Kamaldeep
30 September, 2023
Table of Contents
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. – Nelson Mandela
The contemporary century is the age of new technological advancements happening each day. Like most prevalent sectors of society, the education industry also saw a huge impact and gradually became more technology-inclusive.
Children today are growing up in the world of the internet. They have access to unlimited internet, basically an ongoing rage of technology.
Technology has become a popular tool in the classrooms for making learning a more enhancing experience. More tech-friendly devices are being used in the classrooms to create a more beneficial and inclusive environment for the children.
Implementing technology into the students’ curriculum has enhanced their knowledge, engagement, retention, and overall learning experience.
Using computer and Internet-mediated tools has pushed the conventional boundaries of studying and learning experience. But this change was also for the teachers, not just the students. It has been a challenge for many to get accustomed to the new trends in the education sector. However, the rewards are prodigious.
Gone are the days when students would open up the book, cram the material, write it in an exam, and pass it on to the next task. Thanks to the involvement of different technological tools, learning has become a more immersive experience where students can visualise the information they are studying.
Using interactive videos, audio, and other art forms is what makes learning a more fun experience, rather than a burdening task of just cramming up the words and remembering them.
Also Read: The Advent of Edutainment: How Technology is Changing the Way We Learn
A new term has recently introduced itself and is being repeated due to its unremitting use in different sectors of society and that is ICT (Information, Communications and Technology). ICT has found a profound impact in the educational capital, where it has transformed learning in different ways.
To shy away from the old style of teaching and learning to build a new interactive bond between the teacher and the student with the use of different tools, ICT has come a long way in revamping the education industry and making the curriculum a more enjoyable experience for the students.
ICT has paved the way for establishing a more democratic, flexible, and amusing style of teaching and learning. Students also have more control and self-autonomy over how to perceive and understand things.
It also has helped them to develop more cognitive understanding and competencies. The collaboration of technology and education has brought a new stance of erudition amongst the current social capital. It has also made virtual learning and attaining online degrees possible.
Erin Miller, a teacher and researcher stated in 2013 that the use of the internet in the classrooms will make for a more comforting experience for the students who usually shy away from participating and raising their hands in the classrooms. Growing up in the digital community will support students in a lot more ways than we can count upon.
Many positive outcomes have been discussed so far concerning the use of technology with learning methods and experience. But as all good things are accompanied by little discrepancies, the use of technology comes with its own set of challenges.
Critics are always up for challenging the use of the internet. They point out how gradually it has paralysed the creative thinking and self-upscaling of human skills. Several questions also revolve around using technology in the education sector. Some challenges are also faced when using technology in the classroom methods of learning.
UDISE (Union Education Ministry’s Report Unified District Information System for Education) published a report in 2021-22. It was about access to the Internet and functional computers in Indian schools.
For the report, UDISE CARRIED OUT THE SURVEY IN 14,89,115 schools across India; however, only 5,04,898 schools had access to the Internet.
TOJET (Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology) published a paper in 2021 on how technology affected student learning. The study analysed the effects of using technology in modern classrooms. It discussed how incorporating the new age internet into student learning has its benefits but also some limitations.
The researchers who published the paper arrived at the conclusive idea that the involvement of technology in the education sector is beneficial. However, it is also necessary that we understand where and when the technology is implemented in the classrooms, how both the students and the teachers need to be well-trained to get accustomed to the new trends, and how there should be a balance in the amalgamation of the modern and conventional styles of both teaching and learning.
To be a part of a classroom with access to the Internet and a teacher is the best setup for a student. However, we should find a balance between conventional and non-conventional styles of education.
Three main keys need to be worked upon to make the symbiosis of technology and classroom learning successful for the students. They are:
Different studies have put the most emphasis on using these three keys to bear the best outcome for the students. A techy classroom should be such that it is problem-solving-based learning so that the foundational knowledge is strengthened each day.
