schools and technology

We live in an environment that has greatly changed, and knowledge has been the guiding force in all facets of life. Because of this, this period is known as the "Knowledge Age." People nowadays use technology for a variety of uses, including entertainment, networking, medical advancement, business performance, and even software to improve work in fields such as engineering. There is no question that technology has been incorporated into every aspect of our everyday lives, demonstrating its importance. Unlike the previous century, it is vital today to raise children who are well acquainted with the aspects of technology especially its aesthetics so that they can use it to advance their lives and make a better tomorrow.
However, at the same time, there have been arguments regarding how people use technology especially children in school. Therefore, as people are encouraging schools to incorporate technology in classes to teach students, others oppose this idea. As Oliver, Osa and Walker (2012) explained, the society in the 21st century embraces technology innovations as part of daily living, but still, there is a huge gap of knowledge regarding the appropriate uses for these devices in the learning environment. It shows that even teachers still do not have an explicit framework of using technologies in the classroom to their full potential and this can prove to be a threat to the learning individuals. Despite this, our education system needs reformation, and it is essential that technology innovations are part of the learning system because technology will enhance the learning experience and improve education standards of the children and their future careers.
Advocating for Integrating Technology in Schools
The main argument of implementing technology in the classroom is the fact that they when appropriately used, it can help in increasing the students' achievement. Billings and Mathison (2011) explained that technological innovations help in increasing the achievements of the students in two ways and one is that they are doing a better job by engaging students in the reading materials and the second is that technology excites the students to participate in learning activities. In their study, Billings and Mathison (2011) collected a group of fourth-grade students who were willing to take part in a camp that they would visit a local museum and participate in various activities connected to the California state standards. The first group had the opportunity to watch the podcasts several times until they possessed the knowledge of the presented material while the second group of students watched the same video but only once before they partook the day's activities and once more after the activity.
Throughout the study, the researchers noted that the students in the first category were much more excited to take part in these activities compared to the students in the second group. As part of their discussion, Billings and Mathison (2011) mentioned that the students who had the podcast intervention showed high levels of retaining the knowledge as well as heightened excitement concerning the learning materials. Once the students competed in all the activities, they took a test over the information they learned and the scores of the students in the first group was higher compared that of the group two. The experiment shows that integrating technology in the learning process is an exciting experience for the students and thus gives them the urge to learn better and even perform well in their studies. Therefore, incorporating technological innovations into schools will increase both engagement and achievement of the students.
The other reason as to why it is essential to integrate technology innovations into classrooms is that it helps in tailoring the different learning needs for the students regardless of their levels of achievement. According to Moyer-Packenham and Suh (2012), it is easy for teachers today to implement a piece of technology into a single lesson or even in the curriculum which will help the students perform better irrespective of their levels of achievements and thus meeting every student's needs. In a study to prove the viability of this point, Moyer-Packenham and Suh (2012) tried incorporating virtual manipulatives into various mathematics classes as a way of highlighting the influence this has on varying achievement groups. The researchers separated the 58 sample students of fifth grade into four categories. In these groups, one was of low achievement; two belonged to the average accomplishments, and the remaining one was of high achievement. The teams were given a chance to utilize virtual manipulates in their mathematics classes while one average group was denied the opportunity. All the students learned using the same materials provided by the teacher but taught separately.
At the end of the unit, there was a test to assess their understanding of everything they were taught. The results revealed that the students who were in the low category gained the most in comparison to the other groups, the average category, on the other hand, had the second highest learning gains, while the highest group showed average gaining. The other group that never had the chance to use the technology materials on however showed the least amount of gains (Moyer-Packenham & Suh, 2012). Based on the given results, it is clear that integrating technology or as it was, in this case, the virtual manipulatives, it becomes easier for the students to advance in their learning since the groups that used the materials showed improvements while the other barely gained anything after the class. It is because technology helped the students find better ways of solving the problems, which were easier and faster than the conventional forms of learning. It can thus be agreed upon that technology helps the students find and develop various ways of solving problems as it sharpens their thinking and challenges their perspectives in solving problems. Therefore, as a way of helping the learners gain better problem-solving skills, the teachers should strive to make technology innovations part of daily learning tailored to meet the different needs of the students.
