Pros and Cons: Technology in Education

Pros

* Even though a teacher and textbook is the best way to succeed in a class, a student only has access to a teacher for about45 minutes, and even then, if every other student, let's say there's 23 students, asks for help from the teacher and takes 2 minutes, that means that it is very likely that a student won't get access to the teacher, but on the other hand, the internet is always available.

* Textbooks usually only contain a very limited amount of information, usually not even on multiple subjects, but technology, and more specifically the internet, includes over 2,000,000,000 searches and pieces of information on a single topic or area of a subject. Just imagine how much knowledge the internet has on an entire subject and on multiple subjects.

* Technology can help provide an equal chance of education for students with disabilities. For example, today many facilities have begun to use iPads to communicate with Autism children, but it doesn't just stop there. The iPhone even includes a hearing aid feature so that if you use a hearing aid, you can instantly connect it to you phone allowing you easy access to school materials that require audio.

* "Already more than 75% of all jobs require use of a computer in some capacity. Students who are skilled in using technology in accomplishing tasks in school will be better prepared for the world of work."

* "Internet tools can be fun! Internet tools are interactive! What a great way to engage students in the classroom!"
Due to the fact that technology is interactive and fun, it can help students be more engaged and pay attention in class.

* A lot of today's students do best when they learn hands on, and that's exactly what technology gives them, for the internet is continuously expanding, and of its content, lies several online labs and activities such as Gizmo that students can work with to learn at a quicker and easier pace for them.

* Today, many students who are scouted for their abilities and talents are no longer really seen physically, but instead they are looked up on the web by their social accounts, comments, and reviews, and through the combination of their actual ability and this internet life each student has created, a student is told whether or not he is good enough to receive an amazing opportunity, but what if that student doesn't have technology, then who do you think a college scout for education would rather have, someone who has no internet life but still has good reviews amongst his peers or he who has an internet life and great reviews from both his internet and real life.

* Today, many students who are scouted for their abilities and talents are no longer really seen physically, but instead they are looked up on the web by their social accounts, comments, and reviews, and through the combination of their actual ability and this internet life each student has created, a student is going to be called a primitive by society and is told whether or not he is good enough to receive an amazing opportunity, but what if that student doesn't have technology, then who do you think a college scout for education would rather have, someone who has no internet life but still has good reviews amongst his peers or he who has an internet life and great reviews from both his internet and real life.

* In schools that have integrated technology, a student is needed to have the consent of their guardian in order to even go near a device, and if they don't well then they just don't use technology when the rest of their class does, and so as you can see, students don't have to use technology in their school, they can just choose to if they would like, which shows a freedom of choice.

* With technology, students are not only able to access knowledge from their local area, but they're also able to read about events occurring all over the world, promoting the awareness of what is going on around them, and in a case like this, how can technology be bad?

* It is proven that students are addicted technology and more specifically the games that come with it, but that doesn't mean that students still can't enjoy technology in their education, I mean if a student is addicted to games then simply make them learn through educational games, making it easier for the student to learn.

* Players of some educational games develop better visual acuity. They say games can improve reaction and the ability to pick details amid clutter.

* Internet users show greater brain activity than non-users, growing their neural circuitry.

Cons

* In today's society, it is required to be able to know the art of cursive handwriting, for even in the SAT's do they have a portion stating that you must write all of this in cursive, but due to technology and its typing abilities, the handwriting skills of students are beginning to decrease versus before the integration of education and technology.

* Many people today do not have the required funds to pay for and support their child's education, yet they still try to make ends meet, and it happens, but due to the fact that technology in education only adds onto that cost, many families wouldn't be able to afford it, therefore creating an even greater separation in social classes between students within a schooling environment and courses that are now revolving around technology.

* As students progress in grade levels of education, the amount of work a student has to do on a single concept begins to increase and therefore every teacher is expected to make every minute count to a lesson, but with technology and its unreliability and difficulties added into the mix, educators will begin to see that less time is available to the actual lesson and more of it is spent getting the computers to work.

* Because technology is a new form of learning, many students are just now learning of all of the functions it has to offer, but in most cases, students will find themselves needing to write more than they type not only because of the assignments given to them, but also because of the easiness/familiarity of handwriting over that of typing, making typing a lot harder.

* Many of today's students are beginning to drop their education as they progress over the years, far more than a couple of years ago, and the number is increasing by every minute, and why is this happening?
Students are no longer engaged in what they learn, for even though they may actually respect their education, it isn't fun, therefore they quit.

* Technology has become too expensive and so not all schools would be able to afford the integration of technology into their classrooms, and you can be sure that the students won't go out and spend over $500 on something just for school, so in a case like that, technology isn't a reliable solution to solving and bettering the nation's education as a whole.

* Even though technology can be more interactive than a textbook through websites such as Gizmo or other services, it can't replace that of a teacher and those 1-on-1 tutorials given to a student if they need help.

* Even though many students do know how to use technology, many teachers don't and it is a foreign language to them, so there isn't any point in having and using technology in the classroom when your teacher won't know what to do with it and therefore you won't know what to do with it.

* Studies have shown that if you put technology such as an iPad or laptop in a child's hand, then they're bound to get distracted, and integrating technology into education will only make it worse by extending the same traits into students' lessons in school.

* Research has shown that over the summer, most kids spend their time either watching TV, staying on their phone, or remaining on some sort of technological device, creating an obsession, and with technology put into a classroom, students will only develop the same traits but the only difference is that now they have it in schools.