The idea of education has a much-touted label of being a driver for upward social mobility since the education system has the perception as a path out of poverty and demerit for those children who can demonstrate a degree of achievement in exams and high level of qualifications. However, despite such promise, the education system at its present constitution continues to exacerbate the already high levels of inequality seen in society. According to research, it postulates that a wide gap exists between the rate of development of children and their learning, an aspect that comes about early in life and then continues to broaden from their lower to middle school levels. As such, this results in the persistent need to reduce that attainment gap at the end of obligatory schooling.
The result of this is that the use of technology to provide intensive learning support has had a particularly beneficial to children in school. As such, those with special needs and from disadvantaged backgrounds can have the opportunity to catch up with their fellow counterparts who have better social mobility. According to some of the researches done, it has become apparent that when technology use interventions occur in a time-limited manner, it can have an impactful and influential stay while the long-term employment of education technology can help in enhancing education achievement. As such, digital technology in education has a crucial role in potentially raising the levels of social mobility amongst children and adults by narrowing the achievement gap seen between disadvantaged persons and their peers.
However, the current situation of things is that no guarantees seem possible as to the use of information and technology in reducing the levels of inequality in the education sector. The real world practice of teachers involves the employment of innovative methods and use of technology resources in a more appropriate manner. The reason for this postulation is that the current unequal distribution of learning resources and teaching staff of high quality across the education system poses a danger of the use of technologies as under the currently constituted order. In essence, if technological education persists under the current education framework, then it could further widen the gap between these two groups and enhance inequality. As such, it thus demands that for the government to set up digital capabilities and promote the use of technology in education, it needs to do this together with a sustained focus on raising the levels of quality in teaching across the board. There should also be an equal development in every area of the country, especially in minority and rural areas.
Literature Review
Even though the number of research studies done to ascertain the effects of modern technology on children remains an unclear state, there seems to be an emergence of signs that it may have a positive and negative impact on them. In the same line, adolescents currently use modern technologies and effects on their educational practice because it has a general prevalence with regards to their environment and lives. Moreover, there needs to be a need for professionals who interact with the young people to develop a well-versed evidence body which shows the possible benefits and adverse consequences of technology.
The current growing concern among teachers and parents is that the welfare of students is at risk due to the capabilities of young persons to effectively and safely use these tools to benefit them. According to the study done by Simuforosa (2013), the current trends in modern technology has brought with it both negative and positive effects as regards the area of education. The reason for her postulation is that teenagers frequently use computers and the internet for completing schoolwork assignments and conduct research. In the same line, if used correctly, students can use computers to become independent learners. With this in mind, Marshal (2002) found from his study that modern technology acts as a compliment to the method of teacher instruction through the aspect of extending the reach and widening the experiences of students beyond the confines of the classroom.
According to a study done by Jaggers (2011), he found out that even after controlling for a variety of student traits, online course completion amongst college students had a high likelihood. As such, the probable reason given for the high rates of withdrawal from these online courses has some suggestive evidence stating that taking online courses does not encourage students to return to community college in the following years in their respective programs (Jagger, 2011). Also, this study suggests that it is an unclear circumstance with regards to four-year college degrees since they held no discussions for their withdrawal rates and results of the course themselves. Another reason for this might be the fact that the studies in the four-year degree system focussed on a particular course instead of a wide range of courses in the institution.
An interesting take from this study is the fact that students who go all the way to the end of their courses with regards to online learning achieve final grades which are not any different from those who enrolled in traditional instructional studies. The possible reason for this can be an attribution to the differential withdrawal due to the likelihood of students who perform poorly withdrawing from the online course section as compared the face-to-face which might give the online students a final grade that is artificially higher (Jaggers, 2011).
Technology has a significant role to play in the process of enhancing learning. As such, it has facilitated the employment of many educational techniques such as self-direction, independent and collaboration in education. It can also lead to the connecting of persons who cannot meet and learn together physically due to their differences in schedules and location. Also, technology in education has provided the opportunity to receive immediate feedback as regards to an assessment which makes the process of learning a bit more achievable that the case would exist without having the capabilities of getting instant feedback (Al-Haririv" Al-Hattami, 2017). On the other hand, it remains a fact that very few teachers and instructors do not use technologies much more efficiently in the courses they teach. The challenge presented here is to enhance the process of technology use in education to achieve a more significant understanding of the way students are supposed to understand the content.
Also, there is the postulation that on a comparative analysis, teachers who use a higher level of technologies when doing classroom instruction have a better chance of teaching students with the motivation to learn and it also leads to the development of their critical thinking skills. As such, AL-Zahrani et al. found out that the increased demand for high-quality teachers to use technology in education instruction created shortages in the same respect.
The current 21st Century schools have enabled the use of technology on a much more regular basis. As such, the growth of the internet and other techniques used for interaction in the past thirty years has seen the emergence of information and technologies crucial for schools in the process of teaching and learning. The most used in the education sector include e-mail, overhead projectors, and computers in classrooms to boost the learning trajectory of students.
Despite this, the entrance of new teachers in the education sector has prompted the expansion of the use of these essential technologies and leading to the integration of more technology and information in the curriculum and lesson units. As such, the use of technology in teaching students has morphed into an essential ingredient for the increased development of students in the 21st Century. With that in mind, computers are the most common technological equipment and used on a broad range of schools. According to the Office of Technology Assessment, an estimated three hundred to four hundred thousand computers were the technologies used in K-12 schools over the past ten years. In the same line, a survey conducted in 1981 found out that the 98% of schools had computers and correspondingly used them for education learning as compared to 18% of schools having computers in 1991 while only 16% used them for instructional reasons.
Position Statement
The use of technology has a positive impact on the process of student learning and helps in decreasing the levels of inequality. The employment of a learning-centered approach to the use of technologies in schools can increase the levels of social mobility seen amongst students instead of only using a technology-centered method. As such, the most critical aspect of this is that when the government focuses on the desire to come up with learning outcomes, the use of appropriate teaching methods could leverage the advantages of technology to accelerate the process of learning.
The use of a learning-centered approach proves critical in both developing and the context in question. As such, it needs some form of inspired understanding of the way people learn and the support required to meet the various developmental and learning needs of students. Also, technology’s impact on student learning has some evidence in their levels of engagement which results in more students retaining more knowledge due to the interactive nature of education technology. With that in mind, the new arrivals of technologies have had an impact on the relevance concerning student learning. Together with the increased learning experience for students, technology has enhanced the hands-on learning opportunities and thus needs integration into the school curriculum.
On a personal level, Technology has affected my life in education in many ways. It has allowed me to complete things more efficiently such as note taking in class or just sending an email to someone without having to see the person face-to-face. Also, it has given me the ability to research anything within seconds, instead of looking for books at the library. It is incredible how far technology has progressed; for such a small device such as a laptop that could store thousands of books onto its hard drive.
References
Al-Hariri, M. T., " Al-Hattami, A. A. (2017). Impact of students' use of technology on their learning achievements in physiology courses at the University of Dammam. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 12(1), 82-85.
Costley, K. C. (2014). The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Student Learning. Online Submission.
Jaggars, S. S. (2011). Online Learning: Does It Help Low-Income and Underprepared Students? CCRC Brief. Number 52. Community College Research Center, Columbia University.
Simuforosa, M. (2013). The impact of modern technology on the educational attainment of adolescents. International Journal of Education and Research, 1(9), 1-8.
Sutton, B. (2013). The effects of technology in society and education.
Swanson, A. G., " Anderson, M. B. (1993). Educating medical students. Assessing change in medical education–the road to implementation. Academic Medicine, 68(6), S1-46.
