Today the world has embraced change and diversity; as such, the continued integration of technology into various production processes and almost every aspect of our cultures is nothing new. Technology affects how people live and interact with each other and, recently, how students learn various subjects in schools. Learning about the internet of things is an essential requirement in almost every job market, whereby it offers students a wide array of opportunities for self-improvement and having a competitive advantage over others.
Advantages of Integrating Learning and Technology
As a result, most schools and institutions worldwide have adopted technology into various teaching processes. Most learning institutions today have adopted the use of technology for a multitude of academic tasks such as writing assignments, presentations, and assessment tools. Besides, the use of online resources also adds to the plethora of benefits and opportunities it provides the education sector with.
The main reason why technology is so widely used is that it brings about significant changes as to how students learn, such as adding digital educational resources to a classroom environment, i.e., computers or mobile devices. Besides, other reasons for the continued use of technology in classrooms include:
- Technology expands course offerings
- Technology helps overcome geographical boundaries
- Improves the learning experience
- Offers adequate learning materials
- The ability to cater to the needs of various students
- Increases concentration and engagement of students in the learning process
- Helps lower the cost of education by reducing the need for physical assets
- It encourages both collaboration and individual learning
- Improves a student’s ability to retain more information
- Supports the opportunity for round the clock learning
- Instills skills that are useful 21st century
In addition to these benefits, technology has also helped in the development of online essay writing services that, in great part, help provide students with quality, affordable, and reliable academic writing assistance when needed. Most of the benefits mentioned above directly impact students. However, technology also benefits teachers by improving upon traditional teaching methods through the use of various tools, applications, and online resources such as offering virtual classes, online plagiarism detection, and assessment tools, grading software, etc. Therefore, the use of technology connects both students and teachers to professional online content, systems, and resources to help personalize the learning process.
Disadvantages of Integrating Technology in Education
It is evident that technology has immense benefits in today’s education system that helps accelerate the rate at which students can learn, which in turn improves a student’s overall productivity. However, the implementation of technology for learning is a highly contentious issue mainly because there are some concerns about the associated drawbacks of the use of technology in a classroom environment for all levels of education. Below are some of the disadvantages of using technology in the classroom:
- Specific techniques can be distracting for students
- Has a high possibility of instilling unhealthy social behavior among students
- Add many more avenues for students to cheat
- Some students are at a disadvantage as various technologies are still out of their financial reach
- The possibility of using misleading or unreliable sources of information
- Increases the challenge of planning the curriculum
- Significant concerns about both the teachers’ and students’ privacy
- An increase in medical complications among both teachers and students, such as eye strain, back problems, etc.
- Can cause students to lose track of time and this instills poor time management practices
- The effectiveness of technology is often limited by personal preferences, partial implementation or not being permitted
- Can create dependence on online resources, such as over-reliance on web search results to answer questions
Different people have diverse views about the use of technology in classrooms concerning their respective levels of comfort with the changes it brings with it. Nonetheless, despite the disadvantages brought about by the implementation of technology into a learning environment at any level of education, the benefits far outweigh them. This is primarily because technology is a significant asset for most other fields, and it could bring about positive changes in the education sector as well.
Understandably, introducing technology to a traditional classroom environment is not an easy step to undertake and will almost always be done in phases. Regardless, the potential benefits can positively improve the educational system. However, there are also a few challenges along the way, such as ensuring equal access for all students ensuring that everyone can benefit from it. However, the opportunities provided by the use of technology in the classroom can only be achieved if both the students, teachers, and respective learning institutions are supportive of the entire process.
