Technology Makes Education Positively

Kevin Wong

Persuasive Writing

August 4, 2011

Technology Has Changed Education in a Positive Way

“All right, the homework assignment will be to study and to write about the Cold War,” my history teacher told me. When I got back to my house, I went onto Google, and typed in Cold War. What came up was an endless stream of information, providing information for my homework assignment. I was able to use the information to back up my claims on the decision making of JFK in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although Wikipedia can be edited by anyone of its users, the sources listed at the bottom could easily be used. Without too much effort, I was able to finish my homework assignment for history along with the other assigned homeworks from the other classes.

Technology has changed education by making it simpler, easier, and also is more accessible. As history has shown time and time again, technology changes education in a positive way. With the introduction of the printing press in 1440, books could be written much faster. “A single Renaissance printing press could produce 3,600 pages per workday compared to forty by typographic hand printing…” (Wikipedia.org) The information was logical and was parallel with another website called www.historyguide.org. With an increase of production, children and adults were able to read more often as it was readily available. Technology has also brought in Digital Literacy. As defined by digitalliteracy.cornell.edu, digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, and create information using digital technology. With digital literacy, people all around the world are able to critic other works, and also share their works. With the recently young addition of digital literacy, people will only become smarter.

However, some might argue that it actually makes people less intelligent. Although they may be “book-smart” they may not be smart hands-on. For instance, a person may read an instructions manual on how to disassemble a car, but a mechanic who has years of experience with similar products would be able to do it just by knowing what parts go where and what it does. The problem with this argument is that with the aid of newer technology, there will be simulations that can show you a step by step procedure on how to do anything.

Another argument against technology is “What if technology (such as gadgets, the internet, etc) were to be gone from this world? Would we still be able to survive?” The answer is, that technology will never leave this world. Also, as long as people are people, having a brain and becoming innovative, then humans would be able to survive. There can be a million “What If” questions, and many of them aren’t even plausible.

Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” stated that the Net causes people to become less focus and less intelligent. He references several bloggers that have issues with being able to read longer texts. However, as Jamais Cascio in “Get Smarter” responds with that humans are able to evolve in order to live as they have done in the past, and that in the future humans won’t need to evolve due to their intelligence. They will be able to create new products that will help improve lives.

Inventions have been made that have helped make learning easier. For example, Rosetta Stone, a computer software that aids language learning have made learning another language or more convenient than taking classes. It has received numerous awards for its ability to teach so well.

In the medical field, technology has changed so drastically that it improves the student’s ability to save the lives of others. There are simulations that are “hands on” that “helps teams and individuals develop preparedness and insight that is best learned and practiced in realistic conditions (http://www.harvardmedsim.org/)”. “Technology has also made a great impact on medical procedures and allowed for complex surgical procedures to be developed” (www.healthguideinfo...) With the introduction of computers in the 1970’s, calculations have been made more accurate, and the storing of information was more secure. Prosthetic body parts have improved the quality of patient’s lives. With newer technology coming in the future, it shouldn’t be a surprise if there would be ways to recreate another body part without any controversy such as without embryonic stem cells.

Overheads and projectors have increased teacher to student interaction in a limited amount of time. While handing out outlines, a teacher can interact with the overhead so the students are able to see what the teacher is talking about. Technology has proven itself that it promotes education rather than denounce it. With the introduction of television, numerous educational channels and shows have been brought up, such as Dora the Explorer, Barney and Friends, Blue’s Clues, etc.. These programs introduce ideas and information, exposing the child to certain topics that they would learn later in school. According to kidstvmovies.about.com, “TV can help kids learn about a variety of subjects, kids can explore places, animals, or things that they couldn’t see otherwise, inspires kids to try new activities”, and motivates them to read. This will help them not only in their homes but also in school. “Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained ‘computer class’ into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress” (Mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/) There are students who learn better with hands-on experience, and those who learn better from watching. Mashable.com interviews the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education and cites many other sources such as the Daytona College and the Concord Consortium, “a non-profit organization that develops technologies for math, science and engineering education.” Technology has shown its impact.

Simplicity at its best. Once hard calculations; now become nothing more than just a simple button press. Conrad Wolfram a TedTalks speaker states that “calculating is the machinery of math; it’s the chore, it’s the thing you’d like to avoid if you can, it’s the thing you want a machine to do.” Just in one day, humans spend 106 lifetimes learning hand-calculating. Conrad Wolfram states that now you can reorder the curriculum. He has an example of the class Calculus. The concepts are pretty simple, but the math is much harder, which is why it is taught at a later order in the math curriculum. However, with computers you are able to reorder the curriculum since the math calculating will be simpler, and you’ll be able to understand the concepts.

Technology has become so advanced and precise that education will prosper. It not only helps in the medical field, but also in the everyday life of a student. It has made education simpler, easier and also helps spread wisdom throughout the world. The world is connected by the internet. Ideas are now shared throughout the world much more easily than books had and before that, orally. Technology has brought ideas to younger individuals such as toddlers, and has brought more information to older adults, such as through Rosetta Stone. (Claims to be able to teach adults just as easily as younger students.) It has made teaching methods more varied for the students who learn best at different rates and different ways. It has also allowed reordering of the curriculum due to its ability to make calculations easier and concentrates on the understanding of the concept. In reverse, it can also make calculations harder by adjusting it to real-world problems rather than the problems shown in schools. Technology has not made people less intelligent, but rather has made education easier and more assessable.

Works Cited

"A Brief History of Medical Technology | Health Guide Info." | Health Guide Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. .

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and life – TheAtlantic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2011. .

Cascio, Jamais. "Get Smarter - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and life – TheAtlantic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2011. .

"Digital Literacy Resource - Introduction." Cornell University - Digital Literacy Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2011. .

Kessler, Sarah. "8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education." Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable – The Social Media Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2011. .

"Printing press - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. .

"The Center for Medical Simulation." The Center for Medical Simulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. .

Wolfram, Conrad. "Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth spreading. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. .