Effect of using technology in classroom
As we all know technology is everywhere. It touches almost every aspect of our lives Many people afraid of the bad effects of using technology in the classroom. Are students Going to become too dependent on technology? Will they lose the ability to communicate with other people? Will it affect their ability to think? These were probably some of the same concerns when the phone, radio, and television were invented. Yet most schools still seem to lag far behind when it comes to incorporating technology into classrooms. Many school have recently begun exploring the true potential of integrating technology into the learning environment.
using technology in classroom has both positive and negative effect It is very important that a student learn how to take the advantages from what is good of the technology and learn to disregard that which contains no benefit or may essentially be harmful for them.
As I watched in Digital Nation movie ,the teachers were talking about how technology must be used in class to teach students. According to the principle of NY school “Technology is an oxygen, we should not take oxygen from children”. In my opinion, we must keep students in schools educated and updated with technology . Incorporating technology into classrooms is an effective way to be able to model and visualize what is occurring. For me, using technology like video projector in science based subject such as biology let me to view animations of the inside of the human body and the chemistry that takes place within it, such as digestion and exhalation. Digital projectors are the most exciting classroom tool ever. A picture truly is worth a thousand words. It can enhance my understanding of the materials. Technology establishes a connection between me and material that I can ‘t always get alone from the teacher It opens the door for curiosity and exploration for me.
In addition using technology like computers in class room has a positive effect on my education. It allows me to use many sources. There are many websites or programs that help me in lab. For example, in classes like biology lab , if there are some lecture or experiments that needs to measure oxygen consumption as a measure of metabolic rate to learn about cellular respiration with a mouse, computers in lab becomes very helpful for me search for a program to figure out the concepts of oxygen consumption with cellular respiration when I do not really get the concepts in lecture or before I start the experiment. Using computers for class gives students variety and unique sources to help their education in class.
Using technology like computers or laptop in classroom make students or professor’s time much more efficient. For example, I have slow hand writing and can slow down the whole class, or when there is a lecture with long notes, it definitely takes lots of times away from class. Especially, 75 minutes like in college, writing notes for twenty or thirty minutes take almost half hours of the class. Using laptops and typing will able students and teachers to do more activities or discussions in class. Also, it helps me more because I cannot listen what professor says while I take notes.
In my opinion, using technology not only affect students’ learning process but also affect teachers in better teaching methods. Content on a computer can be more attractive than in textbooks by pictures, colors and animations, also the different font styles, colors and sizes provided by the computer software provide easy way in reading and understanding. For example almost all of my professors at queens college prefer to present lectures with power point software, and they prefer to accept homework and test assignments submitted as soft copies. Presentation software like PowerPoint and animation software like Flash and others can provide great help to the teachers while delivering information. I think, Computer teaching is thus much more than just making students read from the screen. It is about providing them with a learning system where they can view pictures, watch videos and listen to speeches or lectures. It is about making the process of teaching and learning, interesting and interactive.
Despite previous positive effects of using laptops in classroom, it also has some negative effects. Using laptops in classroom can also worsen education Leo chalupa’s’ the greatest detractor to serious thinking since television’ he said that the internet is the ‘greatest detractor to serious thinking since the invention of television. I’m agree with him since In my classes I have seen Many students who have laptops use in class to keep up their website correspondence such as Facebook comments, statues, or even do homework for other courses. Although they type notes, students get easily template to open internet explorer or messengers. It is hard to avoid these temptations when there are computers right in front of them. I think not only the student who use laptop for themselves, it also distract others by typing noise or by attracting the eyes of nearby non-users who find themselves trying to peek at the screen to see what notes are being taken!
Frances Katz ‘Technology nabs students who cheat’ stated “students are extremely mischievous and creative when it comes to finding ways to get ahead without doing hard work”. It is true., I think students are not as innocent as they once were For example, in my physics lab, all students have an access to the internet, we have to submit assignment online during the lab. Most of the students Google the questions and find the answer right away. They also Email or text the answers to classmate! Technology can make students lazy.
In addition , unfortunately most of the high schools have recently begun using the technology into the learning environment or class room. Matt richtel ‘growing up digital , wired for distraction’ explain how childrens always had challenge with technology and how they are being distracted by that. I’m agree with his idea since I see how using internet has distracted and destroyed my nephew’s concentration in classroom .He is attending high school in Toronto (Canada) and Everything in his classroom is computer base. Doing homework, learning, Teaching, etc . When he is in classroom he does not pay attention to his teacher,. He spend more time on the computer playing with video game, searching on different websites, than he spend doing his homework and learning the materials . Such a pattern has affected my nephew’s grades. He does not leave computer even when he is at home . He has been addicted to it.
Spending too much time on the internet isn’t the only problem that he has encountered . The content which he access on the internet can be harmful as well. There is no regulation of the content on the internet. He can access information about pornography, racism, anarchy, and etc. As I read sometimes in newspapers , Many criminals have been noted to regularly use the internet to access harmful information, which can just as easily be viewed by children.
