Technology in Education (APA)

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Technology in Education Running Head: Technology in Education

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Technology has a Strong Future in Education Rachel Mercer William Carey University

Technology in Education Abstract Integrating technology into education is a must in today’s society. There are many factors that play in to this argument. The greatest of these factors are the need for students to be able to function in today’s workforce. Technology integrations serve to make the education process

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much easier. Integrating technology also allows students to be more creative and think outside of the box.

Technology in Education Technology has a strong future in education: It is quickly becoming the driving force behind education. Today’s students must possess advanced technological skills in order to

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function in the most basic of jobs. Without these technological skills student’s and ultimately the nation as a whole will fall painfully behind in today’s global economy. There are many reasons for focusing on technology in education, but the greatest of these reasons are to create students who are engaged in meaningful lessons, capable of communicating, and collaborating effectively in today’s technology advanced global economy. One of the greatest problems in education today is the inability to effectively engage students in meaningful relevant material that will truly impact them in a manner that will stimulate their desire to learn. There is much competition for the attentions span of this generation of students. They are born with electronic gadgets in their hands. It quickly becomes the way they interact with their environment at a very early age. Mark Prensky argues that these “gadgets” provide our kids with unforced learning. He states, “Modern computer and video games are terrific at providing kids with unforced learning opportunities at every second, and sometimes even fractions thereof. And despite what the press would often have you believe; the overwhelming majority of this learning is positive” (Prensky, 2006). Our students are taught to be active. Television engages them almost immediately. Videos vie for their attention on a constant basis. Some are even engaged in traditional activities like soccer or baseball. This makes the concept of walking into a classroom, sitting quietly, and focusing on what they are being told a very difficult task. The argument has been made that A.D.D. is a serious problem for many students. However, a more appropriate term would be E.D.D. (Educational Disengagement Disorder). Today’s students are simply too far removed from most of the material they are being presented with for it to become meaningful and relevant to them. Prensky

Technology in Education also argues that the game play that is available helps today’s generation to develop thinking and

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collaboration skills that they so desperately need. Technology allows the possibility to bridge this gap. Technology provides the opportunity to effectively engage students. Today’s generation of students are communicating in ways that prior to technology infusion were impossible. They are able to communicate with other students and peers both synchronously and asynchronously. This is also the manner in which they communicate with

teachers and even their parents. IM’s, blogging, chat rooms, and text messages are just a few of the ways in which our students are communicating today. In education we must simply learn to leverage this technology to our advantage. The possibility of synchronous in class communication holds great potential. Students who are in a lab setting with the appropriate privileges can instant message a teacher a question without fear of looking ignorant to the rest of the class. This increases the likely hood that that question will be asked. Chatting among themselves is one of the favorite forms of communication for some students. Allowing students to chat enables them to work quietly, yet simultaneously on a group project. Prensky also points out that not only can these students chat, but they can also multi-chat. In his article he points out that many parents marvel at the number of chat windows their children have up and running at the same time (Prensky, 2004). Some asynchronous technology based educational opportunities are also available. Blogs allow for online reflection, or responses to writing prompts in a manner that allows for an authentic audience. If students can take ownership of their work, and know that others aside from teachers will be viewing it, they are more likely to commit themselves to the task at hand. Student’s can communicate via email. According to Prensky in an article recently written by him, “This type of communication has great advantages, including the time to reflect before you write or answer. While the “etiquette” that has evolved for email demands a

