Even in this time of struggle, with billions of dollars going towards various war efforts overseas, America still has managed to keep taxpayer investments in education higher than that of funds for national defense (U.S Department of Education). In the 2004-05 school year, there was an estimated amount of 536 billion dollars set aside from taxpayer investment for education purposes. Without a doubt, education is a priority for the American government, and if these funds are used in the correct way, there is no reason why each and every kid in the United States shouldn’t be getting a quality education. However, the organization of the financial system is flawed, funds are not handled proportionately at the state level; rather, this system favors the wealthier districts and hands more funds to them while the less wealthier districts are handed a smaller pool of funds. This really affects America’s quality of education, which also reflects upon how America fairs on the world stage when it comes to competition in education with other countries. The disorganization of funds in the United States can be seen in the Hoover City School district, which has bought every student in that district an iPad for use in school. The first problem with this is that this school district does not even have a viable bus system that can transport students to and from school. Secondly, not even 20 miles from this district lies the Birmingham City School district where a little more than half the students are graduating, compared to Hoover City Schools where a bit more than 90 percent of the students are graduating. If anything, the state should be working towards improving educational standards in lower-income communities rather than debating on the log... ... middle of paper ... ...ohnson, Ben. "How the IPad Can Transform Classroom Learning." Edutopia. N.p., 9 July 2012. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Kaiser, Tiffany. "DailyTech - L.A. Unified School District IPads to Cost $100 More Per Device." DailyTech - L.A. Unified School District IPads to Cost $100 More Per Device. N.p., 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Tyre, Peg. "Are IPads and Other Classroom Gadgets Really Helping Kids Learn?"TakePart. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2014. Lee, Oliver. "Does No Child Left Behind Deserve a Passing Grade?" TakePart. N.p., 6 June 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Moreno, Tonya. "Best and Worst States for Property Taxes." About.com Tax Planning: U.S. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. Strauss, Valerie. "Where U.S. Stands in Education Internationall." Washington Post. N.p., 25 June 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. "Teach For America | Home." Teach For America. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
McClanahan , B., Williams, K., & Tate , S. (2012). A breakthrough for josh: How use of an ipad facilitated reading improvement. TechTrends, 56(3), 20-28. doi: 10.1007/s11528-012-0572-6
Strauss, Valerie. "U.S. Education Internationally." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 25 June 2013. Web. 18 May 2014.
An important tool for schools to acknowledge and pursue the benefits of is the iPad. Today’s society functions in the Era of Technology. Every day advancements are made in standards of living and expansions are made to our knowledge bases thanks to this high-tech living. More and more, children are exposed to these advancements and technologies. They are being born into the Technological Generation, thus they should take advantage of the equipment they will grow up with. The iPad would provide perks across the board for both students and educators. By providing iPads for children in school, teachers and students will benefit from the educational, environmental, economical, and health advantages.
In the Wall Street Journal article, “Does Technology Belong in Classroom Instruction,” Lisa Neilson and José Antonio Bowen take opposing sides to the topic of technology being integrated into instructional material. Neilson argues that instructing students on using technology appropriately and effectively can benefit and prepare students for the fast paced future. She claims that the use of electronics in the classroom encourages students to expand their knowledge of assignments and improves their literacy. Neilson states that students use their digital devices to upload English papers and receive feedback from people all around the world, conducting virtual dissections, and utilizing resources to further their understanding (Neilson, 2015).
iPad technology is relatively new, but Apple has developed many appropriate and interesting apps that can have a positive impact in the classroom. However, the research surrounding these tools is not as extensive as it could be and there is a lack of data about their impact in elementary schools. For this reason, this paper is limited when addressing its usage in the lower grades and there is much more information about their success in the upper grades. The data seems to show that they are an engaging and productive tool for those grades and it is assumed they will be very successful in the lower grades, too, especially as these are true digital natives.
Drastic changes are being made in schools across the country. Children growing up in the world today have technology surrounding them wherever they go. Toddlers grow up knowing how to use iPhones, iPads, tablets, and many more devices better than older members of their families. These kids are entering the education world with a basic knowledge of technology.
