Technology In Education
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 education can be delivered to the
students of
today. Today's networking technologies provide a valuable
opportunity to the
practice of learning techniques. Educators are discovering
that computers and
multi-based educational tools are facilitating learning
and enhancing social
interaction. Computer based telecommunications can offer
enormous instructional
opportunities, but educators will need to adapt
current lesson plan to
incorporate this new medium into all the classrooms.
The only problem is that
some of today's schools are hindered by an
underpowered technology based
curriculum and, in order to stay competitive,
the American educational system
must do a better job of integrating.
Computers have made a fundamental change in
most industries, providing a
competitive advantage that has come to be essential
to stay in business.
Therefore, education must also use technology to improve
the educational
process instead of simply applying it to existing structures.
School
systems often consider acquiring an enterprise computer network, but
justify
its purchase by applying it to routine administrative tasks, or take
period
by period attendance. Although these tasks are important, they only
represent
a small part of what technology can do for an educational
institution.
Technology must go beyond just keeping attendance; it must
focus on keeping
students interested and productive. "Curriculum improvement
is the best
strategy to prevent dropouts; technology is especially useful in
this
regard". Technology can provide a unique and compelling curriculum
resource
that challenges every student. The Clinton administration has taken
steps
towards improving educational standards via its "Goals 2000:
Educate
America Act of 1994" However, several interpretations of the Act
never
mention the use of technology. Advocates of the Act need to realize
that
Internet linked computers can provide more current information than
what is
found in today's "exciting" textbooks. For example, science
textbooks
and history textbooks are notoriously out of date. In contrast, the
Internet
offers students a vast pool of current scientific data. Most of the
time the
Internet makes learning fun, unlike the plain fashion of
the
"almighty" textbook. Computers and other technology can also
heighten
the learning process by actively engaging students in the task of
exploring
data. Some students may be tempted to simply download information
from the
Internet that does not have anything to do with a particular
subject that they
were asked to research. This shows that the Internet may
have a greater impact
to education than to learn that information from a
typical textbook. Since
computers and the Internet have expanded the way with
which education can be
delivered to students, it is currently possible to
engage in distance education
on specialized subject and fields through the
Internet. Distance education
involves audio-video linkage of teachers to many
students and even in remote
areas. Video conferencing allows groups to
communicate with each other. Desktop
video conferencing promises to bring
student together from geographic and
cultural distances face to face via
computer. Students in New York City will be
able to learn about a Chinese
culture, not only through books, but also from
Chinese students. Not only
will the teacher talk to the students but also the
students will be able to
interact with each other. This will make the students
more interested and
fascinated with learning about another culture. Not only
does the Internet,
and video conferencing help education, also Microsoft has
created new
programs for designed for educational purposes, some of these are
"Encarta
World Atlas" and "Encarta Encyclopedia." These two
particular programs make
learning easier and more enjoyable, all because of the
use of the CD-ROM
device. Instead of looking for a particular country and simply
finding out
where it is in a regular atlas, students 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, Microsoft has placed all of these
massive
books into one light 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. But, with the use of this CD, not only do you receive
regular
information, but you may also view videos about certain people and
battles. This
makes education an enjoyable task. With "Microsoft Works"
student will
be able to cut and paste their way to make interesting
multimedia research
documents. This computer program offers a spell-check,
thesaurus, and other
helpful features which make writing that term paper
easier. These particular
programs by Microsoft are only a few of the
educational programs available to
student. "The successful use of technology
in a few classrooms is not
enough, because developing a successful technology
using school requires careful
planning and must be a school wide priority
with broad support from the
community". The traditional top-down, uniform
distribution approach is
almost never the best way because it limits
innovation and development fails to
provide equity and does not reflect the
characteristics of the school community.
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 get a better
education than another
student in another city. Technology is not meant to
replace teachers; it is
there only to serve students to make tedious tasks
easier. Therefore, this
technology should be offered to every student trying to
get ahead of the
competition. In doing this, it not only needs the support of
teachers, but it
also requires support from communities. If technology in
schools receives the
support from entire communities, students in any area would
be able to keep
up with the competition. Some of today's schools are hindered by
an
underpowered technology based curriculum and, in order to stay
competitive,
the American educational system must do a better job of
integrating. Teachers
must take a leadership position in designing and
implementing a technology
powered classroom curriculum, investing time and
energy to become familiar with
available resources. The faculty at most
schools should create a set of
individual goals, including developing basic
skills, defining core content and
thinking creatively and clearly. Technology
enriches curriculum by increasing
the value and power of Traditional
classroom techniques within the boundaries of
school structure and schedules.
Technology is able to help students in a variety
of ways. By making learning
more enjoyable and less tedious, student will want
to learn and will not see
education as such a difficult
responsibility.