The Effect of Technology on Education

Technology has opened many opportunities, and eased challenges. The role of technology in society has increased more recently compared to any other time. Our lives are constantly changing in every way and will continue to change, with the fast evolution of technology and the internet. Technology is altering how we communicate, carry on business, learn and teach. The implementation of technology in our day to day life is very important, and is an essential factor in school.

Students in today’s world are able to learn from any part of the world that they currently are, which in the past students were limited in learning inside the classroom. With the internet and a device, students are able to work from anywhere. Technology is an instrument that can enhance education in a variety of ways, these vary from teachers creating materials, the presentation of class materials, the contribution of students in the class, and among many others. COVID-19 was a great example of how successful technology can be. With schools closing down, and students staying home, the new era of remote working became such a success.

Students were able to perform exams, activities and even participate in the class discussions, all these factors contributed to the learning and well being of students around the world. With this success schools/universities are offering students the possibility of fully online participation, which before it wasn’t very common. Education and technology are now closely linked and its impact has revolutionized how we approach education.

There are several ways in which technology has impacted education:

– Making learning more engaging and collaborative : Students are able to make searches, give examples, watch educational videos, and even play games, which teachers provide in order to make the class more engaging. The idea of staying in a classroom for more than 2 hours, listening to the teacher is very old school, as most of the information wouldn’t even be remembered. Students are easily distracted, therefore teachers and professors need to come up with new, innovative ways to teach their students.

– Working Groups : Separating students, and creating group chats, discussion groups, are always a positive way of gathering different opinions and ideas. Here students are able to respect and share their own thoughts about the subjects. It helps students become more open minded about the world, and encourages them to think critically.

– Assessments : In order for better adaptation and for further development in research skills, teachers make sure that students are learning how to use the available digital resources as well as the concepts. Assessments and activities call for critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities. Teachers serve as facilitators, giving continuous feedback to help the students further develop their skills. Activities and assignments consist of research, and general knowledge from the classroom, and these can be portrayed as essays, forums, quizzes, presentations, and among many others.

– Discussion, Debates and Forums : Discussions, debates and forums, are one of the most effective methods of learning, this is because students are able to discuss and understand each other’s methods of thinking. It allows students to be open-minded and respect each and everyone’s personal opinion and view their train of thought regarding the proposed topic. With technology and the internet, students are able to publish in their school website, discussions in forums where each student is able to express themselves without any judgment and today many schools and universities use that method in order to assess students progress in the classroom.

– Critical Thinking and the use of Real-life Issues : The Internet helps professors and students implement the use of real life examples inside the classroom. Here students are able to research and create discussions of what is happening in the world. When COVID began, the implementation of the causes and effects were used in the classroom, for example talking about the changes in consumer behavior due to this problem, the changes in supply and demand of the market and among many other aspects.

As we can observe, technology has really developed education, providing students and teachers with many options regarding teaching and learning methods, and it has influenced how students perceive school today. Without the internet and technology, we wouldn’t be as advanced as today, learning from different parts of the world, while working simultaneously.