Modern Education Breeds Modern Students by Kendal

Modern Education Breeds Modern Students by Kendal - January 2020 Scholarship Essay

While many schools have embraced the educational tools presented by the new wave of technology, my school district has only recently seen the connection between a twenty-first-century education and twenty-first-century educators. At first, technology was beaten down at every turn. Phone usage was heavily restricted and punished. Computers were only accessible if you could find the time to go to a computer lab, and teachers rarely opted for online assignments due to a lack of technological understanding. In the past four years, however, my education as well as my skill set as a young adult has been unquestionably broadened by our administration’s renewed support and monetary backing of technology.
Entering high school, I received a laptop that I was permitted to take home and use as I saw fit. The access to technology has given me an avenue to a well-rounded education, and has supported me as I pursued other educational dreams. Late night volleyball, basketball, and softball games made AP course work difficult to juggle, but having a personal laptop to work on assignments in between game times or on bus rides gave me the ability to work towards success in more than one aspect of my life. The addition of laptops to our educational curriculum also directly correlated to our success on the Policy Debate team. It kept us competitive in our district when other schools had already been competing with laptops, and it gave us a source of information on both foreign and domestic policy that helped my partner and I qualify for state twice before finally placing at the state tournament. My ability to finish assignments on the road keeps me eligible for extracurriculars that teach me aspects of education like world view and cooperative skills.
Following the community wide support of technology, my high school has recently created a new class called “E.X.C.E.E.D.” This class is an addition to CTE courses already offered and focuses on the technological skills needed to enter the current work field. From this simple opportunity, I joined a group of students determined to bring a modern twist to our classrooms and help put a spotlight on student success. From this desire bred the “Cardinal Chronicle”, a student news show that does weekly announcements, short interviews, student and teacher spotlights, and short productions. I have learned basic video production skills, how to work Photoshop and PremierPro, as well as how to design pleasing graphics. Adding these type of skills to our curriculum makes us more desirable to future employers and increases the quality of any creative assignments needed for a college class.
Simply put, technology breeds opportunity. Access to basic technology helps to bridge the gap between impoverished families and those with personal computers, and even the access to online tutoring and tutorial videos are a leg up on students that don’t have the same resources in their grasp. I am in full support, and a loud advocate, of technological innovation in my home school district, and believe that my education has been heavily influenced by the increasing prevalence of technology in my academic lifestyle. Any schools that question the importance of technology in their student’s lives need only look to the life of myself and my peers to see that they too need to join us in the twenty-first-century.