The third reason as to why it is important to make technology part of the school systems is that many students today are born in families that have some form innovations, and thus they are familiar with some of the benefits of using technology as a tool for learning. In the United States alone, approximately 93 percent of teenagers have computers in their homes, and about 95 percent have mobile phones or tablets that can perform the same tasks that the personal computers can do on a daily basis (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan, Cortesi & Gasser, 2013). It means that almost every child in a classroom today is aware of the various frameworks of technology and they are familiar with how they can operate it to meet their demands. This is owed to the advent of social media that has made it easier for many individuals to autonomously learn how to gather information online as well as tailor technology to serve them. Hence, introducing technology in class only means that the teachers understand the need of using the tools students are familiar with in helping them learn. Though many people would argue that this step is destructive, it is by introducing technology and teaching the students how to use it in learning, that they learn the other benefits of technology beyond social media. This helps the student connect with technology in a level that they use it to advance knowledge and not waste time and even while interacting with the people on social media they become aware of how they can learn from one another. The students cannot learn if there is no guidance offered or directions given and the best way to entertainment as a learning tool today is through using their platform of entertainment as a portal to class whereby they can discuss and share what they learn in classrooms. The idea is applicable when the students and teachers create a platform where they can share their assignments and learning materials because either way e-learning is becoming more significant in promoting education and narrowing the distance between the students and the teacher. For that reason, teachers should always try to work with technology instead of working against it, and this advances the knowledge of students on how to use technology efficiently and to their advantage to better their learning.
The other benefit of using technology in school is the fact that it enables individualized learning. As already noted, technology helps in improving the students' attitude towards learning and one of the unmentioned features behind this is the fact that technology offers the students a chance to tailor their learning progress. The traditional form of education entailed creating a system that encompasses all the students, and any learner had to wait for the teacher to offer the necessary information that would help them in learning. Nowadays all the teacher has to do is offer a program for the semester that the students will cover, and the students will use the available learning tools in the school or online to gather information of what they will be covering. Koedinger (1997) explained that computer-aided instructions used in teaching and practice allow students to take control of their rates of learning and helps them in assessing the progress they are making as well as the areas they need to improve. These same systems offer feedback to students, and this helps in building their confidence in learning. Once the students understand the areas challenging their educational development, they can develop personalized learning with the help of the teachers through students' portal where teachers can interact directly and privately with the student. The feedback and the self-paced features of computer-based learning are both beneficial to the students and the teachers as well since they can track the progress made by every student and thus frees time to personalize the particular needs of their classrooms.
The continuing developments in the field of technology continue to alter the way people live and work. Açıkalın (2009) mentioned that the internet today is becoming a standard learning tool especially since it offers access to millions of data and websites that provide necessary information that offer a meaning learning experience for every student. In the previous age before technology, the source of knowledge was restricted to the physical environment. It means that the only sources of information were the library and teachers. However, today information is online, and students have access to millions of libraries from different learning institutions as well as share information from various locations around the globe. Hence, it is becoming easier to gain better learning materials that the school cannot offer. Besides, it is now becoming easier for teachers to gain better information that challenges their understanding towards different ideas of practice.
The internet is a great communication tool, and it expands educational services while improving the quality of personal interaction (Tutkum, 2011). The internet is a product of technology, and it is the most excellent source of information today enabling people to share and exchange information easily with one another thus sharpening an individual's ability to search and assess information. Because of this, teachers should encourage their classes to embrace technology as a tool for empowering their learning abilities and expanding their depth of knowledge. The teachers should do this by guiding and coaching the students on how to search, analyze and interpret the information available online since other websites are not educational and might confuse the learners.
