Contents
Welcome to the Future
It’s common knowledge that education should be a primary concern of a person since it enables people to develop their mental abilities, which serve as an engine of personal and professional growth and opens before them immense opportunities to be taken. Thanks to constantly updated IT devices, we receive such an opportunity and the phrase my teacher my hero is not valid anymore. However, as in case of any invention, a question should be asked if such a curiosity offers people positive or negative outcomes, or maybe both?
In this article, we would like to shed some light on the favorable and unpleasant results that can be caused by modern gadgets, or simply their pros and cons. Back in the day, when the notion of cellphones was still a sci-fi jump-scare, people would imagine the 21st century as a time of wonders and progressive technologies that would be surely used for learning new information very fast. Nowadays, we still don’t have those brain wires that pump a syllabus into one’s head, but the improvements we possess are already an astonishing experience.
Pros
Limitlessness
A possibility to access distant sources of knowledge, which are hidden in the depth of the web, discloses a vast field of online and distant learning. Now, you can easily become a tailor or machine engineer by completing online courses and receiving a certificate.
The fact that a person can travel through millennia of studying and researches thoroughly conducted by generations of self-taught and classically educated scientists is a daily average person’s routine.
Online training is a huge step towards flexibility and accessibility of education.
None-Restriction Policy
Unlike previously, nowadays people are not limited by books or hard-copy sources stored in Harvard’s library without any chance to get them. Modern online platforms allow students from all over the world to read and even download volumes of materials which used to be open only for the few.
This innovation not only eliminates an educational difference between the ones who can afford to study at prestige institutions but equalizes the chances of being well-educated for everybody.
Boosting Learning Skills
Such gadgets as smartboards and iPads alongside e-books and other learning materials are a breakthrough of educational aids. Having all possible tools for researching, writing, analyzing information and being automatically corrected when a mistake is made increases the productivity of the overall educational experience.
Students are provided with applications, which facilitate learning and reduce necessary manual actions that take the time that could be used for moving forward in their study.
Budgetary Reanimation
Many schools and university have been suffering from financial scarcity and the inability to provide students with even basic learning tools. When modern gadgets take the floor, they shorten or even minimize the expenses on books, school supplies, maps, audio and video recordings, etc.
Many school boards now realize that buying expensive highly technological equipment is a better option than renewing and rebuying new editions of study materials annually. In other words, it’s a distant game that saves lots of money and whole communities.
Motivation
A huge disadvantage of so-called traditional education is a lack of student-oriented approaches. The equalization of everybody with a single template has proven its ineffectiveness and obsolescence, and now it’s time to find a new friendly means to reach a student’s attention.
Therefore, a vast range of applications and digital platforms, which can be easily customized, are to bring a new image of studying to the extent of its flexibility and accessibility.
Cons
Defocus of Attention
Having a range of high-tech devices in a classroom along with 24/7 access to the Internet can be harmful to a person’s concentration. It all can work as a distraction that will slow down the studying process and bring it to a complete mess.
On the other hand, it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way, and it may be helpful to set up some basic DOs and DONTs and implement them into a classroom routine.
Social Exclusion
It’s proven that nowadays more people suffer from Internet addiction rather than from drug abuse. For this reason, instead of showcasing amazing educational possibilities of modern technology you can simply encourage excessive use of the Internet and such devices that can cause lots of psychological issues, including withdrawal from society and low soft skills.
A good way to deal with such threatening situations is to involve activities and tasks that will have a solid share of communication and social interaction, e.g., presentations, discussions, debates, group projects, etc.
Plagiarism
Yes, this is possible as. Many students can consider studying not worth investing their time and can use Internet content (essays, articles, reports, etc.) and submit them as their own.
The best option of dealing with it is to introduce strict anti-plagiarism check that will eliminate such an option.
Incredulous Content
A problem with Internet resources is that they can provide low-quality content that can confront the syllabus and give a wrong perception of a subject.
Loss of Basics
Constant use of iPads and Google with automatic correction can deprive students of a valuable skill – writing. If grammar mistakes are unnoticeably replaced with proper their proper forms, a person can start losing their basic ability to write.