Technology_and_Education

Technology has made a major impact on how one gains an education. With the advent of the internet came an all but unlimited source of knowledge and research capabilities. With the capability directly to connect to the internet or an intranet to a classroom, or learning facility from home, the number of individuals actively seeking to further their education has dramatically increased, and continues to grow. One of the main reasons for this growth in use of the internet to learn is due to the fact that instead of having to attend an actual class on campus, the student can do his or her work at his or her convenience. This is an advantage to someone who has a job who’s hours would conflict with normal class scheduling. For those would-be students who do not have transportation or cannot travel to a campus due to distance, the classroom can be brought to them. Never in the history of learning has it been easier to gain an education. This is important because in the recent past America has fallen in rank when it comes to education. Bethel [2003] stated, “By the late 1990’s, however, the United States had fallen to about average among the advanced industrial democracies, ranking behind Japan, Korea, Germany, France, Ireland, and other countries.”(para.16). Because students are able to learn at their own pace, online learning is more of a self-teaching style of learning, as opposed to the traditional teacher, and student method. With online learning, the teacher becomes more like a guide sitting on the sidelines giving generalized support instead of dictating most of the work. This approach gives the achievement rate of the students a chance to more then double. To be sure, not everything that comes with using the internet to learn is all error free. Take researching facts for an example. Most academic classes will require some amount of researching, whether it is to study historical facts or to write a 900 word essay on a specific topic. With so much information available to the student online, it is highly possible (and almost a given), that the student will come across some false or erroneous information. This misinformation, if implemented and not discarded, can lead to the student not only earning a lower score on his or her work, but can also cause the student to learn a false fact as true. Students must be diligent in sifting through sources of research, especially those sources not recommended by the teacher. On the plus side however, because there is a plethora of legitimate sources of information on the internet, it stands that the average student (whether traditional, or online) can walk away from his, or her research session with a greater knowledge of the subject researched. It has been argued that the internet is not a reasonable tool for learning, but rather yet another passing “infatuation with the educational potential of new technologies” (Amiel, T.,and Reeves, T. [2008]), such as cable television. In their report titled “Educational Technology & Society”, Amiel and Reeves claim that “educational technology (internet) has been oversold and is generally underused in classrooms around the country” (Amiel., T. and Reeves, T.[2008] para. 4). While it may be true that the internet is underused in the classroom themselves, other reports show that the internet is highly implemented as an educational tool outside of the classroom. Steven Jones of the Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted a study that revealed that the internet occupied on equal, if not more, amount of time as homework. In “The Internet Goes to College”, Jones reported that only 14% of students claimed to have studied 12, or more hours a week, and two-thirds (62%) for less than 7 hours a week. Jones also stated that despite the seeming potential for distraction posed by the internet, 79% of these students felt the internet affected their academic experience for the better. And with the increase of online schools, the internet is even more responsible for educational growth in America. Another issue given concerning the internet is the quality of education learned. While some claim that technology cannot surpass the traditional method of learning, Bethell [2003] shows the quality of traditional learning is steadily declining. In February [2003], the Hoover Institutions Koret Task Force on K-12 Education met in Washington [D.C.] to present a progress report on American schools. The symposium was held 20 years after the National Commission of Excellence in Education had severely criticized U.S. education. The report, A Nation at Risk, found that U.S. schools, once the envy of the world, were in sharp decline. “A rising tide of mediucracy”, the commission noted in its most quoted sentence, “threatens our very future as a Nation and a people”. After months of investigation, the Hoover Institution’s task force of experts has found little or no progress. Some things indeed have changed. A great deal more money is being spent on primary and high school education. The budget of the Department of Education rose from $14 billion to $55 billion. Teachers’ salaries have risen. Classroom size has been reduced. But these changes have not translated into improved teaching or student achievement. Performance remains flat. Within the past 50 years, technology has accomplished many things, such as going to the moon. It is with technology that enables scientists to find cures, and do research to gain further knowledge on diseases. The same thing works for ones education. We must fully understand the importance of technology and the roll it plays in receiving an education. Any way it is looked at, teachers, students, and even schools have their own unique needs when it comes to learning. Schools, for they need to become more familiar with the new technologies as they arrive, teachers for they need to learn how to use these new technologies to better their teaching skills, and the students need to take the knowledge they learn from the data to enrich their learning skills. In the article “Harnessing Innovation to Support Student Success: Using Technology to Personalize Education”, it states how although postsecondary schools offer some learning at a distance, learning at a distance has increased in K-12 enrollments. It also states, “offering additional online learning experiences K-12 students will provide preparation for the kind of learning they will likely engaged in for the rest of the academic experiences and throughout their careers” (U.S. Department of Education) {2008}. According to Concord Law School, an online law school, not only are their online students earning awards, but some are even being admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. “Four Concord Law School graduates were admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday during a ceremony that served as a milestone for the nation’s first wholly online law school and as recognition of the evolution of legal education”. (Concord Law Schools) (March 2008, Business Wire) These students were the first to achieve this honor in California. Since then, another law student from Concord Law School has been admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts. These are just a few examples of how online learning has produced quality education. There are numerous online schools whose students perform exceptionally well. It has been said in the past, that the expectations were not set high enough for students. Since technology has became involved with how one receives an education that can no longer be said. Students are more apt to gain the degree they want to achieve, and now have the choice of either attended classes on campus, and having the teacher present, or attend online classes, where the teacher may be miles away. Although the standards for online learning are data-driven, it is the effectiveness in which one uses it, that makes the difference in ones learning. There are more resources today then there was even 10 years ago, and are available to those who choose to use them. There are no reasons anyone could not receive a degree in any chosen field, whether it be business, law, health care, technology, or management. These are all available through online learning. Instructions can be tailored to fit individual’s needs, and even though the student may be learning through “distance learning”, the goal of success is as important as it is in traditional schools. Distance learning is the “expressway to knowledge” and there are no limitations to what one can learn. It is this “expressway” that has encouraged more individuals to want to fill themselves with all the knowledge that comes with technology. All in all, I believe that the internet is an excellent learning tool, both as a secondary usage (research) and as a primary usage (online schools). While it is important that traditional schools should continue to be used, it is my opinion that it is just as important that the internet be woven into traditional learning institutions. With its all but unlimited access to knowledge, the internet is one technology that should not be dismissed as a necessary benefit to education. References Amiel, T., & Reeves, T. (2008). Educational Technology & Society, Gale General Onefile Bethell, T.(2003). “Our Schools Are Still at Risk”, Hoover Digest, summer 2003 Jones, S. (2002). The Internet Goes to College, Internet & American Life, pg. 6 para. 6 U.S. Department of Education, Harnessing Innovation to Support Student Success: Using Technology to Personalize Education, Washington, {D.C}, 2008 (www.ed.gov)