As we progress further into the 21st century, our society is quickly becoming more and more integrated to technology. The creations of new laptops and tablets, and the easy access to new and improved phones have driven younger generations to recruit to these advances as well. The quick and widespread implementation of these technological advances has shaped the new way we conduct our daily lives, as well as how knowledge is processed and taught in our classrooms. Today's technology provides teachers, as well as students, with opportunities for teaching and learning that were impossible in the past. Technology is being used as a tool to promote human learning, not just calculators, but including Smart Boards, tablets (iPads), video cameras, Portable Digital Assistants and of course, computers. They can be used as tools to create instructional materials or as presentation devices to provide information in ways never before possible. While technology can be useful for easy communication and industrial development, the proper use of technology in the classrooms can be crucial to students in the 21st century.
Many students and teachers are now using devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops throughout the classroom to enhance the overall learning experience.
Technology in the classroom has become a greatly debated topic. With the introduction of e-textbooks and tablets, some schools have inspired a new excitement to learn by the use of tablets in the classroom. The use of tablets in classrooms is not only sparking excitement, it is a more effective way to teach students. While tablets are becoming more popular for personal use, the most promising area for tablets is in the classroom (Bonds-Raacke 235). Tablets do not just benefit students, they also assist teachers. Tablets are more effective than textbooks in the classroom due to student attentiveness, more current learning, and the ease of meeting students’ needs.
Is the education of the future generations at stake, or will it become more effective with the use of tablets in school? The country’s classrooms are unquestionably going through a technological uprising. Samsung and Apple are watching the sales of these devices increase immensely. There are several theories as to why the tablet would be a negative impact on the children in school. However, experts believe that the tablet is taking over America’s schools and don’t have such horrible impacts on students like society seems to accept as true. 81% of K-12 teachers say that tablets really do help students in the classroom. (“Tablets VS Textbooks.” Web). With the world evolving into a more technologically advanced environment for people to live, the introduction of electronic tablets in school have caused a controversy as to whether they should replace the textbook in grades K-12 with factors behind this decision being cost of materials, policy on tablet usage, and the acceptability of new media; all of which have caused a debate of the pros and cons of its usage, the impact such usage will have on students, the input from faculty, the health issues that experts have concluded with the usage of tablets, and the future of education based on the path that schools are taking. Still, like always, the main problem of discussion is the cost.
What was your style of learning when you were in grade school? Was your brain linguistic? Mathematical? Imagine a time when you read a textbook and couldn’t retain information or muscle through the reading. Now imagine going back to your childhood with today’s technology where many K – 12 schools are migrating towards using tablets in the classroom rather than textbooks. Some folks argue that too much screen time isn’t good for children, but what about the benefits of using tablets in the classroom for learning? Tablets are a better classroom resource than textbooks because they provide quick access to a wealth of information, they also provide resource attainment for all levels and styles of learning, and they allow students to gain real world
“Education in America is a political issue. Government education which not only includes the elementary and secondary public schools, but also the state universities, community colleges, and they many private institutions that receive government grants- all of that government education represents the largest single river of cash flow in America financed by the taxpayer” (par 1).
We are all very aware that technology has become a big part of our lives. In the most recent years we use technology for almost everything, for instance you can go to a restaurant and order your food through an iPad. It was just a matter of time until we start noticing this technology being used in classrooms, and surely enough students now are doing in class activities on tablets and reading books off the apps. Teachers are finding ways to incorporate the new technology into their lessons and activities students can do. There are many positives with bringing technology into a learning environment but there can also be many downfalls. Due to the advances in technology, kids in all grade levels get to experience education in a totally different way older generations couldn’t.
I had seen how motivated all students were to use this technology, many of them claiming that using the iPads didn’t feel like lessons at all. I decided it would be interesting to see whether using this technology could motivate my group of boys to write, as well as actually improve their achievement in writing.
Electronic devices, such as phones and laptops, are becoming an immense distraction in schools, and they appear to be negatively impacting learning (Carrier, Rosen, Cheever, & Lim, 2015). As students spend vast amounts of time listening to lectures and completing assigned readings, the use electronic devices increases