Vision - Technology in Education

I believe that Technology has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on education.  The innovations in technology have been changing the way that teachers teach and students learn.  Technology has provided students with new opportunities to learn and also has defined how they learn.  Technology is having a positive impact on how material is presented to today’s learner.  It is enabling different styles of teaching, changing curricula and spawning rich forms of online exploration and collaboration.  Online learning is growing at a rapid pace as well.  The technologies we know now will change and may even come together at a progressively fast pace.

What it will mean to be an educated person in the 21st century?  This is a question that may not be able to be answered at this time, but schools need to improve their teaching methods to include technology so it prepares today’s students for the workforce that is using the latest technology.  These technological changes will change the skills and knowledge base of today’s learners and what will be the future workforce.  These changes will have a significant effect on education.  Over the next several years, more improved technologies will allow greater specialization in curriculum and teaching methodologies than ever before.  Technology has improved education and given rise to a generation of students who have never known life without a computer or the internet.  Technology can be such a useful tool in teaching.  Having teachers use technology will benefit them if we want students to understand and retain the information. 

The use of technology in school classrooms has evolved throughout the years, and has become revolutionary in changing the way we teach and learn. Our classrooms should no longer be confined to four walls and a few teachers who are considered to be experts in knowledge. Our classrooms need to keep up with a changing society and a new world that is dependent on technology. As students graduate, they need the technological skills needed to thrive in a world in which technology sets the pace.  Society expects the school system to produce functional citizens who have the skills to gain profitable employment, and not be a drain on the system.

In less than a decade, computer use progressed from programming classes for a few of the better students, to literacy classes for all students, to the integration of computers and other technologies into the curriculum. Now, there is a goal for educators to use technology as a tool in efforts to teach more effectively by using a variety of strategies to meet different needs in a diverse classroom. This will take training and commitment to keep up in the areas that change quickly, but the benefits to teachers and students are greater than the effort it will take to stay informed; computers increase productivity of students and make learning a fun experience. They help students become better problem-solvers instead of just rote learners.  This goal must be achieved by educators and will be extremely important in the next several years as education changes dramatically.

The use of technology in the classroom is changing the way that the role of the teacher is viewed.  Teachers have always selected the materials that students are to study, and then they present the material, and then give tests to evaluate how much the students have learned.  The teacher plays the role of an expert in the classroom as all learning decisions are made for the students.  Computers and other technological devices have supported a trend where teachers are viewed as motivators, challengers and critics as students lead the way and choose what they want to learn.  The teacher becomes a different kind of leader as the student takes on responsibility for his or her own learning.  Students are now experimenting in simulated worlds that are realistic; students learn first-hand about the consequences of wrong decisions and are becoming strong in solving problems.  We are living in a changing world and our schools must keep up.  Rote learning is no longer enough; students need more to have a successful life in a technological world.  The importance of technology in learning should never be disregarded, and it should be available to all students.

Teachers in the future will probably play more of a facilitator role rather than the expert transferring all of the knowledge.  The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is constantly challenging us to reconsider our roles as educators.  Learning will improve if teachers accept the fact that their students may learn in a different fashion than traditional learning and use the current technology to create opportunities for learning.  Teachers now and in the future have to realize that this generation, and future generations of learners need to be stimulated and would benefit from using technology to engage them while learning the material.  In the future, people will expect to be able to work, learn, and train whenever and wherever they want.

Today’s generation of students have grown up with technology all around them and have absorbed information using these technologies.  The result of this constant contact with technology has caused the younger generation to think and learn differently from the older generations.  This generation of learners is digitally stimulated and learns in different ways.  It is our responsibility as educators to realize that if our students know, use, and learn with this technology, we should be implementing it into our classrooms.  Our students definitely absorb information differently than generations before them.  Today’s technology has provided them with instant access to information by clicking a few buttons and it is readily available to them.  It is everywhere in today’s society and the younger generation has a need to use it constantly.  It is their main form of communication.  Educators need to bridge the gap between themselves, and what they know about the technology, and the students and their knowledge of technology.  Teachers need to accept technology and learn how it can enhance their curriculum and improve student learning at the same time.  This blending of both worlds will result in a more engaged learner.

Most people would admit that the technologies that exist today are far better than in the past.  The technology should not drive the curriculum, but it should complement it.  Our students definitely absorb information differently than generations before them.  There will be a larger amount of different types of technology available and used in the classroom over the next decade. 

 
I believe that students today have a need for technology and learn in a different way than previous generations due to changes in technology.  I feel that students can still learn in the same way that previous learners have, but the methods don’t have to be the same all the time.  A consistent blend of traditional and technology-enhanced learning is possible.  Today’s generation of students have always had the technology readily available to them, so they don’t really know a different way to access information and use it to increase their knowledge.  Our roles as educators are always changing.  The content may stay relatively the same, but how it is communicated to the students will have to continue to be evaluated and changed so they can be engaged and still be able to process the information.  If how they learn is changing, our role as educators needs to change so the learner benefits.  The ability to share information is instantaneous in today’s technologically rich world.  Education needs to embrace these different forms of technology and use them to increase student involvement, change the way students absorb information, and to improve the overall learning environment for the student.