IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TO LEARNING

We live in a dynamic world surrounded by almost endless amounts of information. Riding

the coattails of information is all of the technology we have at our fingertips. For as prevalent
as technology is now, is it replacing real lasting education? Does technology have a place in our
classrooms?

I think any level-headed educator would agree that children must be able to use technology to
be competitive in the workplace after graduation. With all the trends and advancements in
technology no one can argue that we will go backwards from here. I don’t foresee technology
replacing passionate teachers educating their students. I simply see it as an important tool to
help the education process and prepare students for the future.

From the studies I’ve read, teachers want to use more technology in the classroom. The kids
seem to really enjoy it and are excited about using it. Those interested in embracing technology
need to educate themselves on what’s out there. Here is a small sliver of the advantages we
gain from using technology to educate people.

Equality: School districts across the country are not created equal. There is so much disparity
in educational resources depending on the wealth, or lack thereof, depending on certain areas.
Students using technology in low income districts gain significant skills and advantages in the
learning process. Using the same technology is an equalizer for disadvantaged students.

Future: The world is moving towards technology at a breakneck pace. Educators have a
responsibility to introduce, encourage, and help students master technology, as well as subjects,
as it applies to school and the future. Technology will be used in every aspect of the professional
lives of current students. So upon graduation, whether the next step is college or career,
technology will be used daily. Why not use it daily in school?

Mobile: Using technology the classroom can be taken anywhere. With all the knowledge and
resources contained and deliverable on demand in a mobile device, students can learn at home
or in the “field”. Mobile technology allows for greater collaboration between students promoting
strong foundations in group work.

Motivation: Technology tracks and reports student’s progress instantly. What fun is running a
marathon if you don’t know how long it takes. Runners can get instant feedback for hundreds
of data points as to their condition. This feedback provides instant motivation to improve
performance.
Similarly students who use technology are motivated to improve performance. Just like they do
at home on their gaming consoles. Trying to beat high scores at home and trying to beat high
scores in math use the same psychology.

Social: This runs along the same lines as motivation. Creating a social element to educational
technology can allow for healthy competition amongst peers both in the same classroom or
across the country. Performing well and earning badges to gain virtual social status is of the
heart of many social applications today. Personal identities do not have to be used, instead
students could use avatars to hide possible confidentiality breaches. Using technology to make
education have social elements can make learning very addictive.

Savings: The savings which result from using technology can come in many facets. On a basic
level technology can replace infrastructure. Desks, books, lab equipment and other items are a
heavy cost burden on schools everywhere. Technology and devices can help save on these costs.
In addition geographically isolated or economically disadvantaged children can benefit from
access to online software or resources which would be cost prohibitive without technology.

Updates: I recently read an article that reported students using 10 year old textbook in school.
Updating textbooks can cost lots of money and do significant damage to budgets. On the other
hand, updating software and educational content is not as expensive or cumbersome. With the
help of technology course curriculum can reflect real world data. In some applications students
can be exposed to real-time information.

Assessments: Assessing students performance can be done instantly with technology. It’s
more than just test scores, simply understanding students grasp of the subject in real time can
be done on tablets in classrooms. A classroom could be questioned with a multiple-choice
problem. Students could then input their answer and the feedback score is instantly given to
the student and teacher. Corrections can be made long before examinations.

Global: Students and classrooms or even schools can be connected to anyone in the world
instantly. Devices coupled with the Internet can allow for a free way to communicate globally.
The chance to understand international or different cultural perspectives on the same topic is
incredible.

Convenience: Having children carry heavy backpacks, text books, and binders isn’t very
efficient. A new lightweight laptop weighs less than 5 pounds and can have an internal storage
capability of more than 2 million illustrated pages. In addition to an internal hard drive, access
to the Internet can provide an almost unlimited source of information. Ergonomic issues and
back pain are a real problem in children. These conditions can lead to chronic problems
throughout adulthood.
 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF POWERPOINT

PowerPoint is a quick and easy way to organize ideas and information, but can encourage
the creation of presentations that lack substance.

PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software. It is regarded by many as the most
useful and accessible way to create and present visual aids to the audience.

On the other hand, others believe it has created its own mind-set which forces presenters
to spend countless hours thinking in PowerPoint and developing slides. A political party has even
formed to ban PowerPoint in Switzerland. Depending on one's perspective, it seems that many
advantages could easily be viewed as disadvantages.

Look over the list below to see where you stand—with or against PowerPoint.

ADVANTAGES

Design

 Quick and easy: the basic features are easy to master and can make you appear to be
organized, even if you are not.
 Simple bullet points: it can reduce complicated messages to simple bullet points. Bullet
points are a good basis for a presentation and remind the speaker of main points and
the organization of the message.
 Easy to create a colorful, attractive design: using the standard templates and themes,
you can create something visually appealing,even if you do not have much knowledge of
basic graphic design principles .
 Easy to modify: when compared to other visual aids such as charts, posters, or objects,
it is easy to modify.
 Easily re-order presentation: with a simple drag and drop or using key strokes, you can
move slides to re-order the presentation.
 Finally, PowerPoint is integrated with other products that allow you to include parts of
documents, spread sheets, and graphics.

