In our technologically entwined world, computers are becoming commonplace in close to every activity. This norm is especially true for education, where it seems that boosted by the pandemic, schools have become hyper-reliant on technology. Recently though, some teachers have been turning away from the technology standard of modern education.
One of the reasons teachers are cutting back on technology is because it’s a distraction, “ If a student has their computer open, the chances that they’re on a different site are pretty good from what I’ve seen,” Kathier Rowley, school counselor, said.
Computers are also providing a difficult atmosphere for learning, “There’s so much available on the computer, it’s hard for students to resist,” Rowley said, “ …it’s become harder for them to just pay attention in a mundane atmosphere where computers aren’t present.”
Many other teachers also feel this way. In a poll sent out to teachers at our school, 65% of respondents stated they thought technology was harmful to students.
Another problem with technology is information absorption. The reason many students type with a computer instead of writing down notes is because they are faster at typing than at writing down, “But an interesting trend emerged.” Julie Campos, Operations and Student Success at MedCerts said, “It seems that although typing may allow you to take more in-depth notes, it does not always lead to better retention of the information they contain.”
Many teachers are already implementing policies to make more assignments be handwritten “ I know of a couple teachers this year who have chosen to go back to what some students would consider to be kind of an old school and old fashioned method of let’s write out this essay,” Mathew Armes, school counselor, said, “And I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with that at all.” 71% of teachers polled also agreed that writing it down helped students learn information better.
But technology isn’t all bad, and it’s not going away either. Education technology took off in scale since the 2020 pandemic, growing to a staggering 123.40 billion dollar industry today, but it’s been around far longer than that “When I started in counseling. We didn’t have any computers.” Ms. Rowley said, “Everything was paper. Even transcripts were on a card.” So when Ms. Rowley did get computers, lots of the time-consuming tasks that used to involve writing got much easier.
Before it was useful as a learning tool, education technology could be utilized for teachers to complete work that would have been time-consuming, more quickly and easily. “I think, has been really helpful overall … technology can be very, very advantageous.” Mr. Armes Said.
And it’s come more to the forefront of teaching since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though education over the pandemic was poor, it would have been a complete disaster without the use of education technology, partly because it individually provided students with resources and connection to their teacher even when they couldn’t meet in person, “In addition, education technology can be uniquely deployed to facilitate the teaching of 21st-century skills such as communication, creativity, persistence, and collaboration.” The World Economic Forum said in an article on the future of education technology.
Regardless of its usefulness or problems, education technology is here to stay. “I think [education technology] is going to be the future.” Rowley said, “And, I don’t think there’s any way around it.”
