Fifteen years earlier, could we have thought about attending classes on a laptop, listening to the professor’s lecture on an audio player, or getting the assignments done online? Sure, we wished that happens, but there was no hope whatsoever. Technology bridged this gap between our wishes and made these things into being a reality.
In the past decade, technology has had its influence in almost every field related to human life. There can be no description of bars on the influence that technology has on the various aspects of human life on this planet. Business, education, sports, travel, IT, communication – you name it.
Amongst all these, the most needed influence was in the field of education. ‘Most needed’ because education is where the youth come to know of advancements in the other fields. To do this, technology has given one or two tools to education as well. We’re here to tell you about 10 of them:
EBooks
How nice would it be if you never had to clean your book shelf? Technology has made it possible – by not having to buy books at all. Not saying that books are not necessary, but having a better option is what technology works for.
EBooks are the digital copies of real books, typed and set into a format that is non-editable (such as PDF format). They can be downloaded an infinite number of times, so that rules out the possibility of losing a particular copy of the book (as in the case of paper books). eBooks cost considerably less than their paperback counterparts; for students this is an obvious choice.
Projectors and Videos
Since ages the education was dependent on the printed text books, a few images and diagrams, and an individual’s ability to explain the concept or the fact.
However, the tides have turned. We’re stepping in an age of electromagnetic waves and sensors. To get to know what’s going on, in a better way, we needed a better technique than a printed textbook and an image. Technology has enabled us to access videos and show them to the whole class. Now the students can visualize the concept in a three-dimensional way and learn things better.
Podcasts and Webinars
Podcasts are lessons and lectures that are recorded in an audio file and can be downloaded and played at will. Imagine never having to miss a lecture ever – sounds great, right?
Technology has enabled the audio recording and podcasts are an excellent application of this technology for the benefit of the students. Having all the lectures in audio archives does make you more knowledgeable, right?
Webinars are live video lessons that a professor or anyone with a knowledge on a particular subject conduct, and any number of learners can join the live stream and ask questions in the comments section, to which the speaker replies on webcam.
This invention has allowed millions of students to learn from independent tutors and teachers and get their doubts cleared. Webinars are one if the most important gifts of technology to education.
Cloud Storage
Even after the invention of electronic devices like laptops, tablet phones, and smart phones – storage was a bit of a problem. Even after having enough capacity in the drives, incidents like software malfunction, virus infection, hardware damages etc. were a fiend to valuable data.
Technology came up with a brilliant idea of cloud storage. Now, you can create an account on any of the cloud storage platforms such as One Drive, Google Drive, etc. and upload important documents so that you can download them later. Now, no matter what becomes of your device, your data and important files will always be secure on the, well, clouds.
Gamification
Give a kid a video game and a book, and tell them to choose. No points for guessing what they’ll pick.
Video games are not a new concept – they have been around for at least two decades now. But in the past couple of years, video games are being used to teach children. When a child is really young, they should not be forced to learn. Instead, they should be made curious about it. For example, a video game that gives you a piece of information after you complete every level. And at the last level, the game ends without any information. This creates curiosity in them and encourages them to look for the information in the books or on the internet.
Isn’t letting them study better than making them study?
E-Learning
Home schooling isn’t a new concept. In fact, home schooling and apprenticeship existed way before schools came in to being.
However, the concept of e-learning has been in real trend for the past couple of years. This is because of the advancements in technology and the tools provided by it to carry out learning process in a more personalized manner.
E-learning is home schooling with the use of internet. When an individual does not attend a school or university and prefers to stay home and educate themselves by the use of internet, they are taking to e-learning. Tools like eBooks, podcasts, webinars, video tutorials, and other things that we discussed earlier are the very tools that have developed a new channel and trend in education.
In Addition to this
That was quite a lot of stuff, wasn’t it? Education really has been transformed by the use of technology. iPads have taken the place of notebooks, fingertips have replaced pens and pencils, projector screens are the successors of blackboards, and books do not take up an inch on your shelf – that is quite a bit to take in, if you were born in the early 90’s.
Social media platforms have made communication easier, and that is also a great factor in helping people get to information more quickly.