How Education is Being Changed by Technology

This Guest post is by Christine Kane from internet service providers, she is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.

When you think of a school setting what comes to mind? If you went to school anytime during the 1990’s or earlier you likely think of sitting in a classroom with your textbooks, pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. However if you’re a child of the 2000 era then your view of a traditional school setting is probably a little bit different. Technology has seeped into more and more aspects of the traditional school setting and slowly changed them to fit the emerging trends.

1.      From Libraries to the Internet

Before we had access to anything and everything at the touch of our fingers people did actually do research in books at libraries. However now that finding something is as easy as typing the topic into a search engine, it makes poring through books looking for the perfect morsels of information seem tedious and outdated.

2.      Online courses versus classroom setting

When online courses initially began being offered it was seen as a cop out, something that wasn’t nearly as challenging as a traditional class setting. However online education has taken the world by storm and now it’s become more the norm than the exception. It even helps cut back on spending for traditional schools, making it a win-win for everyone.

3.      Tablets taking over textbooks

Anyone who went to school before laptops and tablets took hold can attest to hauling around heavy backpacks laden with colossal textbooks. However more and more schools are adopting the practice of issuing each student their own laptop or tablet on secure networks so that they can submit homework and do research online.

4.      Lectures bring in YouTube

With the implementation of things like YouTube it has become easier than ever to make lectures more exciting by supplementing them with different short video clips. This is especially true for subjects like history because teachers can bring up all kinds of videos, such as old presidential campaigns or clips from movies. Being able to break up the monotony of lecturing helps keeps students more focused and engaged, and enables them to get more out of the whole learning experience.

5.      Shift in students

Before computers, tablets, and smartphones became the norm students came to classes ready to learn how to use computers, type, etc. However now children are exposed at a younger age to technology and many come into schools already being quite proficient with computers in every form. Students are becoming better at multi-tasking earlier on because of this constant exposure to computers, the internet, social media, and even video games.

Technology has been changing education steadily over the years, but recently has taken an even stronger hold in how the school systems work. We can only expect technology to continue to strengthen its footholds in education as it continues to grow.