technology in the classroom Essay Example

technology in the classroom Essay Example technology in the classroom Essay technology in the classroom Essay Technology in the Classroom Name: Course: Lecturer: Date: Technology in the Classroom The inception of new technology has played a vital role in development. The education sector has not been left behind where many of the learning institutions have adopted the use of technology to facilitate learning. Before the inception of these technologies, students who needed to research on a given subject would only use books and lessons learnt in class. Students who further performed mathematical calculations would only use their mental capacities and at times the abacus. Interpersonal communication was also limited to one’s skills in letter writing and the ability to pay for phone calls. However, the inception of the calculator, computers and the internet has all facilitated the rendering of the above activities both efficient and effective. One form of technology that has been successfully integrated is the use of the internet (National School Board Association, 2007). Intensive planning and research was conducted in facilitating the smooth integration of this technology into the classroom. This effort was essential in ensuring the technology adopted was beneficial to both the students and teachers. Poorly planned projects only attract losses and are not feasible in the long run. To avoid this, the level of planning has to be highly insightful. Technology has played a vital role in addressing the five instructional activities. These being: information, application, motivation, evaluation, and orientation. Students using technology in learning and while undertaking school projects, that call upon them to utilize their own knowledge, their motivation increases and in the process, they are able to achieve. The use of computers and the internet has highly facilitated the instructional activity of information in terms of its acquisition and undertaking research. The internet is a wealth of information where students can easily search and find the information required. In addition, this has highly improved on student motivation as they are able to accomplish projects and conduct research with minimal assistance from the teachers. Technology integration has highly facilitated student evaluation in the school. Students can now use external benchmarks for self-evaluation, as opposed to the norm where students gauge themselves using their classmates (Moersch, 1999). Personally, I find the use of the internet particularly appealing for student learning. The platform has become a hub for up to date information in all fields including academics. The information contained in the internet is unbiased. The medium is therefore a significant source of insight for students seeking to research on different topics. Teachers are bound to be biased for or against certain theories or techniques; as opposed to the internet the information is extensively provided. Additionally, the presence of a variety of websites pertaining to a given subject enables one to choose that which best suits him or her. The best way to appreciate and optimally utilize a given technology is by having knowledge of both its function and how it functions. This means that before using a given technology, one should have a clear insight of what the technology is meant to perform and how it works. Therefore, the plan for becoming conversant with technology in class will involve first researching on the purpose of the given technology and then learning how to use the given technology. Without, these, one is bound to fail in realizing the significance of the given technology and consequently miss out on the benefits of the given technology (Groff, Mouza, 2008). References Groff, J., Mouza, C. (2008). A framework for addressing challenges to classroom technology use. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) Journal, 16(1), 21-46. Moersch, C. (1999). Levels of technology implementation: An inventory for measuring classroom technology use. Learning and Leading with Technology. 26(8), 59-63. National School Board Association (2007). Creating connecting: Research and guidelines on online social and educational networking. Alexandria, VA.