As technology continues to grow at a rapid pace, the education system overall is wasting no time to ensure they make the most of it. Read on to learn more!
As technology heads to school, some can argue that it is a blessing, and others may see it as a curse. Technology is here to stay; like anything, there are two sides to the fence. In this article, we discuss some of the highs and lows of educational technology advancements and help paint a clearer picture of its purpose and functionality within an education system.
Enhanced Student Interactions Are a Blessing
School administrators and staff of all levels can agree that the enhanced interactions remain a blessing thanks to technology. Nowadays, students can interact with the lessons or activities before them if there are corresponding devices that link to the teacher’s presentation. Devices like tablets, notebooks, and smartboards are breaking ground in most education systems.
Other features like software, applications, and modules improve the teacher-student experience and enable increased information access. The more information and access the student body has, the better the response rates across the board.
The Fight for Attention Is a Curse
A relatively significant pitfall to technological growth is the never-ending fight for students’ attention. They may be more occupied with their personal devices than school, and this can be a curse for many administrations and educators.
Many schools began withdrawing from the no cell phone policy to alleviate the burdens they placed on staff and students. By permitting personal tech with increased flexibility, you grant students more time with their devices without strict regulations, which can help improve their desire to focus when necessary. A strict hard-no rule can counteract the ultimate goal of attracting students’ undivided attention.
Streamlined Information Access Proves as a Blessing
The most recent AV trends in education come with various new devices and kits that help streamline the teacher-student experience. Many schools install projector systems throughout campus because it is easy to relay bodies of information without qualms to a large group of students and educators.
Another common trend right now is using technology to allow students on-demand access to specific information from any location. This helps during missed days or when a physical substitute takes over and ensures the information is accessible to all on a fair playing field.
Physical Attendance May Become a Significant Curse
While a blessing of technology is streamlining information access, the curse on the opposite end of the spectrum is the lack of physical attendance. Attendance rates are always a cause for concern for administrations across the board. Because students understand they can access their information online from home, they lose interest in physical attendance, and numbers and interest decrease.
Incentivizing physical attendance and rewarding positive results is one effective strategy schools can use to help combat these issues. Another way to fight against poor attendance numbers is to leverage school events with nonnegotiable attendance tracking. Technology in school systems is not new but is certainly growing at lightspeed. The more advanced technology becomes, the easier it should get to educate students, inform parents, and assist educators. Like anything, there are learning curves and challenges that arise, but when used properly and appropriately, technology has many long-term benefits for the education system as a whole.