Technology in Schools
In schools, different types of technology help students learn in unique ways. Some types of technology that aids us in learning are laptops, Promethean boards, calculators, cameras, cell phones, and e-books like the Nook or the Kindle. Below are some examples of how they can help, or even hurt, students in the process of enhancing their knowledge.
The laptop is one piece of technology that helps us in our classrooms. One way they help us is when we use My Access or Apex. These programs grade our papers on the computer, so our teachers do not have to. When our teachers are not overloaded with papers to grade, we learn more in class. We can also do research on the Internet so that when we write papers or do research reports, our information will be fully correct.
Programs on our laptops like Movie, Photo, or Garage Band ease the workload when we do projects for different classes. In the programs we can record our voices, make movies, make music, or take pictures. These programs let us express our creativity and personality with ease and truly benefit us. Another reason these laptops are extremely good for students is that they help improve our test scores. When our test scores improve, our school gets more money for even more technology.
One bad part about laptops is that the hard drive could crash. If it crashes, the students could lose all of their work. Another downside to laptops is that they help students procrastinate. While trying to do their work, most students end up getting on face book, my space, or Twitter and end up not finishing their homework on time.
The cell phone is one type of technology that needs to be banned from classrooms. Although, there are some activities that teachers do in class that requires phones, they are usually just a distraction in class. Cell phones only hurt the people that use them. Students who use cell phones get into petty fights through text messages more than people who do not use them. Having a phone is an excuse not to talk to anyone in person. When you do not talk to people face-to-face, more often than not, you cannot read emotions as well as anyone who does not use phones.
Although they are good to have for emergencies, like when something terribly happens at school, cell phones only cause emotional damage to everyone who uses them. Calculators are an example of a piece of technology that needs to be removed from the school system statewide. The students count on the calculators to do all of their work, thus making them lazy and not able to do their work on their own. When students are used to the calculators doing everything for them, they do not learn how to add, subtract, multiply, or divide on their own. Then, when they are tested, the fail because they do not know how to do the work. Another type of technology that services us are digital cameras.
Schools have some classes, like media classes, that need cameras to make documentaries or video projects. Art classes also need cameras to learn about pictures and photography. Cameras can help us with projects like science or social studies fair to document our experiments. Cameras help give a visual effect on learning, and students can act out parts and be recorded to later watch themselves. In addition, cameras record the playing of musical instruments so students can play back their music to see if they messed anything up.
Students and teachers also use cameras to take yearbook pictures, so that we have lots of memories of our high school lives. Promethean boards are becoming a big part of classrooms across the state. When students interact with the board, they see visual images that help them to learn. When students use the boards, the lessons are brought to life. They make the entire lesson more interesting and engaging.
Additionally, students can give presentations on the Promethean board, so the whole class can watch and learn. Teachers can also show educational movies in class that help classes learn about different discussions and topics. The boards are a big help when the teacher is teaching a difficult lesson because the teacher can use the board to show the students’ examples of the problems. Also, unlike ordinary white boards, Promethean boards do not use markers or erasers, so schools save money on supplies. Lastly, e-books are a big help to countless high schools and college students. In school, you can download all of your textbooks instead of buying them, so you do not have to carry around so many heavy books.
They can also help you study by using their highlight feature. Many e-books, like Nooks or Kindles, can highlight important parts of the text so you can find it more easily later. In most schools you cannot highlight or underline in the textbooks because you have to return them at the end of the year. E-books also can save students a lot of money because purchasing e-books are much cheaper than buying paperback or hardcover novels or textbooks. Lastly, students stay much more organized when they all of their books in one place that is easily accessible.
Since they know where everything is, the students do not lose or misplace their books. Does it really seem so bad now that we teens love using technology? Technology is often banned in schools because it is thought of being a distraction, but that is not the case. It is actually helping students become interested in learning through many different methods and techniques.
