ADAPTIVE
The rapid adoption of technology in education is one of the most significant foundational changes the classroom has ever seen. The use of tech in education has been in hot debate for ages, and some people fear that devices could become distracting while others fear the potential for cheating. But what's not up for debate is that schools need to be able to adapt to their increasingly tech-literate students. Technology is such an integral part of society and has long encroached on careers not directly linked to tech fields, so the responsible use of tech to better engage and prepare students is far too important to be ignored.
The fear of distraction isn't unfounded. Laptops and phones serve so many purposes that they can easily tempt its user to lose focus. It is not uncommon for people to feel the impulse to be kept up to date on the latest trend; after all, humans are social creatures in nature. Still, there is value in giving access to these devices to students, which is why there has been a push to provide digital tools to students in the last decade from 2013 to 2014 schools purchased over a mix of 23 million iPads and Chromebooks.
The logic behind this trend seems to stem from a couple of goals. The first of which involves providing greater accessibility to personalized school work. Unlike traditional school work technology is interactive, which makes it possible to give students immediate feedback and hints on their work outside of class. Feedback is an essential part of the learning process. Without it, students may end of confused or misunderstand the material they are given, and quick feedback can clear up those issues early. Feedback will also motivate students as it will provide them with a feeling of progression and more obvious milestones on their work, which is very reassuring. This can break down seemingly overwhelming work and make it feel much more surmountable.
Students also need to build familiarity with technical skills from a young age. All professions are relying more and more on technology, so proper tech literacy is a must no matter what field of expertise they end up in nowadays. Providing access to software also promotes and allows for more complex forms of expression, which is crucial in the workflow of creative professions.
Of course, most of these benefits do not require measures as drastic as providing a computer to every student. Improvements in communication between educational staff, students, and guardians have, for example,
been drastically improved. Students are not the only ones who need feedback, after all. Teachers and
administration also need the information to better cater to student needs and where resources
will be most effectively be used.