TECH EDUCATION

The Pros And Cons Of Using Computers In Classrooms

By Philip Yiga | January 31, 2017

Today, technology through the use of computerized-devices has become part of the society whereby it’s being used in all aspects of life. In fact, most schools today have decided to integrate computers into their classrooms inorder to enable students get hands on training and knowledge on how to use computer so that they can be able to compete with the changing global-economy that is full of technological-advancements. On the other hand, computers actually provide students with a more interactive learning-experience than traditional teaching-methods and computers even provide teachers with different ways of teaching students in the classroom through the use of videos, picture-slides, audio-clips and a lot more. This has actually helped to improved on the teaching-learning process thus leading to the creation of more knowledgeable students.

PROS OF USING COMPUTERS IN CLASSROOMS:

Computers facilitate for independent learning within students: the use of computers in classrooms actually helps to promote independent-learning within students whereby students will be able to easily make research on different topics and even complete their assignments without the help of their teachers or parents as long as students have a computer and an internet-connection. In fact, computers can even help to connect students on educational-forum sites inorder to share their views on different topics and this has greatly improved on the teaching-learning process of today.

Computers make learning flexible: with the use of computers in classrooms, students no-longer have to learn about the same topic at the same time like in the past. In fact, today different students will be able to read and make research on different topics while sitting in the same classroom through the use of computerized-devices.

Prepare students for the technological job-market in the future: the job-market today is changing gradually due to the integration of technological-advancements. This implies that equipping students with computer-skills at an early stage will greatly help to prepare them for the competitive job-market that requires people with some knowledge on how to operate computers. In fact, today students who have more computer-skills find it much easier to get jobs than students with little knowledge on how to operate a computer.

Computers make learning more exciting and fun: with the use of computerized-devices in classrooms, students feel more excited to learn than in the past. This is because computers make learning more fun through the use of video-clips and audio-clips thus improving on the learning-process of students. All in all, the integration of computers in classrooms has made students more eager to learn new-things than never before.

Reduced costs on scholar-materials: with the use of computerized-devices in classrooms, schools and students no-longer have to buy various textbooks for different courses thus saving a lot of money. In fact, teachers can now use a computer and projector to teach students various courses without having to carry different textbooks to the classroom. On the other hand, also students can use their laptops or tablets to access information on different topics hence eliminating the need for textbooks in a classroom-environment.

Computers improve on collaboration in the classroom: with the use computers in classrooms, students and teachers can easily share information on different topics than never before. On top of that, students will also be able to share information through groups-discussions while in the classroom thus improving on their collaboration. All in all, computers have helped to engage students in the teaching-learning process through the use of animations, diagrams, videos and audio-clips.

Easy access to updated content: with the use of computerized-devices like laptops and tablets in classrooms, students will be able to gain access to updated educational-content easily and faster than never before. On the other hand, even teachers will be able to access updated information while carrying-out lessons in the classroom while using their laptops. This is actually possible because the internet contains a lot of updated information which can be accessed easily as long as someone has a computer coupled with data-connection.

Visualized-illustrations make learning easier: with use of computerized-devices in classrooms like laptops and projectors, lessons can be show-cased in a visual-format and this actually makes the teaching-learning process much easier most especially for students. On the other hand, students can also be provided with tutorials on different topics that can be accessed on their laptops or tablets and this actually enables them to learn new-things more effectively and efficiently than in the past.

Reduced workload in the classroom: with the use of computers in classrooms, students don’t have to carry several textbooks into their classrooms and they don’t even have to make notes while having lessons. On top of that, even teachers don’t have to carry large textbooks to the classroom and they can also easily assess students’ performance, class-attendance and a lot more without making any paperwork.

It Facilitates for Easy and quick updating of data by teachers: with the use of computers in schools, teachers can easily update all the educational-content they should provide to students in the classroom without even spending a lot of time and money like in the past where they had to write and print new textbooks. In fact, computers will enable teachers to make quick edits on the work they are supposed to provide students and even computers make it much easier to send digital-versions of documents to students than textbooks.

Improved retention-rate by students: with the use of computerized-devices in the classroom, students will be able to learn more new-things faster and quickly than never before. This is because computerized-devices offer things like; video-clips, audio-clips and images which actually facilitate for a more interactive learning-process thus improving on the retention-rate of students today.

Improve on students focus in the classroom: the use of computerized-devices in classrooms helps to improve on students-focus when in a classroom-environment and this is mainly due to the interactive-nature of computerized-devices.