Arguments against Integrating Technology into Schools
Though many people believe in the power of introducing technology into learning environments, other critics believe this is a bad idea. These individuals think that technology in the hands of the students will bring more harm than good. The most common argument is that technology will be a source of distraction in the classroom instead of helping them as a learning tool. Richtel (2010) stated that there are numerous social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, which consume most of the students' time because they are entertaining and addictive; therefore, it becomes difficult to learn while at the same time being active on these platforms. Though this statement is true to a point, it is by introducing technology in classes that the teachers can help the students understand how to use even these platforms productively. For example, there are hundreds of YouTube channels that are productive because they offer similar lessons to the ones students encounter in classes. It may be difficult to resist the temptation, but with the right training, the students can use these tools to their advantage.
The other argument against technology in class is that it tends to disrupt the flow of lessons. Almekhlafi & Almeqdadi (2010) explained that there are two cases technology interfering with the flow of types. According to them, the first is that some teachers who are not well acquainted with technology may find it challenging to teach using with these gadgets, as they are not aware of how to operate them. The second case is that the devices can easily fail. The current curriculum offers training to teachers on how to use technological materials in classes, and this means that the teachers are first taken through a process where they learn how to use different gadgets by understanding their framework, advantages, and disadvantages. In turn, teachers become well acquainted with the technological systems beyond the students' capacity so that they can manipulate them easily. Additionally, every school today has a technician who has in-depth knowledge of these tools, so that in case there is an emergency with the any of the learning tools, they quickly fix them thus minimizing any time wastage as many people assume. These two are known as back up plans that ensure technology in classroom works without any trouble.
Conclusion
The paper shows various benefits of integrating technology in schools and thus establishing the need for appreciating technology as a tool that advances better learning experiences. However, there is a continuing debate as to whether it is reasonable to let students use technology as part of the education curriculum as many people believe that is a source of distraction and will hinder student educational development. As the paper argues, the benefits of introducing technology as a tool for learning outweigh the possible negative effects. Technology makes the learning experience more exciting and interactive thus enhancing the students' ability to perform better in their classrooms. As people continue to advance in this age of technology, it becomes impossible to ignore the profound need to learn how to use technology productively as this not only the learners' current experience but shows them how to use these technological innovations in their future careers. Therefore, technology will aid students in becoming better in their academics by improving their motivation and enhancing the opportunities for hand-on learning.
 
References
Açıkalın, M. (2009). Pre-service elementary teachers' beliefs about use of the Internet in the social studies classroom. European Journal of Teacher Education, 32(3), 305-320.
Almekhlafi, A.G., & Almeqdadi, F.A., (2010). Teachers’ perception of technology integration in the United Arab Emirates school classroom. Journal of Education Technology & Society, 13(1), 165-175.
Billings, E., & Mathison, C., (2011). I get to use an iPod in school? Using technology; based advance organizers to support the academic success of English Learners. Journal of Science Education Technology, (21), 494;503.
Koedinger, K., Anderson, J., Hadley, W., & Mark, M. (1997). Intelligent tutoring goes to school in the big city. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (8), 30-43. Retrieved from http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/232/jaied97.pdf_2.pdf
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U., (2013, March 13). Teens and Technology 2013. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old; media/Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TeensandTechnology2013.pdf
Moyer-Packenham, P.S., & Suh, J.M., (2012). Learning mathematics with technology: The influence of virtual manipulatives on different achievement groups. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 31(1), 39-59.
Oliver, A., Osa, J.O., & Walker, T.M., (2012). Using instructional technologies to enhance teaching and learning for the 21st century preK;12 students. International Journal of Instructional Media,39(4), 283;295.
Richtel, M., (2010, November 21). Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction. Retrieved from http://nytimes.com
Tutkun, O. (2011). Internet access, use and sharing levels among students during the teachinglearning process. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 10(3)