Glenn Wagstaff
Shivani Shirolkar
Technology is the future. There is almost nothing today that can run without high functional data handling. The need to make life easier and more comfortable is motivation enough to revolutionize the way technology fits into our daily lives. Not surprisingly, it has greatly affected almost all of the student population, too. For example, according to the Office of Information Technology at NC State, 21.38 million pages were printed in 2015-16 in the WolfPrint online account printing service, proving that technology implementation is more helpful than ever.
Since everything in the world is being enhanced by newer technologies, education should be following the trend, as well. The immediate benefits of using an online platform in the classroom include saving storage space and minimizing expenses by having online textbooks.
Quite a few of my classes over the past few semesters have used online textbooks, which helped me make my study material extremely portable. I could pull a page up whenever I wanted, regardless of where I was located. This improved efficiency, as I didn’t have to run back and forth from classes to my dorm getting textbooks, nor did I have to struggle under the weight of a million pages of information.
Students tend to spend most of their time glued to a device of some sort, so that time can be effectively used if classrooms utilize apps through which students can answer questions online. Furthermore, attendance can be monitored by viewing which account an answer to a question originates from.
Taking notes on a computer is also a good idea, since editing is cleaner than in handwritten notes. Important points can be highlighted in different colors, and the documents can be stored in a single location making the material less likely to get misplaced for reference in the future. Sometimes, professors may even let students record their lectures to ensure that no details are left out in notes taking manually.
There is software available that can block certain websites, like social media and YouTube, by which students are prevented from being distracted and feeding their internet addiction, especially during class.
Outside the classroom, social media can be a powerful tool as a means of communication between the student and the teacher. My computer science courses over the past year used an online forum platform called Piazza, which was of significant help during exam preparation, and also when I was working on an assignment. If a student had a doubt regarding some of the material covered, there were chances that other students may be facing the same issue. When posted on Piazza, all the students enrolled in that course could view the answer, reducing the redundancy of answering the same question from different people.
Professors also use automated grading systems for assignments, which enable students to receive immediate feedback on their work without waiting for weeks (provided the software is bug-free). Shiny and interactive tablets help in visually stimulating the mind, as opposed to referring to large chunks of information in a monochromatic textbook, making it much more interesting for students to connect to what they’re studying.
Using technology in classrooms is a huge contribution to preserving the environment by saving paper. Forty-two percent of trees chopped down are used to make paper, heightening the extent of deforestation in today’s world. Thus using technology should be embraced, and not shied away from.