Tech Study Smarts — The Role of Technology in 21st Century Education

It’s fair to say that technology dominates the way we go about everyday life. From getting up in the morning to going to bed at night, we’re surrounded by a multitude of connected systems, digital databases, handheld devices and scientific machines.

But while nearly every aspect of society has adopted technology in one way or another, is education being left behind? Even though pupils and students have access to highly interactive and engaging mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, they often have to passively sit behind a desk in class and listen to what the teacher has to say with little to no interaction.

Thankfully, schools, colleges and universities have been steadily increasing their adoption of hi-tech programs and solutions, because the benefits they can potentially provide are incredibly far-reaching.

So whether you’re learning your ABCs or [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]have an academic interest in technology[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]have an academic interest in technology[/tp] and are studying for a bachelor of science in computer science, here’s how technology can improve education and help you study more effectively.

Recent developments

In recent years, national governments and education associations have recognised that technology has transformed certain industries such as medicine, manufacturing, entertainment, travel, finance and retail.

Consequently, there is no reason why it can’t have a positive impact on education too.

Recently, more and more schools have been introducing and adopting the following:

Classroom assessment tools — Giving teachers the ability to understand what children can and can’t understand in real time. With information about specific pupils, teachers can tailor their tuition accordingly and deliver greater personalisation.

Sharing ideas and resources online — Teachers can collaborate and communicate with their peers online, learning more about successful techniques and approaches. What’s more, students can also turn to the Internet and speak to fellow learners or facilitate their quest for greater knowledge.

Gamification — By bringing educational video games into the classroom, students become more interested in learning. Engagement, competency, knowledge acquisition and retention levels increase as a result of introducing an element of competition, accomplishment and reward.

The use of desktop and mobile — Rather than using a pen or pencil, pupils respond and learn better if they work on familiar machines and devices. Chances are, they’ll be using PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones in the future for their chosen profession anyway.

The future

Even though the introduction of certain teaching methods, collaborative systems and [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]technological devices is helping students[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]technological devices is helping students[/tp] now, it’s critical to think about what the future has in store. Advancements happen so fast that a large-scale implementation of certain technologies might be rendered useless later down the line.

So rather than prioritising the use of mobile or analytic systems, the future seems to be geared around access to educational materials. Seeing as nearly every other aspect of society now finds itself online, it’s only natural for education to take the leap of faith and enter the cloud.

That way, teachers can share information easily with their peers, make changes or adjustments as and when necessary, deliver teaching to specific pupils and monitor progress remotely. As for students, they’ll be able to interactively study at a time and in a place that suits them while having access to learning materials in abundance.

And so it seems technology will influence or possibly even take over education. Some might be scared or reluctant to fully adopt certain methods or platforms, but the various forms of technology can be hugely beneficial for both teachers and students.