Disadvantages of Technology in Education

The Disadvantage Use of Technology in Education

From the beginning of the last century, the development of technology has provided people with experiences that they have never had in many aspects. And education is definitely the field that scientists and educators would like to give new-tech a shot on. However, there always been a debate happening since the day one that multimedia and computer science technology had been involved in the educational field. Many parents and educators think some of the teachers in the educational field have not the ability to get to catch on such frequently changing technology which would make students cannot get benefit from it. Also, some of the educators do not want to update their teaching environment for many reasons. Under such circumstances, many advanced technologies could not be used to help students with their studies.

The invention of the computer puts the education technology into another level. Many scientific innovations start to show up to help people have more and more convenience in ways of studies. “In 1963, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, employees at Dartmouth, revolutionized the use of computers in education by utilizing them as academic tools. They traded the punch card system as a method of batch processing for the time-sharing system. The time-sharing system was successful enough to create a regional center for local colleges and schools to visit. Kemeny and Kurtz also created a new computer language called BASIC, which replaced FORTRAN. BASIC was soon used for the development of instructional computer programs for all varieties of education.” (CSULB)

(The graphic demonstration of time-sharing system. http://learningoperatingsystem.blogspot.com/2015/09/1introduction-to-operating-system.html)

This is the first high-tech innovation which put into education. In 1990, Schools begin using videodiscs; object-oriented multimedia authoring tools become popular; Simulations and educational databases are offered on CD-ROM disks (CSULB). In 1992, Schools begin using Gopher servers for online information for students (CSULB). In 1994, Object-oriented authoring systems grow in popularity in schools; most US classrooms have at least one PC available for instructional delivery, but not all teachers have access to a computer for instructional preparation. (CSULB) In 1995, The Internet and the world wide web become popular as websites grow in usage. (CSULB) In 1996, The Internet allows for new graphics and multimedia tools to be developed for the delivery of information and instruction; many schools are rewiring for Internet access; a few schools install web servers and provide faculty with a way to create instructional web pages. (CSULB) In 1997-2007, The Internet expands faster than predicted; Educational software becomes more useful with the use of graphics and video; Larger computer storage capacity allows educators to store large graphic, video, and sound files for educational applications on personal computers using CD-ROM and DVD. (CSULB ) Under such frequent technology changes through year to year, teachers start to need to get to know about how to utilize these new resources to help students with their study life. However, same as students, the educators are also the first time to get to know to use those advanced technologies in education. Many of them haven’t learned how to use those devices and technology to teach students. Therefore, even there was a lot of advanced technology to help students with better learning experiences. Nobody could guide them to use those technologies which make those techs useless for students.

Traditional classroom setting (https://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/947192252516532226/1240/10/scaletowidth)

    Many people have the mind to resist the change in technology. Some teachers do not want to learn about how to use computers to input into education in the early era of this century. Since they think the advanced technology would not do much for educational purposes “Schoepp’s study (2005) found that, although teachers felt that there was more than enough technology available, they did not believe that they were being supported, guided, or rewarded in the integration of technology into their teaching.” Under such believe, the progress of push the high-tech methods into teaching is slow. They think it is more than enough to only use the “traditional ways” to educate students. And under the resistance of change, the facility’s usage has also been delayed. “According to Earle (2002), the change from a present level to a desired level of performance is facilitated by driving (encouraging) forces such as the power of new developments, rapid availability, creativity, Internet access, or ease of communication, while it is delayed by resisting (discouraging) forces such as lack of technical support, teacher expertise, or time for planning.” Therefore, there is fewer facility provided for teachers and students to use. Also, in Cox et al.’s research, “teachers are unlikely to use new technologies in their teaching if they see no need to change their professional practice. They showed that teachers who resist change are not rejecting the need for change but lack the necessary education in accepting the changes and are given insufficient long-term opportunities to make sense of the new technologies for themselves.” Under such mutual impact, the new technology like a computer is hard to be used by teachers.

