Byers 1 Joshua Byers Ms.

Caruso English 1102 25 July 2012 Educational Technology Technology in many forms is found in every classroom in America. Everyone knows about it and we all have experienced the changes of it throughout their years in school. Technology has come a long way since the end of the 20th century that many have graduated from using books and crayons to using e-books, computers, and tablets So the question stands, how is technology affecting the way students learn? In the 1990s, only three percent of schools in the US were connected to the Internet (Kennedy). Many schools only had one or two computers in their library. These were mainly used to look up books that were there and not for Internet. The Clinton administration tried to have every classroom and every library connected to the Internet by the year 1994. By 2005, this had nearly happened with 94 percent of all classrooms and libraries in the United States connected to the Internet for purposes other than just searching for books.(Kennedy). In Missouri, students whose classrooms were equipped with technology and Internet scored higher in every subject of the Missouri assessment program (Why Technology In Schools). Using this technology in the classroom has not only improved their learning, but has deeply engaged the students. Students are now much more interested in learning because they are no longer just listening; they are interacting with learning. Technology has also proven to raise attendance rates and graduation rates in schools (Why Technology In Schools). It cannot be
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Byers 2 denied that technology is improving learning but is there going to be a point when there is too much technology being incorporated into the classroom? A recently interviewed kindergarten teacher in North Carolina stated that every classroom is getting iPads to help the students be more interactive with learning. She already has 6 computers and a Smart Board in her classroom. Ten years ago, parents and teachers were doing all they could to keep kids away from technology and into books and other activities, she said. Now we are pushing technology on them more and more every day. She mentioned that the children are now starting to see school as a place to play games instead of a place for learning since students are using the same technology at school that they are using at home to have fun (Byers). While it is supposed to be helping students learn, in cases like this, too much technology can encourage play and hinder the students learning. Both students and teachers must follow a certain standard, and therefore be closely monitored in order to meet expected goals ensure each teacher follows a certain standard. Students must be closely monitored to in order to meet expected goals. Technology isnt technology if it already existed when you were born (Glasgow). Technology is not as new to children as it is to adults. Children are now born into all the technological advances that have been made in our society. Adults are truly second generation technology users. This in part is why schools are deciding to add more technology to their classrooms every single day. A single teacher in a high school in America has access to a student about 5% of their full day. The Internet, however, is available to be accessed 100% of that students day so why not incorporate it into learning (Glasgow)? That way the student has a way to look something up or get help if they are not in that 5% time span that they are with their teacher. Technology also allows students to learn at all times of the day. They are no longer just
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Byers 3 waiting until their 40-minute class, they are going out and researching things and learning new information on their own (Glasgow). Mike Glasgow makes an excellent point in his article Technology In Education- Why. He talks about how students are no longer just being taught, but technology has given them new ways to learn. Teachers can now give out assignments that not only cover topics learned in the classroom, but also these projects are requiring students to conduct their own research outside of the classroom setting (Glasgow). Technology in schools is also changing how students turn in work done in the classroom. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a technology requirement in First Year Writing that requires that different technology components such as Moodle and e-portfolios to be used throughout the classroom. Students now turn their papers in online instead of handing them in. This is a great tool because it not only eliminates the worry about bringing a paper to class and misplacing it, but also anytime online access in case an assignment is forgotten. Some students may complain due to the fact of limited access to an Internet source or technical difficulties with school websites. Technology has also helped stop plagiarism. Companies such as Turn It In and other sites are helping teachers by scanning students projects and papers, and comparing them to anything that has ever been on the Internet. Although this is a great tool for the teachers, there are some downsides for the students. When a paper is turned in on Turn It In, the website gives back a percentage of what amount of the paper is thought to be plagiarized. Many students fear that the high rate of possible plagiarism may cause teachers to think they cheated on the papers. In classrooms as recently as ten years ago, everything had to be handwritten. This meant that rough drafts and final paper were written on notebook paper with pen or pencil. Making a mistake while writing a final paper meant restarting whatever page the author was currently on
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Byers 4 or crossing the mistake out. Papers would have scribble marks and did not look clean cut. Then came the invention of Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word changed the way of writing papers and really any piece of writing done today. John Naughton put it best when he said, I could type away, backspace and delete and overwrite and revise as much as I liked. And no matter how much I hacked away at the draft, I always had a fresh-looking paragraph on which to build (Naughton). People finally had a way to correct and take out words without compromising the entirety of the paper. But with this program, not everything is positive. Since people have started using Microsoft Word, they have been using their own handwriting less and less. They have also relied so much on the spell check of Microsoft Word that correct grammar and spelling has begun to decline. They trust a machine to do the job that years ago children were taught to do themselves. Children ten years ago were raised to be more cautious of their grammar and spelling where as today, many teachers are teaching their students how to properly use spell check and even how to use the thesaurus and dictionary on Microsoft Word making the physical hardcopies of these almost obsolete. Instead of grabbing a dictionary and having to look it up and use alphabetical order to find the word, all student must do no is simply click on a word to get all the information they need. The positive elements far out way the negative elements when looking at technology in the classroom. Technologies in the future will only continue to grow and to expand in every classroom across America and the world. Even though technology will change drastically before todays kindergarteners join tomorrows work force, schools will and must keep up with the demand for new and advanced technology so that their students will be prepared for any job they may face in the 21st century.

Byers 5 Works Cited Glasgow, Jake. "The 21st Century Teacher." Technology In Education. The 21st Century Teacher, n.d. Web. 26 July 2012. Kennedy, Mike. "Resources." Keeping up with Technology in Schools. American School And University, 1 Mar. 2008. Web. 26 July 2012. Naughton, John. "Has Microsoft Word Affected the Way We Work?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 14 Jan. 2012. Web. 26 July 2012. "Why Technology in Schools? | EdTech Action Network." Why Technology in Schools? EdTechAction Network, n.d. Web. 26 July 2012. Byers, Debra. "Educational Technology." Personal interview. 20 July 2012.