Technology develops and the world relies on it. The more we learn the deeper the understanding that without technological advancement the world won’t be able to deal with current and emerging problems. Technologies should become cleaner and more diverse, they should help us develop instead of helping us destroy the planet. Now, technology is more and more part of the educational process and overall it is a good thing. In this article, we will touch on the benefits of educational technologies and also some hazards they bring.
Advantages of Recent Educational Technology
If you ask a random person about the advantages of educational technology you will probably hear a rather simple answer — students should use new technologies because later they will have to work with them. However, there are many more answers to this question.
Technology helped in pandemic situation
It is difficult to imagine how the studies would continue without Zoom meetings, electronic boards, e-books, applications that imitate chemistry experiments and many other things. It is easy to see that technology saved the day, or two years. Technology helped students not only to learn but also collaborate. Of course, there were lessons given on specific tv-channels in many countries, but they were very limited. Teacher’s presence in the zoom or skype or google classroom was essential for learning, collaboration and, in the end, learning itself. Still, for some students it is rather difficult to study online, not offline. It can result in problems with grades and graduating high-school or college, as technologies affect education stronger every year. If you experience problems with STEM disciplines, you can address a reliable service such as My Assignment Lab for getting your assignments done for you. Here, you will get assistance with tech, maths and other disciplines that are considered the most difficult to study online. Experts will dive into your instructions and make you receive a quality written paper or project you can later learn from.
Technology enhances inclusion
Educational technology helps thousands of diablled kids get involved in educational progress. More and more companies create devices that help to process words, adapt reading materials, help children cope with dyslexia and other difficulties more effectively. Also, recently, technology normalizes online inclusion in classroom work that gives more students with special needs opportunity to be involved and get much better education and socialization.
Cheap access to different classes
To learn some basics of programming, drawing, and many other things, you just need an app. The same goes for extra class work on major disciplines. There are lots of free or very cheap quality sources that help with almost any task. This way additional assistance or some creative courses become accessible by almost any student, not only students from wealthy families who can afford hiring a tutor.
Incorporating different teaching and learning styles
With the latest technologies teachers have access to the best practices of their colleagues worldwide. This way they can share what they have learnt with their students, try new ways, widely consult about the studies, get new ideas about difficult topics and challenging social and emotional situations in the classroom. This helps immensely to exchange experience fast and beneficially for the students. It also allows parents to be more involved in class work, consult with different students and much more.
Benefits of education technologies don’t stop here, but we should ask ourselves how they are balanced? What is the price that we pay for technology in the classroom? Will our children be fully dependent on technology and unable to imagine life without it? Is there a way to balance technological advancement and connection with nature and each other? All these questions are rather difficult and all require answers immediately, as year after a year it becomes more obvious that technology takes over the educational process. It has its benefits, and we listed them, but more efforts should be invested in a more balanced educational development.
Technology in Education: A Big Dilemma
The dilemma of technology in education is simple — the education field is not the richest one and it cannot widely afford investing in the newest technology. At the same time, students should get a grasp of new technologies at the earliest convenience — as they learn to use specific technologies the faster they will adapt in real world work and become part of a valuable and up-to-date workforce. So, schools, colleges and universities should introduce students to such technologies as part of the educational process. Where should money come from? First of all, governments should be interested in investing more money into educational technology. In the world we live in, a nation’s intellectual and technological advancement is critically important for the development of the whole country. One of the best examples are Japan and Israel. Being extremely poor in natural resources, they have developed technologies and made their specialists advanced and wanted worldwide. Also, they have top tech and IT startups that attract millions of dollars of investments to the national economy annually.
This is how it works. Countries that know the value of technological advancement, invest in educational technology and receive investments in return. It all sounds logical, but there is a problem. Many countries may realize how educational technology and overall technological advancement are invaluable to the national future, but not all the countries have the resources to make such an investment. It makes technological and economical disparity between countries even worse. Students who don’t have access to educational technologies have problems getting into international educational institutions later. This chain of events doesn’t look good, but for now, no one has any viable solution for the crises.
Technologies in education are definitely beneficial to all the participants, even if it seems like at first teachers may be threatened by them. Still, governments and international organizations should work harder to minimize the chasm between access to educational technologies in wealthy and less developed countries.