Technology in the Classroom

                           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.