Access - While technology has become much more affordable in recent times, it is still not cheap. Some students can have a hard time gathering enough money for lunch let alone a +$200 piece of technology.
Technology in education in this era is a double edged sword. It definitely has its pros and cons. I believe if presented and monitored efficiently though it can make a huge impact on how students can learn in infinite amounts of new ways.
Source:
HIMMELSBACH, V. (2018, July 16). 6 Pros & Cons of Technology in the Classroom in 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018, from https://tophat.com/blog/6-pros-cons-technology-classroom/
Nice post, Matt. What I most appreciated about your post is your last line about having an infinite amount of ways to learn but I will also challenge you and say it also affords an infinite amount of ways to teach! And also when it comes to equalizing access to education can also be looked at a positive that if students can not afford to attend a high priced university there is an option to have that learning take place online.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteYou have some very valuable points in this post. It is important to bring up the fact that the technology in the classroom can be a distraction. With appropriate monitoring, I think teachers can get a handle on this con. It is crazy to think that when we went to school, the teacher had to check out the laptops for the students to use for the day.
I also like that you focused on the fact that teachers can get instant feedback from students. Creating digital work and lessons can help grab the students' interest.