Tech Mania

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 04:08 AM PDT

Technology has certainly got its shiny, electrically powered hands on a lot of things these days. Social functioning now happens more on sites like Facebook than at clubs, people understand Wikipedia better than they understand traditional libraries, and education has become a tech-bedazzled event. When it comes to education, some raise questions of how beneficial these advances really are. Today we will discuss the ways in which technology is helping and hindering the learning process.

Let’s begin by going into ways that education is helping. There are two primary types of technology-rich learning: traditional and online education. Traditional learning has integrated software solutions to help students. Virtual classrooms function entirely around these hi-tech approaches.

For traditional education, the advanced technology helps in a large number of ways. Students are now able to access information from anywhere they can access the Internet. This means they can get course information, assignments and handouts for their classes away from the classroom. It also means that they can get enrolled in school more quickly, fill out financial aid with fewer hassles, and more easily provide their institution with necessary information.

The technology also helps conserve resources for both students and schools. Since most reading materials and writing assignments can be sent electronically, paper consumption drops dramatically.Students save time in other ways, too. Getting in touch with a teacher is as easy as sending an email. Oftentimes, an out-of-town student can send a paper directly to their teacher’s inbox. Students are also able to complete assignments more quickly thanks to word processing advances.

Virtual classrooms or schools functioning entirely off of distance learning and remote campuses have their own benefits. Broad accessibility helps bring education to more rural areas. Additionally, the education for any online student is highly specialized. A few available web degrees include:

computer programming
e commerce marketing business degree
disaster preparedness leadership
health systems and technology

This certainly allows for more focus than is present in a typical traditional university.However, technology does have its darker side, too. While students can more easily access school information outside of class, they can also more easily access non-educational distractions during school. Many students find it hard to stay away from Face book and chatting software during the school day.

This is worsened in a distance-learning environment, where no teacher is physically present to give a sense of accountability. In distance and virtual classroom learning, students may also lose out on the personal aspects of education.These technological distractions make completing homework more difficult, too. Students can browse the web endlessly, watch television or otherwise find ways to permanently procrastinate. This means that students must learn much better time management.

Technology also creates additional expenses for students. This includes items like computers that they must purchase themselves, as well as the increased tuition costs due to each school’s large technology investment.There are both drawbacks and advantages to recent technological developments. However, if students knuckle down and evade the minefield of tech-based distractions, the hi-tech world can absolutely serve as an asset to their overall experience.