Throughout my school career, I’ve had many teachers that were against technology in their classrooms, and since everyone just got Chromebook’s, teachers have only gotten stricter. The argument I’ve always heard is that it distracts us, but there are always students who want to pay attention to class; technology only distracts some people. There are many reasons why technology is bad, but there are better reasons as to why technology is good in school.

Every student has a different way of learning and with the use of technology, students have more opportunities to learn the way they need; most teachers call this differentiation. Although some students learn better by pen and paper, others work better online. One of my teachers has all her notes as videos, which she puts online, so we can access them at any point. This way if we don’t understand something, we have the chance to re-watch these videos at any point. We won’t have to go out of our way to find her and get help. It makes the overall lesson easier. Not everyone learns this way, and maybe those students need to see her in person, but with the videos, she’s catering to both groups of students. With technology in the classroom, students get a chance to learn in the best way for them, and everything is more readily available and easier.

Another reason that technology is good in school is that it helps engage the students. From a young age, we all learn how to use phones or laptops, so it only makes sense to work with something we know. Technology is also just more fun to use than the traditional paper and pen. Since the use of technology is more fun, it helps students stay focused on the work in front of them, and not the world around them. They can also stay more engaged because there is more of an interactive side of technology. Students get more opportunities to have fun in class.

If used well, technology makes everything easier for the teacher. With the educational management site, Canvas, all the teacher really has to worry about is posting the assignment online. This saves a lot of time and paper from how teachers would traditionally have to worry about printing enough copies of the assignment for all students in each class, and even more for the students that are out for the day or the ones who lose their copy. By integrating technology into school, teachers will be less stressed with making sure they have everything printed or every handout stapled. It also eliminates the excuse of students losing work. A less stressed out teacher makes for happier teachers, and happier teachers make happier students.

If not properly implemented, technology can be bad for the school, however, there are many reasons why it’s good. My hope is that teachers will see us using technology, not because we’re lazy, but because technology and our teachers have taught us to work smarter. we won’t be able to lose notes or assignments, it’s quicker and easier to look up how to spell a word rather than searching through a dictionary and we are able to get a date or information for anything in the blink of an eye instead of looking through a textbook. Workplaces are becoming more digital, so it’s better for us to learn and adapt to it now, so we are ready and can excel in the future.