Teachnology Incorporated into School

Modern computers and technology are changing the way people learn for the better.

Computers are changing the way people learn. According to Richard Ohmann, author of “Computers and Technology”, schools New Jersey are very technologically up-to-date. When they became ‘wired’, “NJ went from failure and a threatened state takeover to the highest scores of any New Jersey city on state tests” (2). Obviously, there’s something about technology and “getting wired” that schools need to pay attention to and act on.

According to David Williamson Shaffer et al in “Video Games and the Future of Learning”, video games “give a glimpse of how we might create new and more powerful ways to learn in schools, Communities and workplaces” (3). Online video games enable players to interact with people from around the world on goals they actually care about. This is a valuable skill to that students should be required to learn and should therefore be incorporated into schools curriculums. As stated by Shaffer, “School is increasingly seen as irrelevant by many students past the primary grades” (10). If kids play these life-simulating video games, then they will become more interested in school and will also learn the very valuable and often overlooked skills needed to succeed in life. Some of these ever-important skills are “integrat[ed] thinking, social interaction, and technology (3).

Although technology has, and will be, a great aid for helping students learn, there are some downsides to consider. Shaffer states that “Teachers and good school leader fight for new technologies and new practices” but they don’t always get it (10). Technology is expensive to keep up with and many schools would rather spend the money on other things. Also, there is always the risk of technology distracting students when they are supposed to be working on schoolwork. In Ohmann’s article, he mentions that “students are tuning out their professor while they send their e-mail messages… and otherwise multitask their way through their [degree]” (3). But distractions in school are nothing new. Students will always be distracted by something, whether it be doodles on the side of their paper, passing notes, making faces at their peers, and so on. Teachers have learned to deal with these distractions, and the internet will be no exception.

I believe that even though these downfalls seem a little overwhelming, the positive effects of learning through technology will outweigh the negatives. Students will learn first hand how the real world as an adult works. Video games simulate real-world situations so that when the students are actually faced with life, they will have already had a little experience and will learn to be more confident. Students can discover new identities that could possibly lead them to decide what they want to do with their lives.