Is it a benefit or downfall to insert technology in education?

I grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota, our technology in 1995 included one desktop computer, a landline phone with the longest cord possible and dialed up internet. The computer was a Packard Bell and ran Windows 95. This computer DID have a CD-ROM drive, 6GB of hard drive space and around 64MB of RAM. I laughed typing those specs because today my new computer at work was built in 2019, runs Windows 10 Pro Edu, 256GB SSD, and 16GB RAM. Let's compare:

Pretty comical to see the difference in 24 years isn't it? My monitor is 3x bigger than the computer console. :)

In school, we had the blue iMacs that were released in 1998. Remember these?

I learned typing basics, used Mac Word and probably Googled "cats" and made it the background picture. Besides learning my "home row," fundamentals of a document, and games there wasn't much to do on a computer in elementary school. Today there are so many games and websites out there for elementary students that are based on their curriculum.
In high school, the work got more complicated because as you get older, there's more papers and research to do. At home, we always had a PC, and I couldn't save what I had done on One Drive or the Cloud and get back to it at school. The formats were also different between the operating systems too so I usually just did my work at school and saved it on the server. Not that it was too complicated for me personally to work on both a MAC and PC, but I didn't get a big benefit out of it either. Today I still use both OS in my everyday life. My home and work computers are PC, and my phone and tablet are Apple.

Today you may see both OS being used throughout schools whether it be computers, laptops, or tablets. Technology in education has changed so much over the years that there are too many to count but here are some that come to my mind: 

1) Technology and grade books--I remember seeing stacks of papers on my teacher's desk and they would have to put in the grades into a grade book that gave you only so much space. Today there is Power School that is an electronic system where student/teacher information is collected and shared. You can manage grades, attendance, demographics, courses, and photos all in this system. I've luckily never had to worry about putting in grades the old-fashioned way, but I can promise you I would never want to!

2) Activ Panels-- Activ panels have become the new thing in schools and are replacing projectors. They can display something instantly and makes it easier for teachers to explain a concept with visuals. When I was in school, we always had Overhead Projectors. Whatever you wanted to show had to be on a transparent sheet to see and could use a dry erase marker to show your work. When I started my job, the school still used computer projectors in every room. That made a quick turnaround when they purchased Activ Panels. 

Activ panels are interactive boards that can do the same on your smartphone/tablet. The touch feature is impressive as you can have up to 10 fingers touching the board at once without conflict. 

They connect to your computer and TV/DVD players to display on a big, bright HD screen. Now at the school, almost every room has an Activ panel, and we have made projectors obsolete. These boards run on Android as well so the Google Play Store comes in handy when teachers want educational apps and games to help with their teaching. 

The boards are either hardwired in by ethernet cable or connected via Wi-Fi. Some teachers don't even use their computer when teaching and let the panel do all the work because everything is accessible within it just from using the internet. With One Drive, you can open up your files right there on the board and make changes when teaching.  

I have been so fortunate to be part of this process and huge tech update in the school it just makes me giddy inside. (nerdy I know) The teachers are getting more comfortable with them and use them to show a video from Youtube, explain a concept with Khan Academy, and much more. 

3) Chromebooks--With the new 1:1 initiative, I think computer labs will become obsolete. First off, Chromebooks are cheap! Between the vendors, I go through to buy computers, a chrome book on Amazon can cost $169 where a PC laptop can cost up to $800. Which one do you think I will choose?
They are entirely cloud-based, easy to use and secure. I see elementary classes use them to listen to their lesson online, type papers on different states and submit their assignments right to their teacher through Google Classroom. The high school students can have a Chromebook during class and do their work and bring it with them without having to be tied to a desktop computer or a lab.
At our school, we are a Google Apps for Education school we have access to multiple applications, usernames and a domain within our building. Chromebooks allow students to collaborate while completing group projects, reports, a power point, or videos. Access to their work can be anytime and any place.
We do two different types of testing throughout the year, NWEA Assessment and ND State Testing. From recent studies, students seem to do well when testing in their learning environment. To enforce results from that study, the Chromebooks are in their classroom when they test. Being an administrator for these devices, I can easily install the app on my computer and push it out to all those devices in seconds.

4) Tablets--Tablets are a popular device to have in schools nowadays. They can be connected via Wi-Fi, and you can access almost everything you need on it just as you would a computer. The tablets are nice to have for the younger crowd as well. By around age, 5-6 children should be able to use a tripod pencil grip when writing. Although touch screens are so handy for the little ones, our tablets have a stylus that is connected that I think is a great benefit for kids to keep up with those motor skills. I have had the opportunity to go into the elementary classrooms and teach a lesson using technology throughout that time. We utilize the tablets and the activ panel at the same time which gives not only the student the benefit of using those devices, but the teacher gets more comfortable with them too.

So what is the downfall of having technology in education?
Have kids access to games? Too much screen time? Distraction when you're teaching?

These can all be possibilities in reality, but as a teacher, you control what happens in your classroom, and you control the use, time and path of technology in there too. We make sure devices are out and used only when it is time to use them. We have software that can be connected to all devices to monitor the students when on these devices to make sure they are appropriate, safe and not cheating.

As educators, technology isn't the only way to differentiate your teaching, but it is what can help your students progress by giving them that opportunity. Maybe having visuals is a more natural way for them to learn than to read 15 pages alone.  If you create your lessons with collaboration, students remember to work with others and not become socially disconnected from the world. You never know until you try, right?

It can be overwhelming having to adapt to technology and utilize it more in your classroom but take the time. Research, ask other teachers, Pinterest, Teacher Pay Teachers, are all great resources to get started. We owe it to our kids to give them all we can offer and prepare them for the real world, including technology use in schools.

"We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher's hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world." -David Warlick