Has technology really changed the way we do things

Since the first computer was made in the late fifties, the technology has developed extremely. Computer, which took the place of a living room, then are now being made now much bigger than credit cards! More and more areas are being taken over by the computer. The technology in computer has become so popular that even small business and homes began to own computers.

Why such an immense popularity for computer? This is simply because the computer empowers the users to be efficient and fast. The computer can do routine operations thousands of times faster than if a person was to do it manually. I feel that I am not wrong to say that this single greatest invention has made us, humans heavily dependent on it. Humans depend on computer to carry out all kinds of jobs that were done manually before.

In banking for example, computer allows for millions of transactions to be carried out involving large sums of money, which would otherwise require thousands of banks tellers. Computers do the job in a much shorter time and practically free of any errors. Computers are nowadays responsible for air traffics control and the running of trains to ensure that travel is made as smooth as possible. Additionally, in factories nowadays computers operate mechanical devices that produce goods we require for everyday living, in such quantities that would be otherwise impossible to achieve if these factories were run by human alone.

Perhaps the greatest advancements have been made in the field of communications. All of us are by now familiar with the ‘internet’. The Internet offers a cheaper alternative to communicate with people within a country and internationally through computers. It has also been described as an immense pool of knowledge just waiting for applications.

In education, computer has also changed the way we teach and learn. Teachers these days are just a click a way from obtaining information, lesson plans, interesting activities ands et cetera. There are also site that allows teachers the opportunity to discuss educational issues. The technology in computers has made learning process much more fun. Colourful pictures and attention catching presentation has to a certain extent capture students’ interest. Lessons that were boring can now be transferred into exciting lessons. There are software that make exercises a must do thing. Just just doing it students get excited. Students without realising it are actually enjoyed the learning process and it has a more lasting effect on the students’ knowledge.

However, the use of technology in our education is still questionable. I feel that technology does change the way we do things but is it being used accordingly? I feel that even though technology has developed, is it being used? In our schools this is questionable. I feel that it is not used as expected. During my recent school experiences program I was able to observe this. Even though teachers had laptop, some of them felt that it was a burden. They were more worried of losing it rather than using it. Excuses like “ I travel by LRT, I’m afraid it might get stolen” was quite annoying when I heard it. But I question myself; will I be using such excuses later? To a certain extent I feel that teachers are weigh down by the usage of computers in class. I know that it is not easy to prepare an interesting power point presentation, as it needs time and a lot of patience. Plus a teacher has to handle more than two class and other school activities. Where will the teacher find time to do such thing? And as a result they prefer to use the old method – board and chalk or nowadays maker and whiteboard.

As a conclusion, technology has changed the way we do things. However, is it used? This is the question that we as teachers are going to faced after finishing this course on technology. Plus, as it is still developing we can never say what is stored for us in the future.