Multimedia CoLaboratory (https://www.library.georgetown.edu/sites/default/files/images/158resize500x280.jpg)

After Steve Jobs presented us with iPad, teachers have a better platform to implicate the high-tech teaching methods.  In Deanna C. C. Peluso’s journal article, The fast-paced iPad revolution: Can educators stay up to date and relevant about these ubiquitous devices? Author addresses concerns that many educators have nowadays “the role and the implementation of mobile devices, social media and video games in educational curriculum have many unanswered questions” (Deanna )and “Yet, it is not clear where the line of demarcation lies between what is educationally beneficial and what is simply a demonstration of allowing technology in the classroom, nor is it clear what constitutes a useful part of the learning process. This aspect of determining how and what technologies are educationally relevant is highly ambiguous and needs further in-depth research.” (Deanna) Many educators do not know how to put the use of technology in the right place. Since there are so many distractions which are not related to educational purposes. Also “Not every teacher has the opportunity or background to know how to incorporate technology into their classroom, yet many attempts to do so without having a clear understanding of the implications for learning.” (Deanna) These educators were not equipped with proper skill and understanding to utilize those high-tech devices to teach students. Even there are plenty of advanced devices provided. As we can see, one of the problems that why high-tech devices are hard to help students with their studies is that the teachers are net up to date and lack of new knowledge. 

And the input of technology into education will cost a lot of money. Which means the school might sacrifice the teachers’ salary to buy more advanced devices. In Meredith’s report, Virtual Reality Learning Environment: Potentials and Challenges. He personally addressed two points. “As a former teacher and administrator, I am well aware that inadequate teacher salaries and overcrowded classrooms take precedence over new technology in the minds of most educators. Serious funding for placing VR in schools will be predicated on two things. First, we need conclusive demonstrations of educational effectiveness, measured by substantial learning and performance increases directly attributable to VR technology. Second, we need to identify sources of funding that do not call on the severely limited resources of educational institutions.”  While the schools estimate the value of put the VR technology into teaching. The teachers have also estimated their values that provide to the school. They definitely do not want to pay more time into their work with more salaries. Also, the use of Virtual Reality into education is not as easy as a chalk. Many teachers do not even know this kind of technology before.  Therefore, they start to fear the change in technology. “Educators are concerned that more technology that they aren’t trained to use will be dropped into the classroom, and that it won’t really help them to teach more effectively. On a broader level, there is anxiety about the misuse of VR and fear that the technology may have some inherently negative attributes.” (Meredith)Many educators depend on their years of teaching and learning experiences, they automatically assume they already find the best way of teaching. Therefore, they refuse to use the new-tech to teach their students which make the promotion of high-tech devices into education difficult.

Summing all these pieces of evidence, as we can see even the electronic devices has been developed for years. From the early personal computer to mobile devices like iPad. From the Multimedia screen to Virtual Reality technology. There are still many people refusing or not have the ability to make the use of advanced electronic devices spread into educational field. However, electronic technology has already changed our lives in many different ways. The education industry also needs to embrace this phenomenon and come up with strategies to utilize these technologies. In this way, people then can get real benefit from the development of the technology. 

Work cited:

• Peluso, Deanna C. C. “The Fast-Paced iPad Revolution: Can Educators Stay up to Date and Relevant about These Ubiquitous Devices?” British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 43, no. 4, July 2012, pp. E125–E127. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01310.x.
• Bricken, M. (1991). Virtual reality learning environments: potentials and challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, 25(3), 178-184.
• “History of Computers in Education.” History of Computers in Education. California State University Long Beach, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2014. .
• Molnar, Andrew. “Computers in Education: A Brief History.” The Journal. Public Sector Media Group, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2014. .
• http://learningoperatingsystem.blogspot.com/2015/09/1introduction-to-operating-system.html
• Bingimlas, Khalid Abdullah. “Barriers to the Successful Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning Environments: A Review of the Literature.” Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 5, no. 3, 2009, pp. 235–245., doi:10.12973/ejmste/75275.
• https://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/947192252516532226/1240/10/scaletowidth
• https://www.library.georgetown.edu/sites/default/files/images/158resize500x280.jpg