How Technology Has Revolutionized Education
It can safely be said that technology has brought revolution to many aspects of the modern life — from entertainment to business, from communication to housework. One area where technology has completely changed the paradigm is education. Over the last decade or so, we have witnessed such rapid jumps in education, that technology has effectively transformed.
Evolution of Textbooks
Textbooks have been around for decades and if we are being honest, they were quite limited in their printed form. You had text, you had pictures and you had tests. And that was pretty much that. These days, many education facilities (from kindergartens to leading universities) use digital textbooks that provide so much more to the students. For instance, a once boring lesson on the Big Bang can now include animations, interactive timelines, links to various theories and additional information. This has made learning a much more comprehensive experience.
Availability of Information
There used to be a time when a student had to visit a library if they were looking to find information on anything. In cases were they were not studying at one of the leading universities, their information sources were quite limited, to say the least. Today, every student with an internet connection can access this vast ocean of information with a few clicks of their mouse or touch pad. This is the same kind of revolution that was brought about by the invention of the printing press, if not even more better.
Applicable Knowledge
In the past, for many students, learning and studying was more of a theoretical practice. You would sit with your books, memorize every single piece of information that you could and then recreate what you learned when asked by a professor or a teacher. Today, knowledge gets put into practice much sooner, with practical parts of the studies being introduced straight away. Thanks to this, students have a much better understanding of what they are learning and why it is useful for them.
More Democratic Education
This may be something some people will not want to hear, but in the past, people with special needs such as children with developmental problems or people with certain disabilities were very limited when it came to education. Many educational facilities did not cater to their special needs and they had to choose among those that did. With new technologies, education is far more available to people with special needs who are finally able to pursue the same dreams as their fully-able peers.
Improved Communication
One aspect of modern life that has been dramatically changed and improved thanks to technology is communication. It may be difficult to imagine today, but not that long ago, if you had to get in touch with your teacher or student (depending on your role in the educational process), you were limited to phone calls and letters (remember those?). There were times when you simply could not get a hold of a person you needed badly. These days, thanks to smartphones and various other online methods of communication, you can easily reach the person in question and communicate with them.
Increased Educational Options
For this one, we will be concentrating on higher education, i.e. college education. In the past, you used to be quite limited in your college choices. For one, there was the matter of your geographical location and vicinity of good colleges. Also, the prices to get into colleges were quite high. And while this is still the case, thanks to new technologies, you do not need to spend that much money on education that will often be wasted.
For instance, if you want to work in IT, you do not have to spend years in college wasting money and time. You can take IT courses online, like the ones here and learn everything you need to for your future career.
Closing Word
Keep in mind that we have only scratched the surface with this article. There are many other ways to which technology has changed education for the better. We are even more excited about what future of technology in education holds for us. Will just have to wait and see!
Author Bio: James D. Burbank has always been interested in the ways technology is changing our world, especially when it comes to education and business. If you have the time, check out his blog — BizzMarkBlog.
