Technology in Education

Computers and Internet connections are becoming widely available in schools and classrooms. In 1999, 99 percent of teachers in the United States had access to a computer in their schools, and 84 percent had one or more computers in their classrooms. These are staggering numbers and that was only eight years ago. Just imagine what the numbers would look like now. The availability of media is everywhere. One angle that you might not have thought of are the benefits of media to teachers. Teachers can use media to help find problems that fit real world situations for their students. A good example of this for construction students or math students, figuring out correct angles to build a bridge or build underground tunnels is a very real life job. Students could use real bridges numbers and statistical information in their problem solving helping them really learn what it took to build that bridge. But sometimes problems are not as easy as this, unlike problems that occur in the real world, technology can incorporate graphics, video, animation, and other tools to create problems that can be explored repeatedly. Multimedia representations are easier to understand than problems presented as text (Williams, retrieved Sept 23 07).

Internet and video conferencing technology allow students to participate in projects sponsored by researchers around the world. In the Jason Project, satellite and Internet technology bring classroom students into direct real-time contact with leading scientists, conducting scientific research expeditions around the globe (Williams, retrieved September 23, 07). This sense of global community is one of the largest benefits to education from media development. Everyone sharing one common pool of knowledge where no one man is smarter than the next and all information is equally available to both.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_American_School/The_Role_of_Media_in_Education#Technology_in_Education