The Role of Technology in College - Research Paper Example

Analysis of Technology in College The emergence of new technologies benefits different fields in different ways. When technologies are incorporated within the normal operations of the organization, it highly improves its efficiency. In case of education, implementing innovative technologies has a profound impact on the students and their education. This organization is an educational institution which is expanding its magnitude into a full-fledged college. Adopting technologies into education system is a powerful key to success for the students. Considering the fact that the school is getting transformed into a college, innovative measures in terms of the technologies must be incorporated into the organization for the benefit of the students. Regarding this college environment, the efficient technology that could be considered for the benefit of the organization is the adoption of e-books for the curriculum and providing iPad technology to the students. Incorporating this technology would highly improve the quality of learning in students as well as the educational system of the organization. Let us give an intense thought over practicing this technology of e-books and iPads in the college environment. The usage of computers and projectors would have befitted the needs of the school to a good extent, but when it comes to college, it has to be noted that these technologies are not sufficient. Implementation of this technology of e-books and iPads into the college has different aspects that have to be taken into consideration. As the school is getting expanded into a college, it is vital to understand the advantages and the disadvantages that underlie this situation. Since the organization is formerly well-established, the previously used technologies need a little updating to meet the new environment rather than investing a huge amount in getting new systems and devices. On the other hand, it could be a perplexed job to update all the existing resources to meet the requirements for the new technologies. However, sizeable investment has to be provided by the organization to meet the requirements of incorporating this kind of new technology into the organization. Let us analyze the conversion of text books into e-books and utilization of iPads by the students in the educational system. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of implementing this particular technology into the college along with detailed information in terms of its functions and its impact on the students, organization and the education system. The main objective that one has to consider is to what extent does this technology enhances the learning of the students and to what extent it suppresses the well-being of the students. This analysis provides a clear view towards how the technology has to be handled to enhance the students’ learning and how far the limitations have to be imposed towards the students. It is no surprise that students in the modern era are highly utilizing the technology and the Internet. When the printed paperback books are replaced by e-books, it provides the students with an easy access to their books anywhere and anytime. It also serves as a convenient way for the students to store a large number of books within a single device. This is indeed the major reason why students and educators prefer the system of e-books conversion. It tends to provide greater mobility and convenience in the part of the students. The use of e-books and iPad devices provide better functionality to the users. The e-books make your search pretty simple and include advanced functions such as highlighting, annotating and bookmarking the important pages. In addition, the e-books are cost effective when compared to the conventional printed text books. “The conversion to the iPad device and e-textbooks will help lower the overall cost of education to students, saving students roughly $200 per quarter on the cost of printed textbooks” (“Brown Mackie College System of Schools,” 2012). iPads must be used as a great tool for inspiring the students towards their objective rather than using it as a mere teaching tool. The major use of the iPads is that it facilitates sharing of information within the peers and sometimes even to the world. When iPads are coupled with the Internet, it helps the students in accessing the worldwide information at their fingertips. In addition, iPads are piled with lots of educational apps, both free and paid, that serve well to the students and their education. This kind of technology will greatly favor the educational system rather than hindering it. It probably benefits the learning skills of the students, when used efficiently. Though effective use of technology promotes better education for sure, the limitations and adverse effects cannot be mitigated. It has to be noted that the e-books are fragile in their reliability and limited in their availability. The devices are prone to unexpected crashes and when it gets damaged, the entire stuff within it gets lost. Thus, it is advisable to back up all the e-books to avoid such unfavorable situations. One of the annoying parts of e-books is that the smaller screens do not best fit to diagrams and graphs, making it worse and frustrating to view the contents. The students always feel convenient in reading a hard copy of the book rather than a digital edition of it. However, keeping apart the fallouts, the portability and affordable nature of the e-books makes it a great boost to the students when used skillfully in education. The use of the Internet through the iPads initiates various ways of sharing and collaborating with the peers. Though the devices help to enhance and improve the education, they also possess various hazards that have to be considered. The device might turn into an entertainment tool which definitely hinders learning. The social networking is indeed the major threat to the Internet usage of the students. When used efficiently for the educational purpose, it can be beneficial, but on the other hand, when used lethargic, it greatly degrades the education of the students. Thus, the educator has to play a major role in imposing limitations on the use of the technology in the students’ hands and at the same time motivating them in getting the optimum results from these technologies. “We must learn to think with discrimination about the multi-leveled interaction between the technology and education in order to help us establish priorities that will nurture and effectively shape a growing, effective technology within education” (Xu & Pershing, 2010). The integration of this technology of e-books and iPads in the college would help a lot in attaining