In conclusion, Everything always has both a positive and negative side to it. Technology may seem to have many drawbacks. However at the end of the day its benefits far outweigh its harms. It is very important that a student learn how to take from what is good of the technology and learn to disregard that which contains no benefit or may essentially be harmful for them.As can be seen through the above argument, technology can be extremely beneficial if used appropriately. It has a host of services it can offer in terms of information databases, fast and instant communication. According to what we can observe in today’s era, it seems that technology will play a very dynamic role in helping change the education system for the better. Education has evolved greatly thanks to technological advancements.!
Essay 2:
The role of religion or spirituality in ‘Do android dream of Electric Sheep’
we know that Religion is one of the most important issue in our life, as viewed by our society. If we follow Spiritual thoughts , it will control our action , viewpoints our thought , and also the decisions that we make throughout life.in my opinion Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is an incredibly a complete novel that includes an infinite aspect of religious analogies and references and affect of that on humans in a time of loneliness .
Mercerism which is defined as religion of the people, is the most difference between human and non-human. I think , Philip K. Dick also uses this novel to show the spiritual lives of human beings, stated that humans need something to believe in, some kind of help to get through life. He also proposes that men create things because of their knowledge, technology, which can ruin the very foundations on which the human beings are based.
The world that Dick created in his novel exists in the year 2021, which was destroyed by a nuclear war and plagued by radioactive dust (Dick 4). A barren wasteland uninhabitable except for a few key areas, the earth has been wasted by human beings who now flee it and their guilt (16-17). Those who remain on the planet and those who live in the decrepit colonies on Mars with no vitality because of the isolated conditions in which they live. This dissipate existence, followed by an extreme loss of population, cause the need for Mercerism. The religion helps humans to connect with each other to comfort their loneliness and despair. “You have to be with other people…[i]n order to live at all” (204). This connection is maintained by the use of the infamous empathy , as character in the novel explains, “…it’s the way you touch other humans, it’s the way you stop being alone” (66). It encourages the joining of humans to share their experiences, happiness, the aim being the “fusion of their mentalities orient[ing] their attention on…the need to ascend…[s]tep by step…” (22,173). By having a common belief and helping to the same effort of climbing the eternal hill, life will regains meaning and hope is progressed to lift up humanity. I believe that religion provides a means by which the separate populations can get together and improves unification.
I think, The religion also can improves and validates the crucial difference that exists between humans and androids. In my opinion , In this novel, the best characteristic that makes humans the higher species is empathy. Human society and Mercerism are able to feel sympathy for another living thing but android can not feel it . Also, androids can’t have union which strongly take place among the followers of Mercerism. The empathetic faculty probably required unimpaired group instinct…Evidently the humanoid robot constituted a solitary predator…and possessed no ability to feel empathetic joy for another life form’s success or grief… (30-31).
Thus The idea of empathy with which Mercerism serving as its validation was another issue of the sect of Mercer- one that completely fit very well into the humans’ superiority. In areas such as intelligence, appearance, or occupation, androids could not be distinguished from humans and were sometimes more successful (30). .
Although in my opinion Dick uses religion as a major issue in the novel, he also uses it as an fundamental interpretation of the spiritual lives of men. In an attempt to disruption and bring confusion to the world of humans, the androids of Earth and Mars, as well as the adored media icon Buster Friendly, anxiously expose Wilbur Mercer as an old, drunken actor and claim that “Mercerism is a swindle!” (209)
I think this echo shows the spiritual lives of men. because , as we read on chapter 18 that the men’s salvation that has been religion for a long time is destroyed by their faithful TV friend, the revelation puts no damper on their spirits- “Mercerism isn’t finished” (211). It is so simple that Men need something to believe in. The personal relationship that each character had with their beloved Mercer has not broken by shocking revelation or crazy claim. Humans will always look outside themselves to find hope and wisdom because they need those. I think, A belief in a higher power will persist, as long as men face challenges and need help. Dick shows the character of Mercer which directly correlate with Christianity’s Jesus Christ, the problem of challenged belief that also existing in the toda’s society.
Yet, as we saw in the novel, Mercer “is eternal,” as is Jesus, and lives in minds and the hearts of humans, never vanishing (76).
in my opinion Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? demonstrated that the creations of men has brought directly the challenging of religion beliefs. Androids, which was created by men and seemingly was a wonderful inventions ;but in return, the androids attempted to break the foundation of mans’ beliefs. These days , science, technology, and the pressing for exceeding limit of freedoms cause the deconstruction of religion and the beliefs in a higher power. Since so much looseness has been brought in society, anyone can openly create anything. By creating such freedoms, movement , and theories, men will lose their control . Thus , Creations backfire and things change, in both the novel and the real world.
Philip K. Dick mentioned religion and belief to his novel because of the importance it has in real life. His point is that Mercerism, like any other religions (my religion which is zoroastrian which is based on the belief in higher power ), mercerism is like an instrument to guide their followers and try to unify them who are spread all over the universe. Sometimes the only way for people to really come together and be unify involves their internal values. Also , I think , like any fiction novel , this novel reflects and critiques the problems and issues that are present during that era. Humans have complex spiritual lives that can slowly be threatened by society’s creations. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Was a science fiction novel displaying an image of the life in the future, but it is composed of elements of the present.
smshakiba 