Are there benefits to technology and education?

The article I read, Debate continues over benefits of technology-oriented education, presents an interesting take on education and evolving technology. This article begins with discussing how children are discouraged from watching too much television, yet they get a lot of "screen time" with new technologies. Professor Fox notes in the article that, "Technology has become an integral part of the current culture, and the question is no longer whether children should or should not be exposed to technology, but how technology can be used most effectively as an educational tool". I felt like this was a very valid point, because technology is extremely important in today's world and I agree that technology should be utilized as a classroom tool. She refers to the generation of children as the Web.20 generation, which webopedia defines as, "the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online". The article also notes that adults should be come technology oriented as well, and parents should stress social interaction.

Too much "screen time" can impact a child in a negative way and parents should supervise this time. Television is cited as the most influential in transferring knowledge and children are most easily drawn to it. A report in the article noted, "that 25 percent of children between the ages of zero and five use the Internet at least once a week". This is a startling number for children at such a young age and the article suggests technology should supplement learning, not replace it. It is also important for parents to read to their children because this is linked to increased literacy and contact.It is also shown that technology has impacted writing skills, as most technological software corrects mistakes for you (I also feel that this has impacted me as well, I constantly use spell check on word documents) and social media terms are carried into school work. ]

Despite these concerns, technology and educational applications can be very helpful for younger students. Using technology can help children become more engaged in their education, and it is a good way to archive previous work. When used properly, technology can benefit everyone in the classroom, including teachers.