Technology: A Benefit or Spending Excuse for School?

by David Danso-Amoako


(source: Telegraph)

Technology in school has helped educate today’s children in a way that has never been seen before. It has worked dramatically. But why should we spend the money when we could use the humble textbook?

ICT was mainly used since the 1960s, when Stanford professors tried and successfully used it in local schools. Since the rise of the World Wide Web (WWW) and Microsoft and Apple, it progressed to new lengths and capabilities for both the child and the teacher of the child. With good ICT for teachers, marking time is slashed by one-third. This would give more time for the pupil and result in a happy teacher.

Because of the steps taken in our past, we are now a generation of children who have access to more computers than any other generation before us. So, bearing this in mind, we as children will probably do more in our modern times. With ICT in schools, not just in the labs, the lessons and notes will always be with the pupil. If the student is mentally or physically disabled, ICT could give them more freedom and allow the pupil to perform like an able-bodied child.

The reasons stated above are positive for schools and school districts, but won’t this increase already poor petty thefts? Wouldn’t misbehaving students vandalize the long sought-after computers and reduce the quality of it or any device for that matter? If the school was poor, would they be able to afford having technicians for the school?

Well a counter-argument to this is Turkey. With a computer-suite fit with technicians for schools less fortunate, children of all backgrounds can use ICT at some point in the learning week. And this system is on wheels, so any place in Turkey can access it.

So, to conclude, if used in the right way and if you have good teachers and leaders, ICT can help fundamentally in learning.  






Comments

  1. Agree entirely. The recent adoption of AirServer across the school, as well as the vast quantities of different initiatives and strategies available, such as Edmodo or Socrative, has begun to show that technology can integrate with education, and hopefully continued investment worldwide will develop techniques that can be both efficient and cost-effective for all students, no matter their level of development, GDP, literacy rate or HDI. ICT provision will increase with development, regardless, but there will come a time when all students can learn equally.

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