Technology in School

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Schools spend A LOT of money keeping up on new technologies and buying/upgrading computers.

How important is it for schools to do this? Do you think education needs to revolve so much around technology or should they go back to how we did things in the good ol' days?

 

[Evil Eye]

They spend a lot of money, but I'm not convinced they spend it well.

Technology, like it or not, is a fairly major part of our daily life. Since schools should be preparing kids for life to some degree, tech can't exactly be left out.

It is, for example, often desirable for employees to be able to use Excel, Word, and Powerpoint - or perhaps their free/open source equivalents. I for one don't think these programs are very hard to use, but some people do. Schools can and do spend time teaching their students some of the basics required to use these programs.

What should really be taught, however, is some degree of confidence and general approach. There's a reason tech support can be outsourced to people who can barely speak the language: most problems can easily be solved after a quick Google search. In my experience, it seems that a lot of people either don't realise this and/or are terrified of their computer, or simply refuse to try anything.

Some other useful things that could be taught would be terminology. This ties in with the above, since it's much easier to search for a solution when you can describe the problem. Teach them words like resolution and file extension!

Instead of actually educating, schools mostly seem to spend their money on getting the latest technology. New screens, TVs, cumbersome software, and smartboards. Certainly, these things need replacing or updating once in a while, but I've had to use my fair share of crappy website-based applications that simply weren't nice to use. Not just schools either; the government in general. So basically, if you're going to invest like that, at least make sure it's worth having.

 

[LegendHidden]

Since technology has come so far throughout the years, and with our generation now; students in school learn better or prefer technology. They would rather get on a computer now to do work instead of doing work with pencil and paper or in a book.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Its funny when the power goes out at a school. Teachers don't know what to do.

Most of their lessons are presented through a projector hooked up to their laptop or one of those computerized smart boards. The power goes out and they can't "teach" anything.

Back in the day we'd just keep on working on our school work. Maybe open the curtains and prop the door open for some extra light.