For the people who were born in 1980s and 1990s, Do you remember your School Days?
Apart from the beautiful memories we’ve shared, that’s the time we have struggled to carry a heavy load. I’m not saying about the load we’ve carried in mind because everyone has the capacity to bear that. But it’s very important here to mention about the load we’ve carried on our shoulder. It’s beyond a normal school student’s capacity. Have you guessed what I’m talking about?
Yes. You are absolutely right. It’s our School bag which consisted of bundles of Class work note books, Homework note books, Text books, Subject Guides, Rough note books, Drawing Books… etc.
Over the past few years, while going for Higher Education, things have changed a lot. Technology is now playing a great role.
- Learning has become easier, more effective and comfortable.
- Physical load has been reduced to maximum extent
- E-books are replacing hard copies
- PPTs are replacing board and chalk piece.
- Use of Laptops, Tablets and Mobile devices has been implemented to greater extent.
Instead of carrying a bundle of books, Students now a day, prefer an electronic device which not only stores data, but also let them learn effectively.
- For example, As a Mechanical Engineering student, I have to know some mechanisms we are now using for several purposes, I find lot of diagrams, plenty of theoretical matter in the text books, But a YouTube video of those mechanisms (consisting of animation to explain how it’s going on and how the links are arranged, adjusted and moved… etc.) has given me more than what I read. It has become easy for me to remember the mechanisms by those animated videos.
- Studying in IITs is every Engineering student’s dream, some may reach their goal and some may not. Those who get selected in IITs can gain effective knowledge directly from great lectures by well qualified professors, and the rest can also do the same indirectly. Yes, I’m talking about NPTEL Videos.
- While you are appearing for any competitive exam, you need lot of tips to get a top rank. Including Syllabus, Previous question papers, frequently covered topics, we further need “Expert Opinions” & “Topper’s experiences” for Effective way of Preparing. We can find several books, News and magazine publications with above contents regarding those competitive exams. But it’s difficult to collect and store all those paper cuts. The preparation will be even more effective If You go for some blogs and websites where you can find number of experts sharing their views and gives you important information and a lot of tips. Students are simply copying and storing those things as soft copies.
- If you go for a service like “CourseSmart
”, you will find valuable digital courses and eBooks. These services provide standard digital materials to students as well as instructors at anywhere, any-time access, and at a low cost. We can simply call these services as “Digital Libraries”.
The above points are just a few examples to say how things changed with technology and how the use of Electronic devices (Laptops, Tablets and Mobile Phones) is playing a great role in Effective Learning.
Most of the students of higher education have already adopted this way and leading the rest to move in this path. In a spring 2012 survey, 67% students said that they would like technology to play a greater role in their learning, including a greater use of netbooks, notebooks and tablets and an increased use of digital content. Even the teachers of some good institutions are saying that they want to integrate more digital content and equipment into their classroom.
Tablets like iPad are the portable devices to carry anywhere. These devices also having all the features (Storing electronic books & videos, Internet facility… etc.) like Laptops and Desktops can perform all the educational tasks for a student or a teacher. And continuous improvements are being made as per the need of users. They want more and more advancement. They like to spend their discretionary money on technical devices. Students have planned to spend 227% more on technology in the 2012-13 school years than they did the year before. That’s what the spring 2012 survey has said.
One more study 2012 has said, College-age students use at least 3 technical devices daily and most of the students don’t go more than an hour without using at least a technical device.
Until now, you’ve read about so many advantages of using this technology. I want to add one more advantage to that list. This is the best of all, because 90% of surveyed students have said that the use of technical devices helped them to crunch time when in studying.
How technology is changing education is greatly presented here in the form of infographic
.
So many surveys, lot of expert’s opinions, number of student’s views, and many more personnel’s insights… etc. All say one thing“Technology makes learning easier, more effective and comfortable.”
Now it’s your turn to express your experience. Let me know how effectively you are using technology in education, in your academics, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities?
