Technology in Education

With the upcoming fourth industrial revolution, the way many things are done have changed including the way learners are educated.

Many fear that the increase in technology will have a negative effect on learners and although this is true to a certain extent, the positives that technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a whole has on education outweigh the negatives.

Technology has revolutionized the field of education. The importance of technology in schools cannot be ignored. In fact, with the onset of computers in education, it has become easier for teachers to impart knowledge and for students to acquire it. The use of technology has made the process of teaching and learning all the more enjoyable

Advantages and disadvantages of Technology in education

Advantages:

• It makes students more excited to learn.
• Help students with busy schedules, freedom to work at home on their own time.
• Train students to learn new technology skills they can use later in the workplace.
• Decrease paper and photocopying costs, promoting concept of “green revolution”
• Encourages creative thinking and innovation.
• Eradicates boundaries and limits in education, producing learners who not only think out of the box but revolutionary and futuristically.

Disadvantages:

• Many experts and experienced people say that, due to such technology in education, students imagination is affected, their thinking ability is reduced.
• Sometimes it’s also time-consuming from teacher’s point of view.
• It is costly to install such technology which is a huge problem in South Africa and other African countries.
• There can be health issues too when used over limit.

With all said, it cannot be denied that the introduction of technology into the learning environment has allowed the learning to be more student-centred, to encourage group learning, and helps to stimulate an increase in the student-teacher interaction. Technology has shown a shift from a focus on a student’s memorization to their problem solving.