Background Technology in Education :: essays papers

Background Technology in Education If you were to walk into any elementary, middle, or high school, you’ll find that many classrooms are equipped with TVs and VCRs. These devices serve as a teaching aide, not as entertainment. Instructional videos give students a chance to witness the use of tools and strategies they have been learning at school in a practical setting. Some students do not learn well just from teacher, TVs have been known to hold peoples attention for longer spans than one person. Elementary aged students are more vulnerable to TVs than older students. In conjunction with most parents being working class and the family unit becoming disjointed, many educational programs were created to help teach children the basic functions of language, mathematics, reading, and writing. This is the most influential educational technology of the past. Along side of the TV in a classroom you may find cassette play/recorder. The cassette player/recorder has been in schools a little longer than the television. Cassette players are primary sources of foreign language aides. Tapes of people speaking the language of choice were recorded and played back to students. It’s better to have an example of a language spoken than just to see it in a book. That’s why in college if you are taking a foreign language class the book comes with set of language tapes. Many different subjects have applied that same concept of using tapes and cassette players. Books on tape became a popular thing and are widely sold around the United States. Now we have more advanced technologies that are leading us into the future. Modern Technology in Education We are living in the time of the information boom. Never before has information been so abundant and easy to find. To many students it seems like a hassle to search for information on a computer. Could you imagine finding all of your information by flipping pages of books, magazines, and news papers in a library? â€Å"Technology is treated as a tool to help accomplish a complex task rather than a subject of study for its own sake (US Government, 2001).† Computers are an everyday thing for college students in the United States, there is a requirement to be able to use them.The computer is our present and it may be the rest of our future. Most schools are equipped with a computer lab for students to use. From Seseme Street to the Rocky Mountain Learning Systems, there is software for students of all ages.