Description

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For decades technology has been evolving and improving rapidly and is become increasingly integrated in everyday life. From my own experience I can attest as a university student, a large chunk of learning is now done online and is involving digital tools such as recorded lectures, textbooks and collaborative applications. According to Selwyn (2016), technology has significantly reshaped education by improving flexibility and access to learning resources, and now more than ever information is available in larger quantities allowing for more flexible and interactive learning. However, is all o this needed and good for our future?

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Feelings

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A first reaction, technology in education can be viewed as fully positive. Information is available at everyone’s fingertips and being so easily able to catch up from personal matters such as sickness, and personal matters in life. It has made communication between student-teacher and student-student more streamlined and study more efficient. However, there is a trend of over reliance and how technology can be used and has proven to be a distraction and rather overwhelming to people.

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Evaluation

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Technology obviously provides a many a advantages in education that is undeniable. It increases the access to learning resources and allows students to be more collaborative with each other in increasingly creative ways. It stimulates students in multiple ways. However, there are clearly seen drawbacks. Wilmer et.al (2017) argue that increased reliance on digital devices can negatively impact attention and memory. Students are becoming increasingly dependent. Research shows that students handwriting is becoming worse over time as. Additionally, with generative AI individual thinking is slowly being replaced by a data bank of online sources. Finally, social media and digital distraction detract students from work and promote different social issues for such students.

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Analysis

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Education being the social and cultural source for many future generations shows the impact of technology as a refection of society as a hole. These tools allow education and broader society to be more centred, flexible and accessible. For example, online platforms allow for people to work a s a comfortable pace and access global knowledge networks. Although, research claims how constant digital engagement can reduce attention span with some case reporting a digital dementia and encourage more surface level understanding of subjects. This culminates to educators and broader culture needing to adapt and balance innovation with strategies that promote meaningful thinking and engagement even so much to the point where it may be better to go back to traditional means.

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Conclusion

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In conclusion, like most things there is a balance that needs to be maintained. If proper technology use is not balanced the benefits which range from improved flexibility, accessibility, flexibility and opportunities can be outweighed when not balanced. Overall, highlighting the importance of teaching students proper use and how technology is powerful yes, but dangerous and not all a miracle

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Action Plan

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As a future educator, there is imperative weight resting on my shoulder to integrate technology in a meaningful and thoughtful way to support an interactive and positive learning environment. I will use digital tools to enhance learning while encouraging independent thinking and discussion. However, I recognise to not give students and over-reliance and help students improve their own skills in a traditional sense focusing on more traditional methods as emphasised by Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2017), effective teaching involves using technology in ways that genuinely support student learning rather than replace it.