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Computers in education
Computers in education
Computer in Education
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Many people’s back throb in pain from the amount of textbook they carry in their backpack. In my junior year, I used to carry three textbooks because of my Advanced Placement classes. Every year, millions of young children and teenagers develop back problems due to the unpleasant weight of the backpack. While children continues to have back problems, engineers develop light-weight, sustainable laptops. Millions of trees are being cut down to produce more textbooks. Replacing textbooks with laptops can cause textbook companies, like Pearson Education, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic, etc., to lose business. Laptops can help you save more money and find countless informations in numerous websites. Should schools replace heavy, irritating textbooks …show more content…
Many students will use the laptop for games, websites, apps, and emails instead of their classworks. Studies showed that “87% of K-12 teachers believe that today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans (Urs Gasser and John Palfrey).” As a laptop user in class, I get distracted from doing my classwork by reading news in other websites. Students, who are uneducated and have lack of motivation to learn, will use laptop for the disadvantage of learning. Installing tablets and laptops is more expensive than using print textbooks. For example; Lee Wilson, an education marketing expert, estimated the yearly cost per student per class with tablets to be $71.55 than $14.26 for print textbooks (“Apple’s iPad Textbooks Cost 5x More Than Print). In addition, building new wi-fi infrastructure, training teachers and administrators how to use the technology, and hiring IT manager to control the system can be a high percentage of cost than new print textbooks in an average school. Appropriately, using laptops or tablets can cause more distractions in learning and higher costs for maintenance and
In her article “In Defense of Laptops in the Classroom”, Rebecca Schuman, an education columnist for “Slate”, deals with the issue of having laptops in the classroom. Schuman believes that the rigid enforcement of the no-laptop rule infantilizes students and it is the students’ responsibility to be disciplined enough to not misuse the laptops in class, thus her views that laptops should be allowed in the classroom. Furthermore, they can be used to make learning more effective. While Schuman presents valid arguments for her stand, they are not persuasive for they lack concrete evidences and contain many assumptions.
In the readings of Everything’s an Argument, Per the text, “ …eliminating physical books from college campuses would be a positive step for our 21st century students...” (14). I must disagree with the idea that all eliminating paper course materials would be a step forward for future students. Personally, I like having paper books and other course materials because I enjoy the break from electronics. When a person reads on electronics consistently, it can damage their eyes or cause other health for the students.
"Tablets vs. Textbooks - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.org, 9 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Classrooms today are much different than classrooms 50 years ago. Classes today are much more technology oriented than they were in the past. High schools are now loaning students their own personal chromebook to carry till the end of the year. High school students should be required to carry chromebooks. Students should be required to carry chromebooks because it is more efficient in classrooms, it gives students a sense of responsibility, and it gives all students the same resources to be successful.
Technology has become a part of our daily lives – providing us with entertainment, ways to communicate, and an abundance of information. The use of technology has greatly affected our lives by making the things we do somewhat easier. Schools have surely begun to acknowledge the pros of electronic materials in the classroom, but before incorporating the use of technology in classrooms, schools should assess the cost of learning materials and positive impacts on student performance and classroom interaction. There are many important factors schools should consider before using information technologies in curriculum and instruction, and the cost of learning resources should be one of them. While almost every public school in the United States provides their students with textbooks, a few have rejected the use of printed textbooks.
One reason technology should not be used in schools is because it can be very distracting. Alfonzo Porter stated “For many, technology has become a catalyst for distraction and off task behavior with students, tweeting, or prowling through YouTube when they’re supposed to be listening to the teacher or doing classwork promotes a lack of focus” (Porter). Many students can be distracted by a variety of things found online rather than paying attention in class. Distraction not only leads to less focus, but also causes students learning to affected too. Alfonzo also said “Teachers reported that students are distracted constantly.
A school with 100 teachers uses on average 250,000 pieces of paper annually. A school of 1,000 students spends anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 a month on paper, ink and toner. tablets can take a lot of that paper away. if students used tablets not only would they save trees but they would also save an average of 250 dollars per students which is the average cost of textbooks for students, but they would also save a lot of trees. If students switch to tablets instead of textbooks a lot of money would be saved which could go toward other things like fundraising for sports and transportation for after school activities like tutoring and clubs.
Along with these problems, some professors demand a specific edition of textbooks, which would cost hundreds of dollars more than the older version, and the only difference students can find is the physical appearance of the books. The California Student Public Interest Research Group published a study in 2004 that found new editions cost 58 percent more than older editions and newer editions are not that different from previous editions (PresslerE01). Therefore, expenses on text books must be reduced as it has a direct effect on students’ performance. In addition, it can be accessible anywhere at any time, so, students shouldn’t carry heavy textbooks all the time.
