Use and misuse of technology free essay sample

The use of technology in higher education has become a very critical point in Schools, Universities, and many other learning institutions. Teachers, school educators however found it very helpful to increase the number of students attending colleges and provide a better way of learning. Mind you, students now can attend colleges no matter where in the world they are located. They can apply to colleges, register for classes and even attending the classes distantly. Despite all of those good things that are possible due to technology, some students fall deeply into using it in an abusive manner. They have become more and more dependent on technology to do their school works. In classroom, many students are armed with iPads, laptops, tablets and other electronic devices. Furthermore, studies have shown that many students interact more with these devices than with the books. Consequently, they get distracted and lose their focus in the class. We will write a custom essay sample on Use and misuse of technology or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Yet teachers are in disagreement with this invasion which is technology in classroom, they are also working very hard to come up with other methods of teaching that will help these students to be more focus and lessen their attention on their daily routine which is using their toys while in class. While this war is on between digital native (young people who have grown up in immersive computing environment) digital immigrant (people who have yet to learn how to use a computer), thinkers are analyzing the issue and come with answers that will help proving that technology in higher education can be misused and at the same time useful in higher education. To expand the topic, the following lines will discuss the misuse of technology in higher education, its use; also give some recommendations that will help student be more successful in their education . First, technology is misused by some students are hacking into the school severs, using email to intimidate or threaten other students. They are downloading music and plagiarizing information from the internet and use them as their own. They are constantly checking the cellular phones during class time, accessing pornographic web sites, and playing video games during in class. This is an uncontrollable situation. While the use of technology is supposed to bring changes in the traditional way that teachers used to teach, student used to learn but still doesn’t prevent some students taking advantage of these changes and use them as they want. Second, Technology in higher education has also affected human’s interaction in classroom. Since technology has been introduced as an alternative for teaching back in 1900s, it has gradually take the place of the human teachers and now students mostly rely on computers, television and other electronic devices as another way to learn. They don’t spend time in focusing in class because they have the computer at home that will help them do their work. Although this technology brings certain benefits in the classroom, it also causes some students to be unexcited and lazy to learn at school. They believe that learning by themselves using the computer is a much better and faster. However, these students are wrong. Cynthia M. Frisby, associate professor of Strategic communication at the University of Missouri, has noticed students on MySpace and eBay during her lectures. She has also noticed more failing grades. The final straw, she says, came in an e-mail from a student complimenting my outfit, failing to realize that the time stamp was on the e-mail, further suggesting that he was not paying attention to my lecture. â€Å" Now she bans laptops in her large lecture courses and has a clause in her syllabus about the inappropriate use of technology. The result? Huge increases in attention and better performance on exams, she says. Students have even mentioned that they feel like they are doing better without the laptop. † This anecdote clearly shows that students are still young and curious but they need an ongoing motivation, guidance, and support to excel in education. While technology in higher education is being misuse by certain users, it is important that we mention some great features that technology allows us to do. In addition, due to technology our children are able to acquire a lot of skills. This is the first time in history that students have the ability to research any topic. They are not obligated to be in a classroom or in a library. Technology has unlocked the doors to an ocean-wide of information, which is not always accurate. Therefore, they need to learn and look carefully through it all and get the â€Å"good stuff. † This ocean-wide of information and current vault of technology has also allowed students to truly engage themselves in their education by developing personal educational plans or studying fields that may interest them. When students take full responsibility and engage themselves in their own learning in order to reach his or her own ultimate goal, everybody wins. For example, a chemistry teacher might want his or her students to do a project about Chemical Structures, Acid and Bases. Each student could choose a specific part of the topic that tickles their interest such as Acid indicators, structures of molecules etc. The assignment could then be diversified by allowing students to search for information from different websites –watch videos about acid and bases. They can then group together create a wiki for example which is website that allows its users to add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser usually using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor. With this software, students can develop or design chemical figures to show how certain acids or bases are formed. Moreover, they have access to data bases of their school where they can also look for more resources that are related to their topics. Finally, they can create a podcast which is video editing software that allows them to put to put together their findings and share it as a full length video in class. The possibilities are innumerable all thanks to technology, teacher, and student sense of creativity! To quote Edutopia, an on-line publication, â€Å"Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a realistic snapshot of what the modern office looks like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they’ve found online. † Another interesting and very important feature of technology in education is the Distance education also known as the e-learning. It is a method of education where student can study in their own time, at their own place (home, work, and library) and without an actual face-to-face interaction with a teacher. In addition, it is more flexible in terms of time and geographical position of an individual learner. They can be anywhere in the world and still attend classes in their own time. Meanwhile, severe changes have occurred in classroom nowadays. Nearly 60% of survey respondents say that professors will soon teach in more than one category. At NYU’s top-ranked tax law program, for instance, classroom courses are videotaped with three cameras and an audio mixer. â€Å"The course goes online within 30 minutes,† says Mr. Delaney. â€Å"Within 24 hours, students interested in reviewing a certain case or topic can click an online index that charts the content of the entire class and [can] view the portion that interests them. † This has never happen before! Students have access to billion sources of information just by typing a topic whatsoever and click search. Due to technology that has been introduced to the education system, colleges have loosened a little bit and become more influencing on student’s passion to learn. For example, before technology, students were bound by classroom and library walls. They had no alternative. They had to go to libraries to read those heavy books in order to do their homework. Now thanks to technology, they have the choice whether they want to go to the libraries to do research or not. They have iPads, computers, and e-books which is also a tablet that can store millions of books. They only have to type the name of the book and it will pop up on their devices screen and they can just read through line get the information they wanted.