The Use of Technology Does Improve Education
"You don't have to be a rich old guy from New York anymore to get your voice out."
- Grade 7 student, Joseph H. Kerr School (Deveau 2007)
There are many reasons that the use of technology does improve education in schools. The list below comprises four journal articles that prove technological utility in the classroom from the perspective of; visually impaired post secondary students who utilize technology in order to grasp course content, new teachers who use technology in classrooms to prepare materials and who believe that through creative instruction instructors can use technology in classrooms regardless of socio-economic conditions, teachers who use cloud computing, and word processing software allows for a range of writing activities to occur in a classroom.
- In the article Accessibility of e-Learning and Computer and Information Technologies for Students with Visual Impairments in Postsecondary Education, two separate studies are looked at in terms of technology's usefulness in the classroom for students who are visually impaired and states “e-learning has the potential to facilitate the inclusion of students with visual impairments”
(Fichten p. 543) in post secondary education.
- This article found that although students needs are better met from a technological standpoint at home because of more advanced technologies, “overall, the participants technology-related needs were generally well met.” (p. 553)
- First Study: The authors found that from the sample of visually impaired students surveyed, 96% of totally blind students used software that reads what's on the screen, 88% of students used optical character recognition, and 71% use a refreshing braille display.(Fichten p. 546)
- First Study: The authors found that from the sample of visually impaired students surveyed, 70% who have low vision use screen magnification, 55% use spelling and grammar checkers to improve the quality of their writing and 50% use Text to Speech software. (Fichten p. 546)These students also felt that their needs were “reasonably well met in most areas surveyed.” (Fichten p. 547)
- Second Study: Of the students surveyed, 50% of those with low visions and 60% of those totally blind felt that their problems with technology could be solved with “alternate formats, devoting more time and effort to learning how to use e-learning materials, and taking an examination at a different time from the rest of the class (non-e-leaming solution).” (Fichten p.550)
- Second Study:The authors list the various types of technology available to those with visual impairments
- Text to Speech Software
- Optical Character Recognition Software
- Refreshing braille displays
- low vision magnification on screens
- e-mail
- course web pages
- web based discussion forums
- course notes available in a word document
- Preparing Preservice Teachers to Integrate Technology: A Longitudinal Study, is a study in which preservice teachers were “immersed in a technology-empowered environment in hopes of preparing them to use technology in public schools.” (MacKinnon p.79) In this article the author explains that some researchers believe that children are developing a new form of literacy in the face of emerging technologies (MacKinnon p.79 quoting Dede, C., Dieterle, E., Clarke, J., Jass Ketelhut, D. & Nelson, B.) and must be educated by teachers who are technologically competent. The author found that:
- In their first years, teachers in the study said that they used technologies to effectively communicate and prepare materials by projecting notes and through researching materials related to planning. (MacKinnon p.82)
- In their later years, there was a move toward exploring technology and was hampered only by school resources and the issue that new teachers felt pressured by more established teachers to conform to the existing system rather than bring in new technologies. (MacKinnon pg.82)
- Although the student teachers faced classrooms that had limited technological resources, they felt that shouldn't hamper the use of technology in the classroom and had many suggestions as to how an educator can integrate technology regardless of funding:
- They recommend teaching technology in a way that uses a small number of devices. (MacKinnon p.83)
- Intergrate social networking though creative projects such as pen pals and cultural exchanges (MacKinnon p.83)
- Teach students how to use “rudimentary software” such as office software. (MacKinnon p.83)
- “Teach about strategies that give computer access to children regardless of socio-economics (library access, community access)
- “Prepare teachers to access and use open-source [free] software to respond to the increasing costs of software packages and the decreasing financial resources of rural schools.” (MacKinnon p.83)
- In Supporting 21 Century Learnig Through Google Apps Roger Nevin delineates the way that schools can integrate technology into their classrooms without spending money by using the Google suite of products. This integration “makes using technology easier as the computer environment is the same at school and at home” (Nevin 2009) and provides a “common collaborative system.” (Nevin 2009)
- Cloud computing allows an internet server to be located anywhere in the world and securely protects data by disallowing those without a login to access it. As for breaches of security, in the authors research he had “not found any breaches concerning the security or privacy of any student or teacher, and this includes millions of users. I also contacted Google who said they know of no such case.” (Nevin 2009)
- Cloud computing also allows schools to spend money on classroom resources rather than on servers and technicians. Paul Duldig, the vice president of Services and Resources – personal communication claims that projects they do now cost one tenth of what it would if the service was run internally. (Nevin 2009)
- Having a Google technician take care of any problems allows teachers who are new to technology to easily adapt to it. They don't need to learn complex software, allowing them to spend more time on the material of a lesson.
- The use of cloud computing also mitigates the threat of home based computers failing students. If the materials is on an external server, they can access it anywhere and don't have to rely on printers that may not work, crashing computer systems, older technologies that cannot run the newest software and the transition between Mac and PC file formatting. (Nevin 2009)
- Teachers will be able to better assess a student's work through cloud computing because they are not only able to review work online before it is submitted but are able to accurately gauge a students knowledge and understanding of a subject and address it during class time. (Nevin 2009)
- Nevin also asserts that teachers may be able to monitor cyberbullying through a program called Postani, which is the free internet security program offered to educators. It has filters that “catch students who use inappropriate language or who may engage in cyberbullying.” (Nevin 2009)
- In Beginning to write with word processing: Integrating writing processes and technology in a primary classroom, Van Leeuwen finds that students really enjoyed writing on the computer and that world processing software allowed for a range of different writing activities in the classroom. (p. 427)
- If there is a shift towards a more collaborative approach to writing in a classroom then the teacher is able to act more like a facilitator rather than a lecturer. (Van Leeuwen p.421)
- The teacher in the study practiced a rotating, writing workshop schedule in her grade one classroom, even with only having three computers in the classroom. Every child was able to use the computer every one and a half weeks and were able to use the computer for the entirety of the session.
- By having writing workshops, the teacher was able to not only have students practice writing, but also was able to assist in fostering keyboarding skills and familiarity with technology.
