TECHNOLOGY IN STUDIES

    

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

Today’s modern student is growing up with technology as a part of every aspect in life – so why should the classroom learning experience be any different? If technology can enhance the educational experience, should learning institutions and administrations have the right to limit students’ access to technology? And what does this mean for professors and for the culture of teaching and learning?

Incoming college students belong to a generation that has grown up using technology in most aspects of their lives since early childhood.  My twelve-year-old brother taught my fifty-two-year-old mother how to use her first smart phone. He can also troubleshoot any of our smart devices better than I can, and just smiles and enjoys the teaching moment when his big sister needs his help.

The Huffington Post wrote that 92 percent of teachers said that the Internet has a “major impact” on their ability to access content, resources and materials, and many are finding that it helps their ability to interact with students. Even more importantly, instructors have reported that digital technology in the classroom has increased students’ academic performance.

“Technology by itself will almost never change education,” says Dylan Arena, Ph.D., co-founder and chief learning scientist at Kidaptive. “The only way to change educational practices is to change the beliefs and values of teachers, administrators, parents and other educational stakeholders, and that’s a cultural issue, not a technological one.