Effect of Technology on Public Education
A public education system is a system of education where it is run by one central government body (Reyneke, 2018). The body monitors how the school runs its funds and how students are being taught. Most nations have this kind of education system where the government monitors its operations. Having a public education system has both advantages and disadvantages; the advantages are quite a number and appealing to citizens who wish to have a centralized form of the education system to their children. Other than the appealing side of the public education system, it has a lot of issues coming with it. The following are some of the disadvantages of being in a public education system; Small classroom, bullying, poverty, funding, negative attitude and behavior of students, lack of parent involvement in school work, and poor student’s health.
The major issue in the public education system is the use of technology. Technology has really affected the public education system negatively. With the advanced technology in this 21st century, most students are more computer literate and more advanced in technology than their own teachers; this makes them a step ahead than their teachers (Budijarto; 2020). Technology is accessible to each and every student in a developed nation; this is from their cellphones, laptops, internet, and all the gadgets they access, which uses technology.
Technology affects the learning process in public education in various ways: First and foremost, technology has a huge cost in public schools; installing advanced technology requires a lot of money, which is not that readily available in public schools. This makes most public schools lack advanced technology, making learning not that interesting to students. The government should provide funding for schools to install advanced technology to reduce this cost in the school.
Time wastage is another effect of technology in public schools. Most students who use advanced technology tend to spend most of their time in this technology, making them not to focus a lot on their study (Budijarto; 2020). Some technology tends to take a lot of time to run; this wastes time during learning as learners wait for it to function. Such inconveniences are what makes teachers and learners not to embrace advanced technology. Software and hardware installed in school should be fast to avoid time wastage during learning.
The Source of distraction in school is also seen due to technology. Most students do not use their phones and laptops to learn rather engage in social communication. This diverts the main role of technologies in school, which was to aid in learning. Instead of learning, students respond to their chats and other social media messages, and this also distracts them if the gadget is available during learning. Public schools should ban phones and laptops during learning to avoid students from being distracted.
Technology has erased the passion for good handwriting. Pen and paper use is becoming extinct with years (Reyneke; 2018); most assignments in public schools are being done online, and good handwriting is not required. Not writing has made people lose their habit of writing, and research has proved that not writing has made people not to be fast thinkers. This issue can be solved if teachers will insist on some assignment to be done through handwriting, to ensure that the spirit of good handwriting is not lost.
Lastly, physical books are being displaced with ebooks (Budijarto; 2020). In as much as these ebooks are readily available on the internet, one has to read them through their laptop and phones, and this results in eye problems due to looking at the screens. This can be avoided as one can read through the screen protectors or wear glasses that protect the eyes.
To conclude, public schools face a lot of problems when handling their learners; due to these problems, the government should intervene so as to reduce the burden on them. Technology aids a lot in learning, it makes learning interesting, and teachers should incorporate advanced technology in their method of teaching so that they can captivate students.
REFERENCES
Reyneke, F., Fletcher, L., & Harding, A. (2018). The effect of technology-based interventions on the performance of first-year university statistics students. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(2), 231-242.
Budijarto, A. (2020). Effect of Technology Development on Social Change and Tech-Driven Fraud in Indonesia. Journal of Talent Development and Excellence, 12(1), 1618-1623.