It allows for diversity in learning-styles: the use of computerized-devices in classrooms actually allows for diversity in the teaching-learning process whereby each student in the classroom will be able to understand a particular topic in his/her own way. In fact, students learn differently and the integration of computers in classrooms will actually enables them find a way of learning new-thing more effectively and efficiently. For example, some students will learn and understand best by looking at images, others understand by seeing videos while some students will understand by listening to audio-clips thus leading to an improvement in the teaching-learning process than never before.

Improved creativity and innovation of students: the use of computers in a classroom-environment actually facilitates for more creative-learning and this actually improves on the creativity and innovation levels of students in the long run. For example, students who use computers in classrooms for learning are more likely to use the same knowledge to make research on different things inorder to creative new-things thus leading to increased innovation amongst most students today.

It Enables students to make research quickly and easily: with the usage of computerized-devices in classrooms, students will be able to easily make research on different topics by simply using their computers and an internet-connection. In fact, students won’t need any help from their teachers when making the research and even most students will be to accomplish different assignments quickly and easily while using their personal-computers.

CONS OF USING COMPUTERS IN CLASSROOMS:

Computers can cause distractions in the classroom: the use of computerized-devices in the classroom can at times be a distraction to students especially those using personal laptops or tablets. This is because such students will be able to use their computerized-devices for personal-reasons without the consent of their teachers. In fact, some students use computers to play games, watch music-videos or chat with friends on social-media and this greatly affects their performance in the long-run. However, some schools are trying to sort this out by putting in place rules that students should follow when using computers in the classroom for best learning-results.
Computers are replacing teachers and their duties: today, the use of computers in classrooms has actually replaced duties of most teachers and in the long-run technological-advancements in the educational-sector may entirely replace teachers and their duties. In fact, today there are even new educational-technologies that can deliver content and even assess students’ performance without the intervention of teachers and this will actually eliminate the need of teachers in the future. All in all, schools are gradually reducing on the number of teachers being hired due to the technological-advancements in educational sector.
Increased cheating and plagiarism of work in classrooms: with the use of computerized-devices in classrooms, students can easily access educational-content and use it for cheating exams and this can affect their performance if caught during the cheating-process. On the other hand, some students are also most likely to access the same content when making research with the use computerized-devices coupled with an internet-connection and this can actually lead to plagiarism-issues especially if different students are making research on the same topics. So, this can lead to serious consequences incase teachers find-out that different students are having the same coursework.
Computers can disconnect students in the same classroom: the use of computers in classrooms has actually disconnected students because some of them spend most of their time on social-media websites like; facebook, whatsapp and twitter. This actually reduces on the students’ ability to verbally communicate with other students in the same classroom. In fact, it’s recommended to use both oral-presentations and technological-tools in classrooms inorder to enhance on the way students learn and interact with each other while having lessons in the classroom.
Easy access to inappropriate information by students: with the usage of computerized-devices in classrooms, some students can easily gain access to inappropriate content like pornography without the consent of their teachers and this can greatly disrupt students-attention in the classroom thus affecting their performance in the long-run.
Privacy and security issues: with use of computerized-devices in classrooms, some students using their own laptops and tablets have experienced security-issues like cyberbullying, impersonation and a lot more. On top of that, there is also a problem of hackers who can easily access student’s devices and online-accounts then use them for malicious activities. So, schools are highly advised to implement an intranet inorder to enable their students to connect to a more secure network when at school.
Increased laziness in students: computer-devices like laptops actually make students very lazy and reluctant when in comes to reading books than in the past. In fact, today students can’t even solve simple problems while doing homework-assignment because they entirely rely on computers and the internet for answers. All in all, using computers in classrooms stops students from using their minds and this can be very dangerous especially when it comes to problem-solving in the real-world environment.
It’s expensive to implement new computerized-tools in every classroom: the use of computers in classrooms is actually a great thing but buying and installing cutting-edge technological-devices into every classroom can be costly. In fact, it’s only a few modern schools capable of implementing advanced technological-tools like projectors and computer-labs. So, some schools that don’t have the money to implement such technological-tools won’t be able to compete with schools that have already implemented computerized tools in their classrooms in terms of education-quality. On the other hand, some students won’t be able to afford buying laptops or tablets for use in classrooms and this can actually lead to status-discrimination within students in the same school.

Conclusion: today, technology is the educational-sector is playing a big-role in the students learn and acquire new-skills. In fact, the job-market is gradually changing today due to several technological-advancements and this implies that students need to be equipped with technological-skills when still in school inorder to prepare them for the technological future. However, the use of computers in schools also has its own disadvantages which should be looked into but the good thing is that the advantages of integrating computers in schools outweigh the disadvantages. All in all, should consider implementing computers into their classrooms inorder to improve on the teaching-learning process and even parents should consider taking their kids to schools that are well-equipped with technological-tools so as to best prepare them for the future.

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