Incorporating Digital Technologies in Education
Incorporating digital applied sciences to classroom learning proves to have profound benefits to each the teacher and the students. Digital technologies comprise digital resources, tools, systems, and devices that are involved in the creation, storage, and processing of information. Key examples of the electronic equipment are interoperable systems, mobile devices, productivity applications, and cloud computing. Additionally, online applications, multimedia, social media, and games are examples of digital technologies. These digital technologies have endured to bring thrilling opportunities to the studying institutions worldwide. Due to this, they have ended up influencing the manner in which education is delivered and significantly provided support to many schools. Undoubtedly, learning institutions have included digital technologies in the learning institutions in order to reap the benefits. This paper will carry out an in-depth analysis of these benefits and also enumerate the disadvantages of digital technologies in education.
Digital Technologies and Academic Learning
Digital technologies have critically transformed the education system positively. Furthermore, the use of these technologies in education has resulted in the generation of more learning opportunities. Both the instructors and the students benefit from the digital technologies. To students, the technologies have opened a world of technological transformation and can work with these technologies with ease and connect with other students. The teachers are also enlighted on the technological ways. The students and teachers are also able to collaborate effectively through the use of digital technologies. The students can be able to submit their assignments electronically to their teachers without necessarily meeting with them in person. The grading system is also kept electronically, and students can be able to view their semester results (Carr 31). Therefore, the advantages that stem from the use of digital technologies in education are underlined in the practical collaboration between the students and the teachers.
Unlocking Educational Boundaries with Digital Technologies
Digital technologies act as a key to unlocking the educational boundaries. Notably, integrating these technologies in schools acts as a significant promoter of Online or Virtual Learning, giving online learning platforms more flexibility. Certainly, this proves to significant advantages compared to the physical classroom as learners from different geographical locations are able to attend the same class with no restrictions of physical appearance in class. The advancement in the virtual technologies has significantly encouraged the use of face-to-face communication devices like Skype, which are employed when a student wants to communicate with the teacher. Additionally, the learners get accessibility to education materials and information sources from every corner of the world. Online learning has enhanced the rate of productivity of the education system through efficient utilization of time by both the teachers and the students.
Accessibility to Educational Learning Materials
There is no doubt that technologies have simplified the accessibility to the educational learning materials. Pinker asserts in his article "Mind over Mass Media" that students can obtain open educational materials with the use of technology. Pinker states that "Fortunately, the Internet and information technologies are helping us manage, search, and retrieve our collective intellectual output at different scales, from Twitter and previews to e-books and online encyclopedias" (Pinker 561). The educational resources used included educational videos, tutorials, digital libraries, and electronic books are readily available through the World-Wide-Web. Educational videos are uploaded to YouTube, and the students who failed to attend lectures can access the teachings.
Enhancing Learning and Writing Skills
The learning and writing skills of the students are greatly enhanced through the use of digital technologies. The use of computer electronic devices in the classroom has enabled some of the students to learn by means of writing well-composed paragraphs and constructing sentences (Lunsford, 572). The word processing application that is found in these computers assists the learners to note down their lecture notes quickly. The built-in dictionaries on the word processing applications have also proved to be hugely essential in enhancing grammar and correcting spelling mistakes. Students have been able to get access to the grammar guidance that is offered by online mobile applications such as Kindle. Digital technologies improve on the creativity and innovativeness of the students. Teachers evidence that technology assimilation in the class helps to raise the participation of the students. The establishment of technology competition lessons in the classroom has made many students improve their creative skills that are groundbreaking in education. The effective interaction and communication provide conducive grounds for the student to become innovative.
Disadvantages of Digital Technologies
Undisputedly, the use of digital technologies in education does not only have positive impacts but also comes with negative impacts as well. Evidently, these technologies are a major form of distraction to the students in the classroom. Many learners direct their concentration to these electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers instead of paying attention to their teachers in lectures. Indeed, this fact has negatively affected the performance of students. Another concern of these digital technologies arises on the grounds of information absorption. Electronic devices have typically made the students unable to read books, and they consider these devices as a fundamental source of information. Many students have confessed that reading the books has become boring with the advent of the digital technologies (Carr 567). As a result, the vast information that is found in these books is not put into consideration and goes to waste. This has been one of the major factors that have influenced the performance of the students. The overreliance on these electronic devices has not only proved to be detrimental to the performance but also heavily impacted the overall school performance. Additionally, another negative consequence is evident from the addiction that comes along with the use of these technologies. This addiction has caused isolation not only in schools but also in families. The addiction makes the student have less time directed to reading. The diversion of attention to electronic devices has negatively impacted the overall learning process. Students concentrate on their mobile devices and computers to respond to Facebook comments and messaging, watch YouTube videos, and even play games while in class.
Conclusion
Digital technologies have portrayed to be essential factors in enhancing the overall education system. They strengthened the collaboration between the students and the teachers along with enabling the student to get educational material from online sources. Some students are able to attend classes through Online or Virtual Learning while at the same time, made students access their grades online easily. Undoubtedly, technologies have seen an improvement in the education productivity. Nevertheless, they also carry damaging effects when assimilated into education. Among these includes the direction of the student and overreliance on electronic devices and thus discard the books. However, the positive impacts of using educational technologies outweigh the disadvantages, and thus every learning institution should embrace the use of digital technologies in its education system.
Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. “Hal and Me.” The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain (2010).
Lunsford, Andrea. “Our Semi-Literate Youth? Not So Fast.” Report, Ohio State University (2010).
Pinker, Steven. “Mind over mass media.” New York Times (2010).
