Technology’s Impact on Classrooms by Jennifer

Technology’s Impact on Classrooms by Jennifer - January 2020 Scholarship Essay

Technology is a part of my daily life to complete tasks and has had a significant impact on my life. I personally am a kinesthetic learner and technology has allowed me to have a hands on experience within the classroom. The projectors used in classrooms allow me to observe exactly what the teacher is doing on the board with a stimulus. The smart boards allow me to solve math problems in an entertaining and simple way. Usually I’m not the person who volunteers to stand up in front of the class to solve a math problem on the board, however, I was when the smart board came out. There’s some kind of entertainment behind drawing on an imaginary board and yet I am still able to have a learning experience with it. The computer simulations online for science courses are also extremely helpful. In my chemistry class, we used an online stimulation all the time to have a more in depth explanation of why mixing certain chemicals produce certain reactions. In the college courses I’m taking, I have found using voice memos helpful as my professor is giving a lecture. I usually record the lecture and listen to it later to catch any details I missed on the fly when I was busy writing. As a musician, technology allows me to listen to pieces written in the 19th century and gives me the ability to listen to different styles of pieces. Black ink on a page can only tell so much, but with technology and the ability to listen to music online, it allows me to explore the culture it came from and the style and expression used throughout the piece. My band director often pulls up recordings of pieces we’re playing and says “this is how I want this section to sound at this measure.” I’m fortunate that I can listen to a composer’s piece as I drive somewhere or as I clean my room or as I walk across the school to my next class. It’s extremely handy as well that I can set a reminder about something I need to accomplish later instead of writing it on a sticky note and hoping I walk past it. I often use my reminders to bug me about turning in assignments into TurnItIn before the deadline. With technology today, it allows me to have an online planner with me everywhere and it keeps my life organized. Having a physical copy of a planner is still great to have, but I never seem to have it handy when I need it. I often use the planner on my phone to plan future events and I use my physical copy of a planner to keep track of what I want to accomplish on the daily basis. Without technology, my life would be completely different. My life wouldn’t be as organized and I wouldn’t have the time management skills I obtained today.