Everywhere you turn technology has become part
of our lives even in schools. Some of the necessary work that is to be done in
the classroom is now completed and turned in online. All around the world,
schools are using technology to help the students learn. Course work is
presented through the webpage and then is completed and turned back in over the
same website. Technology is so involved in life today that it has become
inevitable.
In
South Korea, computers were put in cafes were people can go and pay to use the
computer and the internet. Kids have been known to stay and play on the
computers for hours. According to the movie Digital
Nation, 90% of kids in South Korea use technology for gaming purposes and
10-15% of them at high risk for gaming psychiatric disorders. South Korea has
faced the inevitable, and has started to include technology in their students’
learning process. Students in South Korea begin to work with computers around
the time they start to read. The schools teach the students how to properly use
the computer and also computer etiquette; this changes expectations for core
standards. Students learn how to communicate properly and how to complete their
lessons over the internet.
Typical computer lab or classroom found at a school |
Similarly,
I was taught how to properly use computers in my grade school and middle
school. Starting in grade school, I was taught how to type properly on the
laptops provided to us. This helped show the students how to communicate
efficiently on the computers. Following grade school, we were then taught in
middle school about internet safety and which websites we could trust. Our
classes also required us to complete assignments via the computer. We were
taught how to find the basic information and then transform that into our
project without plagiarizing. My school library also played a big part helping
students to use the computer. The library showed me how to look for books on
the library catalog and how to access online databases through the library.
Even today in college, all of my billing and grades are posted through a
website called ISIS. My experiences with technology have helped me to complete
necessary tasks that I face today. Like South Korea, technology plays a big
part in my college experience and has helped me gain the knowledge that I have
today.
South
Korea’s dependence of technology also connects to the world in a larger
context. The computers located in schools all around the world are there
because the school wrote a grant to get money for those computers. Core
standards for teaching have also changed. Now students are required to learn
how to do research on the computer. A lot of the school’s libraries offer
citation makers to help students cite sources for assignments. Technology has
been embraced by schools and has been made part of their day to day curriculum.
Students learning a lesson through a laptop. |
Not
only has South Korea embraced technology but so has a school in Brooklyn, New York.
At a local Brooklyn high school, a principal has worked hard to get every
student their own computer to assist with their school work. The principal
decided on getting the laptops as a last resort to help improve the school.
Before the laptops, the school had high violence, low attendance, and poor test
scores. After the laptops were distributed to the students, violence went down,
attendance went up, and test scores increased. One of the teachers at the
Brooklyn school is using online forums to help discuss To Kill a Mockingbird. After the student is done reading the
assigned section, they then discuss what they read on the online forum on their
laptop provided by the school. Technology helps to relate to the students and
become engaged in their education.
The
involvement of technology in the Brooklyn school is similar to my education. In
college, most of your school work is turned in through a website called BOLT.
BOLT helps to assist in our online learning by providing the students with
course material and a drop box to hand in assignments. Assignment that I’m
completing right now will be turned in electronically for my class. The
material that I got most of my information from was also found online. In other
classes such as my chemistry and communication studies class, my guided notes
can be found online. Before I head out to class, I make sure to go on the
website and print off the notes. Sometimes to save some paper, I will download
the notes and take my laptop to class and put the comments on the side of the
notes. I find the online learning helpful because I am a forgetful person and
can lose papers in a blink of an eye. With BOLT all the material I need is
right at the touch of my fingertips. Even if I did lose a print-out I could
just reprint it off of BOLT.
Doctor using the computer to record files and diagnoses. |
Technology
in the Brooklyn classrooms connects to a larger context as well. Not only is
our learning material online, but so is a lot of the paperwork in the work
place. For example, doctor’s offices have your health file online, making it
easier to access your information instead of passing around a folder. Doctor’s
offices can also easily send files to other medical field professionals.
Another example of technology in the work force is job applications. Job
applications are filled out electronically through your computer and often your
resume is attached to the application or e-mailed to your future employer. Not
only does this reduce the elimination of trees but can also help to make
communication more efficient.
Technology
in the classrooms has advanced to help students learn in a more efficient way.
Some countries are teaching kids how to safely use the computer so they just don’t
see the computer for gaming purposes only. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn technology is
decreasing violence and students are becoming more active in their education.
Technology can be beneficial in many ways; you just have to find the way it
helps you.
Good points throughout blog and I think it's cool that you have had 1st hand experience with learning to use a laptop in class. I can only imagine what that's like
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