Educational Technology
The best method for improving educational
standards is to utilize every tool
available, including state-of-the-art
technology. Computers and the Internet
have expanded the way in which
information can be delivered to the students of
today. Today's networking
technologies provide a valuable opportunity to
practice new learning
techniques. Educators are discovering that computers are
facilitating
learning. Computer based communications, or Telecommunications, can
offer
many educational opportunities; therefore, educators will need to
adapt
current teaching methods to incorporate this new media into the
classroom.
Computers have made a fundamental impact in most industries,
providing a
competitive advantage that has come to be essential to many
businesses.
Therefore, schools must also use technology to improve the
educational process.
School systems often consider purchasing a computer
network, and justify its
purchase by applying it to routine administrative
tasks, such as attendance
records and grading. While these tasks are very
important, they only show a
small part of what technology can do for a
school. Technology must go further
than simply keeping attendance; it must
focus on keeping students interested and
productive. Since computers and the
Internet have expanded in such a way in
which education can be delivered to
students, it is currently possible to engage
in "distance education through
the Internet. Distance education involves
audio and video links between
teachers and students in remote areas. Video
conferencing allows groups to
communicate with each other. Desktop video
conferencing promises to bring
students together from geographic and cultural
distances, face to face via
computer. Not only will the teacher talk to the
students, but the students
will be able to interact with each other. This will
make students more
interested and fascinated with learning. Not only does the
Internet and
video conferencing help education, but new programs designed for
educational
purposes are being developed. Dictionaries, encyclopedias and
atlases that a
student can access from his own computer can be a definite
advantage. For
example, instead of looking for a particular country and simply
finding out
where it is in a regular atlas, that can type in the name of that
country,
and not only will they find out where it is faster, but they will
obtain more
information about that particular country. Instead of having volumes
and
volumes of heavy encyclopedias, technology has enabled companies to place
all
of these massive books onto one small CD. This CD is much simpler than
the
unpleasant job of flipping page by page just to read about an
uninteresting
topic, such as history. Writing reports on a type-writer was a
displeasing
method to write term papers; especially if that student runs out
of white-out.
Certain programs offer a spell-checker, thesaurus, and
other helpful features,
which make writing that term-paper easier. These
particular programs are only a
few of the educational resources available to
students. Most educational boards
should be open to any new idea that
technology has to offer. It would not be
fair for a student in a particular
city to receive a better education than
another student in a different city.
Technology is not meant to replace
teachers, but is there to serve students
to make tedious tasks easier.
Therefore, this technology should be
available to every student, wherever they
may live. In doing this, it not
only needs the support of teachers and
educators, but it also requires
support from communities. However, technology
can not work by itself.
Teachers must take a position in designing a
tech-powered classroom
curriculum, devoting time to become familiar with the new
available
resources. Technology can also improve writing with the use of new
word
processing programs that provide easy to use tools that are not
normally
available in the classroom. Technology is able to help students in a
variety of
ways. By making learning more enjoyable, students will want to
learn and will
not see education as such a difficult responsibility.