Should technology be used in eduction?

Now that we are within the 21st century some trends within education will remain the same but others like technology will allawys be evolving. As teachers we can not be scared of the new resources technology brings to us. Instead we should see them as potential ways to connect with students and bring resources that were not previously available us of now at our finger tips. It is important for educators to be able to keep up with technology in order to be up to date with teaching practices and relaying those to students. Suprsisingly, everything teachers do today is influenced by technology and how many aspects of theching can be enhanced by technology.

It is our job as teachers to provide a quality education to students in a way that most stimulates them. Today, that means incorporating technological developments into the classroom. It is particularly important for new teachers to have tecnology skills so they can manipulate computers and related technologies for effective teaching. According to David Tyack and Larry Cuban in Learning to Teach, they argue that computers and technology can be powerful teaching and learning tools when in the hands of teachers who know how to intergrate them properly into their day to day interaction with the student.

There are already noticable advantages of using technolody as educational tools. For example, multimedia and Smart Board presentations make lectures more interesting, web acess brings resources never before accessable, and CD-ROM's that bring information to students in a new light.

Technology in education should be used as a tool to help engage, motivate and interact with students. In Learning to Teach they found that teachers who used computers and related technologies in their classrooms reported that there are strong motivational aspects of computers and Internet resources. Technology can also be used as a tool to help students improve basic skills such as spelling and math by providing them with the same content in another form, keeping them interested and engaged longer. Also, by bringing technology in to the classroom it allows teachers to communicate and bring the curriculum content on the students level.

Arends, Richard. Learning to Teach. 7th ed. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2007.