the best possible outcome. The way the technology interacts with the students’ education is complicated as it requires lots of practical application of the knowledge inquired in the part of the educators. When practiced effectively, it will greatly benefit the education system in the organization. But the successful implementation of these technologies in colleges tends to be less than the desired potential. The project RED research found that most of the educational institutions that have integrated digital tools into learning are not maximizing the use of those devices in ways that best make use of their potential (“Technology in Education,” 2011). Critical steps have to be taken by the organization and the educators in order to achieve the desired outcome from the students. Firstly, the college has to produce a mutual balance between the academic curriculum and the use of the software. The instructors have to get the knowledge about the optimal usage of the software that is installed within the iPads. They have to make the best out of the availing software by comprehending the value of the investment that is required in purchasing it. Various concerns are providing valuable apps for free as well as at an affordable cost to the educational organizations. The educators must take the responsibility in selecting the best and reliable software or apps that suit the needs of the academic curriculum from the available Apps store. For instance, engineering students require spreadsheets and graphical presentation software while arts students will use graphics, audio and video software. The requirement of the software is mainly based on the academic curriculum and the standards to which it is established. Though pirated software might be helpful in saving costs, it is quite illegal to be used. Being a trusted organization, it is the duty of the educators to develop ethical responsibility towards piracy in colleges. The iPads provide an easy access to the curricular textbooks along with extended resources and reference materials which boost the ability of the students and their educational experience. “Internet and search engines had a ‘mostly positive’ impact on student research skills. And they said such tools had made students more self-sufficient researchers” (Richtel, 2012). This kind of approach towards education will certainly deliver high standards in the organizational curriculum. The major implication that the instructor has to know is that the technology has to be used as a tool for learning and not as an alternative to teaching. Often face-to-face interaction tends to be more essential to the students in spite of the technologies involved. The educators have to think from a different perspective and find creative ways to educate the students. So it is highly important for the educators to adapt their teaching methods using the availed technology and improve the student’s learning. “The Alliance for Excellent Education encourages a transition from a teacher-centric culture to learner-centered instruction, so as to combat the widely uneven and inequitably distributed access to teachers” (“Education Technology, Digital Learning Not As Easy As It Seems,” 2012) It is the responsibility of the educators to help the students in using the social networks in a productive way. In addition, the organization has to take measures by imposing limits in the usage of entertainment websites and other non-productive sites from the students. “As technology advances, we must learn to use it wisely to motivate, instruct and challenge students. Unfortunately, the computer can be misused as easily as it can be powerfully applied” (Barron, 2002). Various technologies are available for this purpose that monitors and firewalls the specified sites and restricts the access to it. Social media in campuses has to be confined and the students should also be counseled regarding the online privacy and their safety in browsing. On the part of investment, the organization has to provide sufficient funds to establish the proposed technology. Though e-books might be cost-effective, the iPads and other requirements of incorporating this technology into the organization need a sizable investment. The investment funds include the value of the devices, cost of licensing the software, development programs and implementation of the technology in the infrastructure of the organization. Overall, e-books and iPads are an advanced educational technology which is indeed a proactive approach towards improving the quality of educational curriculum of the college. “If technology is well designed, it can help tailor the learning experience to individual students, facilitate student-teacher collaboration, and assist teachers in monitoring student performance” (Lohr, 2010). With the use of this technology of e-books and iPads, the organization would attain an optimum outcome in the students’ ability towards their academic as well as practical skills. It is the essential part of the educational organization to induce and restructure the way this technology motivates the learning in the students. The result of usage of this effective technology highly favors the organization by increasing its established standards of curriculum as well as students skills towards learning. Thus, the college should highly encourage the technology regarding the usage of e-books and iPads in the educational system of the organization in order to boost innovation and collaboration among the students, which brings a forward-looking approach and an integrated platform for education. References Barron, A. E. (2002). Technologies for education: A practical guide. Libraries Unlimited. Brown Mackie College System of Schools announces conversion to e-textbooks and iPad for students nationwide. (2012). KWQC.com. Retrieved from: http://www.kwqc.com/story/20044642/brown-mackie-college-system-of-schools- announces-conversion-to-e-textbooks-and-ipad-for-students-nationwide. Education Technology, Digital Learning Not As Easy As It Seems: Alliance for Excellent Education Report. (2012). Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/alliance-for-excellent- ed_n_2140129.html. Lohr, S. (2010). In higher education, a focus on technology. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/technology/11online.html. Richtel, M. (2012). Technology changing how students learn, teachers say. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how- students-learn-teachers-say.html?pagewanted=all. Technology in education. (2011). Education week. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/. Xu, F., & Pershing, J. A. (2010). A move towards the integration between education and technology. Frontiers of Education in China, 5 (1), 3. Read More