Education Key to Success

In the 21st century technology should replace traditional teaching methods in order to stimulate student engagement. As social networking becomes more and more famous and teachers have to compete with something they just don’t have the right tools to fight them with the fight is just unfair.

With all the modern technology that today’s students are surrounded with their attention spans have drastically decreased and with entertainment at the touch of a button away from them it becomes very hard to keep a class of 30 students entertained for an hour and as time passes by this will gradually get more and more worse. I am personally a very geeky technical person to me computers are like real life people who talk to you and guide you as long as you ask them right questions. I have started depending so much on computers that whenever I need help rather than asking my teacher I look it up on google because it is so much faster and easier to do but that information is not always true. I think the solution to this problem isn’t to completely get rid of today’s teaching methods or not allow students to use their technological devices at all I think the solution is a medium between these two paths so that the teachers have an easier time teaching and students find it more enjoyable to learn education materials.

I think today’s use of power points in lectures makes it so much more easier for teachers to make their lesson plans and for students to access them later on whenever they need it. But for a couple of years that is where it’s been stuck it power points get more and more fancier but they aren't necessarily helping the students engage into the material that they are learning in class. I think school district should have a set amount of money put aside for labs and competitions where students can truly discover their talents. I think science classes in high schools are kind of pointless where students never actually get to experience how it truly feels like to be a scientist that thrill of having succeeded in performing a lab right is just a fantasy to them which rather than doing it themselves they watch others do in their science class on the projectors. Parent support is also necessary for these type of activities they are always worried about keeping their children safe and not exposing them to dangerous things but the truth of the situation is that the world is unpredictable and that isn't necessarily good or bad but they also have to encourage students as well as teachers to be creative with their work.

One of the rising problems the education system is facing today is the low standards set in math classes. Students have such a hard time in math today and rather than pushing themselves to try and work harder students take out the easy way and only fulfill the required math classes that they need to take some even avoid taking math classes if possible and pursue careers where they don’t have to do any math at all I am not an expert but just from personal experience I think math after pre-calculus just becomes so abstract that I stopped seeing the real life applications of pre-calculus I never understood why I was learning something that I would never use I used to love math when I was in elementary and middle school but that all changed once I took pre-calculus what once used to be my best friend was now my sworn enemy I would do anything to avoid doing math homework I understood the concepts that was never the problem but I always knew where it would end everyday me sitting in front of that same smart board everyday seeing the teacher solve problems and asking him every day where in real life I could apply it to use and the answer would always be the same “oh you need this for higher level

physics” or “oh you use this in engineering” I had grown so bored of these redundant answers that I completely shut myself down in my math class. I knew the math I was learning in class was to be appreciated it was just ingenious but I never understood its purpose in MY life so I never bothered with it. And I am sure that I am not the only one my friends would complain about the amount of math homework they had to do each day and how much they regretted having taken a math class that year but I think it can all be changed if the students were just given something more tangible to understand not some strange concepts that brilliant mathematicians had worked their lives on using proofs and theorems that I can’t even begin to pronounce.

Another problem in today’s education system is the need for results everyone wants higher test scores no matter what and scientific research has proven that tests don’t necessarily show if you understand the concept or not it’s just how good of a test taker you are. This is causing a lot of psychological issues in today’s students they are all awfully stressed out right before a major exam or test and that stress later on leads to medical conditions. I think we need to rethink our approach to tests they don’t fulfill their purpose yet they are valued so much. I think I might have a simple solution for that problem rather than wasting money on standardized tests schools across the nations should have and end of the year project varying from subject to subject which would actually show how much of the material that they have actually learned and how much of it have they retained. Tests today are just unfair to most of the kids they are not only timed they are “State Standardized” so whatever material that your teachers didn't go over is also put in the test it can result in loss of confidence early on in the test totally ruining the students test scores.

Last but not least the final problem I want to address in this essay is the motivation that the students lack which can either be the result of teaching material or teaching method either way resulting in a loss of years and years of education. Students all around the world already know what they want to become the second they leave high school they have been exposed to all the subjects enough but in U.S we barely scrape the top of the iceberg over 80% of college bound students go undecided into college it isn’t necessarily bad but they waste years doing something that though they liked in high school but end up changing their major I think students can reach their potential faster if the standards in high school are increased every year or so. The more the students are exposed to different kinds of learning materials the easier it is for them to find what they truly like once they leave high school.

Technology isn't necessarily evil and doesn't stop students from learning it’s the way it is used that might make it look that way but if technology were to combine with education the results would open up unbelievable opportunities for teachers and students.