The major idea related to technology in education is that technology helps educational development worldwide, starting from the best colleges and universities and all the way to small classes in the poorest countries. Different organizations ask us to donate to improve technologies in education in developing countries.
While it is still a good cause, and if you support it, you still should be doing it, technology is not a silver bullet to all the problems education has now. In this article, we will try to dig into this issue.
Also Check: Use of High-Tech Robots in School Education
How technology can ruin education
- Ready-made solutions have become too popular. There are lots of case studies on Google and other websites that can be used right away in this or that situation, for answering questions, dealing with a writing assignment or group project in high school, college, or university. It speeds up studying, but it doesn’t help make students better at learning. The process of research gets much more comfortable, and soon ready-made solutions will be everywhere in academia.
- What can be done. We cannot make students Google less and use fewer case studies and other examples available online. It is not a good idea to try and stop the progress. The only thing that really can be done about it is making academic assignments much more creative. It requires more work from teachers, instructors, professors, but it can bring truly rewarding results.
- Procrastination takes over. When you feel that everything you need can be found fast and easily online, you keep postponing dealing with a particular assignment. For it seems not necessary to hurry right away. Technologies fuel procrastination. Also, social media and other distractions add to this problem. When you take your phone to check the time, you often find yourself browsing for half an hour later.
- What can be done. Only we, ourselves, can beat this spell. Use your phone or computer responsibly, try to track the time you spend on some useless applications. Use blockers for social media while working on your essay or any other assignment.
- Memory impairment seems inevitable. We don’t need to remember anything anymore. Google solves every problem. All contacts are in your phone. We don’t know addresses, phone numbers, details about the weather, animals, transportation, medical stuff, you name it. It is normal to use everything good offered by modern technology, and we don’t ask to start using old fashioned phone books for notes.
- What can be done. It is possible to slow down memory regress by learning more things by heart. Keep using your phone, Google, and other services, but make it a rule to learn something by heart every week. It can be a part of your textbook, a poem, 20 new words in another language. Even the recipe of your favorite meal. Think about things you use everyday checking them online, and choose some to save in your memory instead of saving it in your cloud.
- Inability to concentrate strikes harder and harder. This problem is related to procrastination that we covered before. Everyday you face overwhelming amounts of information that sets your brain on fire. Every several minutes you receive some messages, notifications, offers, see new advertisements, news, etc. If you don’t check on your feed in several social media, you feel like you are missing something. Their online environment changes all the time, making it impossible for students, professionals, and even many older people to concentrate on more important tasks, from education, to work, from household chores, to sports.
- What can be done. Unfortunately there is no recommendation that will help in a day or two. You need to focus on this problem for several months in order to see serious Improvement. First of all, try to track the amount of time you spend online, install an application that doesn’t only count the overall time, but also count the number of times you unlocked that screen of your phone. If this number is over 80 per day, you have a serious problem that should be addressed immediately.
- Technologies are pricey, and it increases social disparagement. There are many ways Technologies actually make the educational process better, faster, more interesting, more efficient. Even with all the distractions, it is obvious that the best schools now have lots of opportunities for students to use innovations, technologies in VR/AR, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc. Unfortunately, these technologies are pricey, and the less rich the country or even the community is, the last access students have to the newest innovations. It strengthens social disparagement.
- What can be done. Governments should invest in initiatives that provide Smart Technologies to schools and colleges. Big companies, especially in the IT and robotics segment, should be more involved in this process, both ideologically and financially.
Extra Tips for Busy Students
Being overwhelmed can be related to procrastination and distractions caused by technologies. It can also be related to professors thinking that students nowadays are not too busy thanks to technology and give much more assignments than previously. No matter the reason, if you feel like you don’t have enough time and energy to deal with another writing task this week — look for assistance from writing experts. Choose a reliable service, such as Smartwritingservice.com, place an order, and receive extra time to deal with other tasks in your to-do list. The key idea is simple — if technology threatens education, you need to find a way to make technologies work for you instead. Planning, organizing, delegating some of your tasks fall under this category.