Technology's Positive Impact on the Classroom by Keighlan

Technology's Positive Impact on the Classroom by Keighlan - January 2020 Scholarship Essay

From fifth grade to my senior year in high school, I went to a small homeschool co-op. So I had virtually little to no experience with technology in a classroom environment. Now that I am a freshman in college and attending a decent sized private institution, I am getting a lot more exposure to using technology in my classes. The three ways technology has helped improve my classroom experience is through providing more easily accessible resources, allowing for learning that could not be done with just a textbook, and ultimately helping enrich the quality of learning I am receiving.
With the rise of technology, we now have the world right at our fingertips. Whether using a computer, tablet, or even just our cellphones, we have access to more knowledge we could ever imagine! For example, in one of my Gen. Ed. courses this past semester, I had my very first experience with an online textbook. At first, I was skeptical, worried that this online text wouldn't be as resourceful as the physical textbooks I was used to. I was mistaken. With a search bar that I could type in any word I needed to look up and with an option to cite sources directly out of the text, the online textbook proved to be even more useful than a hardcover book.
Just as technological devices can provide easily accessible resources, technology in a classroom environment allows for leaning that could not be done with just a textbook. In another one of the Gen. Ed. courses I had to take-a math class-we took several fieldtrips to a computer lab in the building next door to where we normally had class. As soon as my teacher explained that we were going to be using the computers to "put into motion" everything we had learned thus far, I was nervous. I was fearful that what was going to be required of me for these assignments were going to be too complex and challenging for me. The opposite proved to be true. I actually got through the assignments rather quickly with great success! I came to enjoy those field trips to the computer labs more than any other assignments given in the class!
Not only does technology make class assignments easier, but they can also enrich students with meaningful learning; something every student longs for when they leave school. Now that I am in college, I care about what I am learning immensely. "How does this benefit me in my life and in my future career?" I'll internally ask myself. "Why should I care?" The great thing about technology is that it provides the teachers new and innovative ways and opportunities to teach new subjects to students in ways that will prove to be meaningful to them.
In conclusion, technology is beneficial to classroom learning because of the easily accessible resources it provides, the learning it allows, and the quality of education it ultimately provides. I can only hope that in the future, all school will have accessibility to technology so that they too can enhance their teaching at their establishments.