Educational Technology as the Best Tool of Your Success

In the beginning of the XXI century, technology began spreading actively to many fields and sciences, and education was one of them. It’s impossible to underestimate the role of technology in education: it makes education more versatile and flexible, introduces many new options both to educators and students, and makes educational process easier and more enjoyable.

But if in the beginning of the XXI century, technology in education was a sort of a gimmick, now it has become a must-have. Today, children grow up with all sorts of different gadgets at hand and there’s nothing to impress them with.

“Old school” educational methods get them bored, so even teachers who are unfamiliar with the latest technology trends have to start catching up with them in order to make lessons more productive and enjoyable.

What is Educational Technology? 

So what is educational technology exactly? The Association of Educational Communications and Technology defined this notion as a “study that implements and facilitates technology into educational processes in order to make them more effective”. Technology was introduced to education in the XX century first, but then it used only to some particular audio-visual tools that were limited to a few educational institutions.

With the rise of the Internet era and a rapid introduction of technology in business, education also acquired new features, and online education was introduced. For example, full-service marketing agencies using innovative technology could develop solutions to meet needs of diverse clients, and this principle was also applicable in education.

Nowadays it is possible to get a diploma without leaving the house, as many universities have made some degree programs accessible online.

Besides, there are services like Coursera, Future Learn and many others that offer degree programs and postgraduate courses which people can take and then get a certificate or a diploma.

All these tools are built on the principles of educational technology as they involve using a laptop, tablet and even a smartphone. The flexibility of educational technology is obvious.

Other advantages of educational technology include:

Progress tracking: 

With the introduction of educational technology educators and students are no longer limited to diaries and class journals to track the progress of the students. Owing to technology it is now possible to track educational progress and academic achievements through special student progress tracking platforms like Google Classroom and Class tree.

Accessible information: 

“With educational technology, it’s so easy to access and present new information to students”, says Madison Ashley, a part-time teacher and a manager at write-my-essay-for-me.com.“I still remember digging through all those endless textbooks at the library, it was so exhausting. Now it’s become easier and more enjoyable.”

Effective collaboration: 

A teacher can access the students at any time with educational technology and share information through various media.  With educational technology, it’s also easier to exchange feedback and work on group tasks.

Environmentally friendly: 

Many people are skeptical when it comes to arguing the point of technology being environmentally friendly. But it’s impossible to deny that with the rise of technology less paper is used to print new text books, thus it saves forests, protects environments and slows down the climate change.

Technology that Brings Success

It’s awesome how educational technology can lead you to success. Founding Director of the Center for Technology Innovation Darrell M. West in his article “Educational Technology Success Stories”tells the story of a young Khadijah Niazi, a citizen of Pakistan, who couldn’t access You tube because it was banned in her country and because of it couldn’t get through her final exam. Her professor found a way to download the necessary videos from Youtube and place them on a file-sharing website, from which Khadijah could access them. A few hours later she passed her final exam.

This wonderful story proves that with technology education has no limits and that technology brings solutions to any difficult situation. With the introduction of technology, education faced substantial changes, and these changes are all for good.

Educational software gives more opportunities for the students to express their creativity and prompts teachers to be more inventive and innovative. Educational technology is an impulse for both teachers and students to learn continuously, as technology evolves very fast.

Today educators face the problem of decreased resources as many governments cut the financial aid for practically all educational institutions. Many textbooks necessary for educational purposes do not get reprinted because of the lack of finances, thus teachers are left with many needed resources. But thanks to educational technology it is possible to give students information that is missing from their textbooks, introduce updated data, which is now more accessible than ever.

So don’t underestimate the Power of Technology…

Nowadays technology is everywhere and it would be reckless to ignore it. Old methods have become outdated: they are tiresome and don’t bring the same results as they used to bring twenty years ago.

Both students and teachers have to understand that in order to achieve the success they need to implement technology into educational process as much as possible. It will give them unlimited opportunities, give them access to all possible resources and introduce them to the newdepths of knowledge.

Tom Jager is professional blogger. He works at A-writer. He has degree in Law and English literature. Tom has written numerous articles/online journals.You can reach him at G+ or  Facebook.