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quick response, that response does not have to come within the hour or even the same day. So, even as fast as email is “it is the Native’s reflective” form of communicating” (Prensky, 2004). Texting is another popular method of communicating among today’s generation. Students today have even created their own language to speed up the process of communicating via text. In the same article he clearly defines some of this terminology for us. “Correct” spelling is replaced by whatever is readable. Anything that can be done with one key is: “k” for OK, “c” for see, “u” for you (as in cu later). Numbers replace their homonyms (as in t42) and the way characters look on the screen takes on meaning. Abbreviations are well-known (LOL=laugh out loud.) Brief communications like H4T5TNT (home for tea at five tonight) are common, and are often made up among particular users. And a semi-secret (but widely known among the Natives) code has evolved to protect texters privacy, as in “GTGPOS” (got to go, parent over shoulder.)” (Prensky, 2004). There fear that springs up from this method of communication is that students will forget how to communicate appropriately after communicating in an abbreviated manner over long periods of time. The other side of that argument is that this form of communication has opened some students up to communicating period. In most schools cell phones are still prohibited, but if educators would be more open minded to the education possibilities, perhaps this can change. It was just pointed out that students are very comfortable using this form of communication, so why not make it work in education. One way this could be done is for a grammar teacher to tell her class to text her the correct answer, and the one who texts the correct answer with the correct grammar will receive bonus points on the next test, or she could just count it as a daily grade. At this point the students are beyond excited that their teacher is savvy enough to include technology at this level in the lesson plan. If education could reconcile itself to this level of change and accommodate the needs of today’s learners, it would achieve student buy in once

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again. Students will be engaged, interested, and even excited about learning, because they will be learning on a level that they can comprehend. The most important factor for determining the future of technology in education is realizing the world has changed. Society has moved from an industrial society to an information society, and is quickly moving on to becoming a conceptual society. The World is Flat addresses the many changes that have taken place globally in the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, it seems, America is quickly falling behind as other nations take the lead technologically. This is easily seen in the amount of outsourcing that goes on in this country. The World is Flat points out that many tax returns are being sent electronically to India, as well as MRI scans, and other various technology rich jobs. The World is Flat also argues that the average student in India, China, and Japan is much more technology savvy than that of the average high school graduate (Friedman, 2006). Several other books and articles have also pointed out that America is lagging behind desperately in education due to lack of funding, resources, and commitment. It will take a great deal of commitment on the part of parents, teachers, students, and other educational decision makers to integrate and enforce implementation and integration of the necessary technology integrations in order to prepare this generation of students for the emerging technology dependant global society. As mentioned earlier the emergence of a conceptual society also makes a strong argument for ensuring technology integration in today’s education process. The book A Whole New Mind makes the argument that most of the products needed today have already been developed. It argues that an individual (most likely a left brained individual) saw a need and developed a tool to accommodate that need. However creativity generally takes place in the right hemisphere of the brain, and it is this set of individuals who will make aesthetically appealing improvements to already developed product in order to keep them in demand (Pink,

Technology in Education 2006). One way to consider this occurrence is to think of a standard toilet bowl brush. When it was created people were just happy to have a toilet bowl brush. Today people want a toilet bowl

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brush that is ergonomically correct, and with a detachable head for easy disposal. The creation of such a toilet bowl brush required someone with creative thinking capabilities, and preferably with the ability to design it in a soft ware program for easy deployment. This is why, according to Daniel Pink, “right brainers will rule the future” (Pink, 2006). As he argues in his book today’s generation must be able to think outside the box in a technological, ever-changing society. In conclusion, the need for technology in education is ever present and growing at a very rapid rate. If integrating technology, and giving students the needed skills to survive in today’s tech savvy world is not looked at microscopically and implemented immediately, America will continue to lag behind technologically. In addition more and more of today’s students will become disenchanted with education and drop out. Without technology in education everyone loses. The students lose out, the parents lose out, and even the teachers lose out on the possibilities that technology integrations provide education.

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References
Prensky, Marc (2006). Don't bother me mom i'm learning. St. Paul, Mn: Paragon House. Prensky, Marc (2004).The emerging online life of the digital native. 14.

Friedman, Thomas L (2006). The world is flat. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus Giroux.
Pink, Daniel (2006). A whole new mind. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

Technology in Education Appendix

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Technology in Education Footnotes
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Each footnote number must correspond to the sam

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