Impact of Technology on Education - Coursework Example

Impact of Technology on Education Education is the basic need for the young ones to learn about the society and the civilization. It is considered a fundamental human right, as has been set forth as an important element in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Human Rights Covenants, which have force of international laws. Therefore, it is quite obvious that respective governments around the world will try to make as much contribution towards education sector as possible to make well qualified citizens for a better tomorrow. Technology has made its mark in almost all walks of life, therefore its impact on education sector is also quite apparent if we take a look at the developments in this sector for the last 40 to 50 years. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in US lays an added emphasis1 on the use of technology for the betterment of the sector. Information Technology is the all important offspring of Technology having its footprints on the way education is imparted or educational material is prepared or education is accepted by the intended audience. Taking care of this fact, the Campus Computing Project (CCP) happens to be one of the largest continuing study programme about the role of IT in American higher education. As internet is gradually maturing and presenting a paradigm shift in its very ideation, the infrastructure has acquired a business character, a transcontinental personality and a vending framework of wide-ranging, business, educational, scientific and personal data. Now the use of internet covers real-time computer conferencing, audio broadcasting, video broadcasting, real time telephony and of course real-time business. Education too takes a leaf out of such applications and has been able to make good use of internet and related technologies. There is increasing participation of private and public sector together with government in making technology available to different aspects of educational needs. Apple Inc. a leading company using technology and computing for its business objectives, for example has partnered in many education related schemes like; Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL), International Data Corporation (IDC) etc. which helped not only in encouraging the use of technology in education, but also made fullest use of technology in promoting the cause of education. In his famous taxonomy, Bloom (1964) identified the domains within which learning takes place. He labelled them as cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Traditionally, the concentration has been on the cognitive domain with comprehension, facts and figures acquiring the centre stage. But with technology making its impact, information society made it almost compulsory for the education providers to bring into effect, adequate amendments in their approach so that the learning process becomes far more interactive and effective. In this new approach role of student as well as the means of education became more important. In fact this theory too has been in practice for quite a while now, as is evident from what Rogers (1961) said about the learning process. Rogers (1961) stated that the only learning that significantly influences human behavior happens to be self-discovered. The IT era has helped in making the learning process more interactive, and more relevant to the fast pace development of the day. Education for sustainable development therefore focuses more on how people live, work and make decisions. The learning process in general involves; Learning values and cultures: Such an education is imparted by the parents and the society in general. How the parents behave, what are the means of communication used by the parents, how effectively the parents are able to manage their time and efforts towards the children, and what kind of social upbringing is the child subjected to, are some of the major contributors towards the value education. The ethics and cultures too are picked by the students from his/ her surroundings. In this case as well, technology has a big role to play. Today we are living in an era where media and means of communication have a strong influence on the children. Preferences of parents on the media channels are invariably picked up by the child as de-facto truth by the tender mind of a child, which ultimately helps in shaping the destiny of the child. Learning skills and acquiring knowledge: Such skills are needed during professional education years. Technology plays the most crucial part during these years. Internet and networking computing makes the life far easier for the student as well as the teachers. As soon as some new development takes place regarding the subject, it can be passed on to the students by the teachers with factual information and desired details. Similarly, the student can be in touch with their teachers round the clock without any physical barrier affecting the learning process. Learning through the feedback and experience: Such learning is of course acquired when the learner exposes himself/ herself to the working environment and the learner is provided adequate feedback about the techniques, the skills and the process. The MacFarlane Report (1992), described the nature of learning in higher education as depending on the ability to transform the knowledge presented - the ability to relate the knowledge to what is already known, to make personal sense of it, and so be able to use it in novel contexts. The Report suggested that in choosing learning resources three questions be kept in mind: 1) How can the knowledge be structured and presented most effectively 2) What forms of interaction are required to extend and reinforce the learning process 3) In what ways can this interaction best be managed Therefore technology has made the best use in making the process of imparting education more structured and relevant to the changing times. Impact of technology has not only affected the formal education, but it has also affected in a big way how organizations impart training and education to their workforce. Vocation training and education is an important area that has emerged out of the needs of the industry for skilled manpower. Technology has impacted such education as well. In view of the evolving global economy, which demands appropriately skilled workforce, most of the governments around the world are currently undertaking reforms of their education and training systems, with inclusion of the vocational streams into the system and by providing apprenticeship training to the students. When a young college graduate prepares to come out of the university with a degree and diploma in hand, he/ she is full of enthusiasm and ideas but he has no idea of how things work practically in an industrial set up. When the industry recruits these young graduates as a regular workforce, quite often these graduates are not able to meet the expectations of the company. This works to the disadvantage of the company as well as to the morale and motivation of the individual. It was therefore felt that training imparted in colleges/ institutions, by way of majorly theoretical studies, alone is not sufficient for acquisition of skills and requires to be supplemented by training in the actual working environment. It is therefore considered that providing the students with practical training immediately after the completion of the course or in the final year of the course, helps in polishing them for the appropriate job. This way the needs of the industry for skilled manpower are also met, while the individual too enters the company with a confident attitude and high morale, which in turn is bound to benefit both the parties. The impact of technology can be gauged on education in the following ways; 1. Modes of education: Today education can be imparted from anywhere to any part of the world. The process can be simultaneous as well as at the user's convenience, depending upon the urgency and requirements. Internet helps in bridging the distance and with the help of videoconferencing; webcasts etc. online education can be imparted to any number of persons, from one remote corner of earth, spread all across the globe. 