Delivery

 Audience Size: PowerPoint slides are generally easier to see by a large audience when
projected than other visual aids.
 Easy to present: you can easily advance the slides in the presentation one after another
with a simple key stroke while still maintaining eye contact with the audience.
 No need for Handouts: they look good visually and can be easily read if you have a
projector and screen that is large enough for the entire room.
DISADVANTAGES

Design

 Design power pointless: gives the illusion of content and coherence, when in fact there
is really not much substance or connection between the different points on the slides.
 PowerPoint excess: some speakers create presentations so they have slides to present
rather than outlining, organizing, and focusing on the message.
 Replaces planning and preparation: PowerPoint is a convenient prop for poor speakers,
as it can reduce complicated messages to simple bullet points and elevates style over
substance.
 Oversimplification of topic: the linear nature of PowerPoint forces the presenter to reduce
complex subjects to a set of bullet items that are too weak to support decision-making
or show the complexity of an issue.
 Feature abundance: while the basic features are easy to use and apply, a speaker can
get carried away and try to use all the features at once rather than simply supporting a
message. Too many flying letters, animations, and sound effects without seeing much
original thought or analysis can be a real issue. In many cases, the medium shoves the
message aside.

Delivery

 Basic equipment required: you will need to have a computer and projection equipment
in place to display the slides to the audience.
 Focus on medium, not message: Too many people forget that they are making a
presentation first and that PowerPoint is just a tool.
 Ten Thoughts on How to Use PowerPoint Effectively

1) PowerPoint, when displayed via a projector, is a useful tool for showing audiences
things that enhance what the speaker is saying. It is a useful tool for illustrating the
content of a speech, such as by showing photos, graphs, charts, maps, etc., or by
highlighting certain text from a speech, such as quotations or major ideas. It should
not be used as a slide-show outline of what the speaker is telling the audience.

2) Slides used in a presentation should be spare, in terms of how much information is on

each slide, as well as how many slides are used. A rule of thumb is to put no more
than eight lines of text on a slide, and with no more than eight to ten words per line.
In most cases, less is more, so four lines of text is probably better. Don’t display
charts or graphs with a lot of information—if it’s useful for the audience to see such
things, pass them out as handouts.

3) Unless you’re an experienced designer, don’t use the transition and animation “tricks”
that are built into PowerPoint, such as bouncing or flying text. By now, most people
roll their eyes when they see these things, and these tricks add nothing of value to a
presentation.

4) Above all, use high-contrast color schemes so that whatever is on your slides is
readable. Unless you are a talented graphic designer, use the templates that come
with PowerPoint or Keynote, and keep it simple—high concept design in a slide
presentation doesn’t help in most circumstances, unless you’re in the fashion or design
fields. If you use graphics or photos, try to use the highest quality you can find or
afford—clip art and low-resolution graphics blown up on a screen usually detract from
a presentation.

5) Rehearse your PowerPoint presentation and not just once. Don’t let PowerPoint get in
the way of your oral presentation, and make sure you know how it works, what
sequence the slides are in, how to get through it using someone else’s computer, etc.
Make sure that you can deliver your presentation if PowerPoint is completely
unavailable; in other words, make sure you can give your speech without your
PowerPoint presentation.

6) Get used to using black slides. There are few speeches that need something displayed
on the screen all the time. If you include a black slide in your presentation, your
audience will refocus on you, rather than on the screen, and you can direct them back
to the screen when you have something else to show them. Put a black screen at the
end of your presentation, so that when you’re done, the PowerPoint presentation is
finished and off the screen.

7) Concentrate on keeping the audience focused on you, not on the screen. You can do
this by using slides sparingly, standing in front of the audience in a way that makes
them look at you, and, if possible, going to the screen and using your hand or arm to
 point out things on a slide. If you expect to be using PowerPoint a lot, invest in a
remote “clicker” that lets you get away from the computer and still drive your
presentation. If you don’t have one of those, it’s better to ask someone to run the
presentation than to be behind a screen and keyboard while you talk.

8) If you show something on a computer that requires moving the cursor around, or
flipping from one screen to another, or some other technique that requires interaction
with the computer itself, remember that people in the audience will see things very
differently on the projection screen than you see them on the computer screen. Keep
motion on the screen to a minimum, unless you’re showing a movie or a video. It’s
better to show a static screenshot of a Web page, embedded on a slide, than to call
up the Web page in a browser on a computer. If you want to point out something on
a Web page, go to the screen and point at it—don’t jiggle the cursor around what you
want people to look at: their heads will look like bobble-headed dolls.

9) Don’t “cue” the audience that listening to your speech means getting through your
PowerPoint presentation. If the audience sees that your PowerPoint presentation is
the structure of your speech, they’ll start wondering how many slides are left. Slides
should be used asynchronously within your speech, and only to highlight or illustrate
things. Audiences are bored with oral presentations that go from one slide to the next
until the end. Engage the audience, and use slides only when they are useful.

10) Learn how to give a good speech without PowerPoint. This takes practice, which means
giving speeches without PowerPoint. Believe it or not, public speaking existed before
PowerPoint, and many people remember it as being a lot better then than it is now. A
few people use presentation software in extremely effective ways—Steve Jobs and
Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig are two examples. Al Gore’s use of Keynote
in the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was a good model. But these three examples
don’t look at all like the way most people use PowerPoint. Avoiding bad PowerPoint
habits means, first and foremost, becoming a good public speaker.

Source: Boundless. “The Advantages and Disadvantages of PowerPoint.” Boundless Communications. Boundless,
06 Oct. 2016. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/boundless-
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