It has become all too evident in today’s society that there is a need for a quality, successful education system. The need for skills in technology are also obvious. Schools across the nation are now trying to achieve both of these goals by providing a laptop computer to each student. Principal John Kozusko, an administrator at one such school claims, “It’s like a world apart. It’s changed the way teachers teach…the way they think about kids.” (Chute, 2000 ¶4) According to Speaker Rick Johnson of the Michigan House of Representatives, “Students have progressed from learning about computers to learning from them.” (Johnson, 2003,18) This paper will examine how laptops are being utilized in schools and the effect that they have on student achievement.
Paper has officially been replaced with iPads. Just kidding, but there are over 1.5 million iPads that are being used in classrooms by students on a daily bases rather than using printed textbooks as main learning resources (Graduating With Technology). With recent advancements in technology, many school districts have turned the focus off traditional learning methods of using textbooks, and are now focusing on integrating the use of tablets and computers as the main means of learning for students. Technology is going to continue to advance throughout this digital age and is going to gain popularity within education, but there are questions arising of how effective technology is when used in the classroom. The opportunity of using new technology to enhance learning should be seized, but textbooks should not become extinct within the education system or become a secondary learning method due to tablets and other types of technology becoming more popular in the education system. Textbooks are reliable, they can be used by anyone, and there are enough textbooks for each student to have their own, and be able to take them home. Also, technology is impacting the way the brain receives information. Reading digital print isn't as productive for readers as printed text, and there is limited access to resources needed for tablets to be effective when used by students. While this is true there are benefits to using tablets and other forms of technology in the classroom. It is easier for teachers to have assignments emailed directly to them, or post assignments on the internet, the use of technology is required in many core classes, and textbooks are easily worn, and expensive.
With technology progressing from drones fulfilling shipments to electronic books becoming cheaper, major companies such as Apple and Amazon have had a big impact on not only the tech industry but the publishing industry as well. Companies are outputting resources like IBook’s and the Kindle bookstore to take full advantage of the transition to digital publishing. As a result of this we have greener, more budget friendly books, and outdated traditional copies of text. With the introduction to these resources it is making the lives of students and the mass market more convenient. Students are now able to purchase books on one device that won’t weigh their bags down on a daily basis. Companies have created bookstores that can be accessed from devices that we use every day, resulting in paperless copies of books that are substantially cheaper than the traditional hard copy. E-books are replacing physical books and textbooks rapidly, and as a result they are becoming more widely and readily available for students.
The development of technology in this country has been significant to the daily lives of Americans today. In the twenty-first century, one of the greatest accomplishments of technology is the use of laptops. People, such as students, are facing the fact that laptops have made their lives easier. Some colleges and universities have allowed that each student bring their personal laptops with internet connectivity to class while others believe they easily weaken the learning abilities of students instead of promoting and increasing learning in the classroom. Although personal laptops in the classroom have numerous advantages, there have also been frequent complaints from professors because laptops hinder with learning, and as a result should be banned from bringing them into the classroom since laptops can easily distract students, not every student can afford purchasing a laptop, and would prevent students from cheating or plagiarizing.
An elementary school textbook costs an average of $70-$300 which is much cheaper than $700-$1000 technological device. Textbooks do not use any accessories such as chargers which can add an average of a $25 to $50. Technological devices such as iPads can break very easily which means they will need a case, this adds $20-$100 and if the technological device breaks, repairing it will also cost with an average of $130-$300. After you have paid for everything you then have a useless combination of plastic and metal. To make your device useful you will need to buy a Wi-Fi plan which will give you access to the internet which then will give you access to all your online information for you to do whatever you need to.
As more people began to access the Internet through smart phones and tablets rather than laptops and computers, it is not a surprise that they would also want to transform the American education system by bringing tablets into classrooms. In fact, a few schools around the country have already replaced textbooks with tablets and have seen improvements in students’ standardized test scores. Using tablets instead of textbooks is not only convenient and helpful, but it can also reduce the amount of paper wastes in school. However, it is not a good idea to completely transform textbooks with tablets with the current technology, for it can not only be damaging to the environment and costly to set up, but also might not be effective in improving K-12 education in the long run.
“Textbooks run between $70 per student compared to $38-$55 for tablets for a six-year subscription” (CBS NEWS 2). This cost analysis is a major factor in deciding between textbooks and tablets/computers. While textbooks were once a reasonable cost, the demand has gone down. When the demand of an item decreases, the price will increase for each item. Textbooks must be restocked in classrooms every few years with the updated information, amassing the cost for schools. Since this is occurring, the cost of textbook will be significantly higher than tablets/computers. “Online textbooks on average cost 50-60% less than print textbooks. The Federal Communications Commission reported school districts spend more than $8 billion every year on textbooks. In contrast, e-books cost around $250-$1,000 for every student. The average tablet contains anywhere from 8 to 64 GB of storage space; one GB can hold up to 1,000 books” (ProCon 2). This statement shows schools will save an enormous amount of money. Students have to purchase tablets/computers only once. Textbooks have to be purchased multiple times for every semester. Tablets/computers have a longer life span of time and have the ability to update. When updating takes place, the students are able to access current learning data. Tablets/computers will be long lasting in classrooms; moreover, if tablets/computers are kept up-to-date, are easily handled, and efficiently used