2. Modern means of Learning: Learning can be interactive too, with examples being shown on the screen. Computer simulations, live videos of some happenings, operation on a human being, take-off of a space shuttle etc. help in making the learning process much more interesting and long lasting. 3. Networking for researches: Doctors today can take part in a live discussion in which experts from different countries can come out with their side of the story on a particular topic, which helps in taking ahead the research and development process, thus helping the humanity. In addition software developers too often rely on collaborative computing to make the program as comprehensive as possible. 4. Distance Learning: Distance learning is no doubt, one of the best uses of technology in today's environment, where people are in need of constant updation of their educational qualification, while pursuing their professional goals. Career advancement and promotional aspirations require that the knowledge of the individual must be fully updated with desired skills and experiences. Therefore, technology makes this process as good as classroom education with better interaction amongst the teachers and the students sitting in different parts of the world. Some of the applications of distance learning include; 5. Practical training, on the job training: Such training is required to prepare a pool of skilled manpower for the industry. Technology helps in doing away with the various types of constraints and serves the purposes like; Raising the skill level of the young graduates Providing a better match between skills acquired in college/ institution and the industry, which helps in accelerating the school-to-work transition. Encouraging industry's participation in the formal education and training system Establishing a coherent system of vocational qualifications Providing the industry with trained manpower with upgraded skills. And above all, development of the crucial human resource for the industrial development of the country 6. The Gaming Industry: The computer gaming industry is also one of the crucial components of the modern learning process. Today children pick up the driving skills at the tender age of 3-5, when they drive their virtual cars on their television monitors or computer screens. There are two sides to this type of learning actually. While on the one hand the children become well acquainted with technology since their childhood, researchers have also come out with findings which state that children grow with violent attitudes and brat behavior on account of the predominance of violence in computer games. But, it is now an established fact that children learn a lot from the games they play on computer. Kirk and MacDonald (1989) also suggest that learning skills called psychomotor skills may be acquired with or without the support of tutor. The tutor might be required to provide the feedback necessary to achieve enhanced awareness and performance. Impact on School Curriculum The school curriculum of the students has seen major changes over the years. When technology comes out with newer versions of the facts and figures at regular intervals, the students too are required to have updated information about the evolving truth and the process that makes brings about the evolution. In today's era of liberalization and globalization, an individual is considered as an economic entity. According to this school of thought, human beings are considered as rational economic beings. And maximum output is thought to be the direct consequence of the policy of relating their output with their levels of compensation. Therefore, students are prepared for the kinds of competitiveness prevailing in the industry. This has a direct effect on the school curriculum, which becomes far more wide and bulky over the years. At times, it is easy to add newer topics, but it is quite difficult to do away with the old or outdated topics, because the application areas of older version too happen to be in use at some places. But IT, has redefined the curriculum to a great extent. Today, no study is considered as complete without the inclusion of computer, and internet in the curriculum. Students are initiated to computers and computing even before they start their schooling years. Subsequently, internet is used by the schools as a means of keeping in touch with the students and their parents from time to time. Today, students, teachers as well as technology are considered as the integral part of the educational process. Over time the approach of looking at the means of education has changed a lot, now the computers and internet are considered very much as an integral part of an education system. The methods are therefore designed accordingly. The task is analyzed scientifically and then a best method of doing it, is developed. This method is supposed to be the most efficient one. Of course, over time reviews are also held to see the scope for improvements. References: 1. Apple (2008). Raising Student Achievemnet with Technology. Available online at http://www.apple.com/education/research/ (Jan 29, 2008) 2. Bloom, B. S. et al. (1964), Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Vol. 2, David McKay, New York, NY. As referred online at http://www.businessballs.com/bloomstaxonomyoflearningdomains.htm (Jan 29, 2008) 3. Kirk, P. and MacDonald, I.(1989), "The role of feedback in management learning", Management Education and Development, Vol 20 Part 1, pp. 9-19. 4. MacFarlane Report (1992), Teaching and Learning in an Expanding Higher Education System (Committee of Scottish University Principals, Report of a Working Party). As referred in Landen, Mary (1997). 'The role of technology in education and training'. Industrial and Commercial Training Volume 29, Number 7, 1997, pp. 230-235. 5. Rogers, C. (1961), On Becoming a Person - A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy, Constable, London. 6. Technology in Education. available online at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/te0cont.htm (Jan 29, 2008) 7. Wheeler, Keith A. (2007). 'Learning for Deep Change'. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. SAGE Publications, Los Angeles, pp 45-50. Read More