CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Findings
Tolga, in his research on the positive effects and adverse effects of technology, he illustrated the issues from various respondents who were interviewed. The aspect of digital technology does not only affect the students, and it has an impact on the learning institutions in general. The rate of accessibility to digital technology is significant to the students. Hence in a situation where digital technology, for instance, the use of the computer, may end up affecting the general performance of a learning institution and the students. Through the Poor research response of the teachers to digital technology usually limits the success of digital technology to the learning institutions. Some teachers have a negative attitude to digital technology, thus making the use of digital technology inefficient in some of the areas. These findings aim to illustrate how the teachers, the students, and parents react to digital technology. To be able to analyze the findings of the research then it is prudent enough to subdivide the impact into teachers, students, and learning institutions
3.1 Teachers’ perception of digital technology in the education sector.
3.1.1 Access
The main challenge that usually limits the teachers to digital technology is the level of accessibility. In some situations, teachers cannot be able to adopt well-made smartphones and laptops to teach the students adequately. Some of the primary schools have very few computers or in some instances, just one computer that is to be used for learning purposes. There are some contradictions on digital technology since different individuals have a different perspective. In some areas, Access to electricity is not easy hence making it a challenge in the delivery of information to the children. The teachers do not have the required amount of skills to be able to teach the children on the syllabus that is required. This makes it difficult for the students to be able to work by themselves on the computer.
This kind of limitation to the equipment of digital technology makes it challenging to teach the children. The children find it challenging to grasp the required content. This may make it a challenge for children who are in some areas which do not have good Access to the use of technology. Secondary data was able to raise this concern of limitation to accessing the digital equipment. There were more suggestions that the government should consider increasing the learning equipment in the learning institutions. When it comes to getting Access to the required, disks that can be used to learn it differs from one institution to another. Some institutions get easy Access to the learning materials, results from interviews show that some teachers do not know where they can be able to get the learning materials to be used in the classes. This may sometimes hinder the quality of learning materials obtained as some of the teachers claimed during the research.
3.1.2 Ability and further training.
The knowledge of the teachers in teaching is critical as far as learning is concerned. The teachers lack decisive knowledge of digital technology. This hinders the delivery of the information to the students during the process of learning. The skills of a teacher are the critical determinants if whether the learning activities through the use of digital technology will be successful, or it may end up failing in the long run. There is a sharp division among teachers on whether they have enough skills or would they need more training skills in the future. The majority of the old teachers feel that the young teachers are the ones who are, ore effective in the move to adopt the technological changes. This is true since the young teachers have great sources to be able to obtain information about digital teaching. Most of the teachers who are of old age claim that it usually becomes very strenuous for them to adapt to the technological changes that have been brought. They also face challenges of introduction to the new system of learning.
One of the challenges that would make it difficult for the process of digital technology among the teachers to take place is the lack of proper selective training programs for every individual. According to the majority of the sources; that is journals and articles, is clear to note that there are further leaning programs that have been initiated to ensure that the teachers can get appropriate skills that can help in properly teaching the students. This is also aimed to help the teachers to be able to adopt the digital technology that is involved. Results also indicate that there is a variety of courses that can be offered to the teachers to equip them with the skills that are required.
3.1.3 The attitude towards digital technology
Through the research, we were able to realize that there is constant pressure from the government that all the teachers should be able to fully make use of digital technology by using it to teach the students. Through the research, it was clear enough that some teachers are not usually interested in the use of digital technology to teach the students. Some of the teachers have a negative attitude towards digital technology; hence they do not, in most cases, take a key consideration in it. The poor attitude towards digital technology poses a significant challenge when it comes to the act of initiating digital education to the individuals, for instance, the teachers. Some of the teachers usually view the use of digital technology as a complicated technical thing, and this makes some of the teachers to end up losing interest when trying to study and be able to understand the concepts. The research also shows that some of the teachers of a young age are frequently interested to know more about digital technology and how it can be efficiently used to the students. The attitude usually matters in the success of any initiative.
3.1.4 Change caused by digital technology.
The introduction of digital technology in the United Kingdom led to the emergence of change in the administration and communication facilities of the learning institutions. Despite the fact, the use of digital technology has, in a significant way, assisted in making some things more straightforward, it has also complicated some things. Some of the negative implications that have occurred include an increase in the cost of operation. This is because money is needed to be able to purchase digital gadgets, for instance, computers and tablets. To some individuals, it was much easy in the move to try to use the computer to store the office information easily. To other individuals, it is a challenge in the move to using the computer to store the relevant document information. In some situations, it causes chaos when it comes to making updates of documents to the computer system.
The level of success of the use of digital technology can be obtained by ensuring that all the necessary factors have been taken into critical consideration. When it comes to teaching the majority of the teachers to claim it is true that most of the teaching has been made more comfortable and more familiar. The teachers’ skills and experience are the essential components that usually facilitate the effectiveness of online teaching through the use of digital technology.
3.2. What perception do the teachers have on how digital technology influences the students?
Through taking a keen look at some of the literature-based articles, for instance, the journals, publications, and the internet websites we were able to realize the digital technology have a significant impact on the lives of the students. Digital technology has caused a change in how students usually do their studies. The students do not write notes; hence they make use of the laptops to read some of the soft copy notes that are entailed. This is a definite implication that the students do not strain; they can be able to study at any time. During the research on some of the schools located in the united kingdom, it came out clear that most of the students claimed that they are much overwhelmed by the use of digital technology to be able to carry out their studies. For the students, the act of learning had become very much straightforward, unlike before, where there was not any access to the computers and the laptops for the information.
3.2.1 Access
The levels of technology may vary among the students. The cause of this kind of variation is on the fact that the students come from different types of backgrounds hence making it difficult for them to be able to have the same amount of information. The students who have complete Access to technology usually tend to benefit more than the students whose Access to technology is limited. The physical interaction of the students and the teachers have been hindered. This is on the fact that in some instances, it is difficult for the teacher to be able to analyze the performance of the students. This is one of the main challenges of digital technology on individuals. A gap has developed among the students in terms of knowledge due to the difference in the gadgets of conveying digital information.
3.2.2 Ability
The ability to operate computers and the use of laptops is high among the students. The students are highly proficient. The younger the students, the faster they are when it comes to learning how to be able to operate the electronic digital gadgets. The children do not experience any challenge when engaging in the act of operating computers. The students who have Access 24hr to the computers will be more proficient in operating the computers as compared to the students who have got limited Access to computers and laptops.
- 2.3 Influence of digital technology on the students
Results show that research carried on some of the teachers of primary education is prudent enough to be able to realize that the digital technology has played a significant role in the general performance of the students in the class. The students have got Access to a wide variety of information. This can ensure that students can thrive well. From the assessment of some empirical review written by great authors, it is clear that information technology has gradually led to a reduction of the contact that should exist between a teacher and the student. The teacher may use it challenging to realize the problem or the challenge that the student is passing through. This may sometime make the students growing in a manner that he or she has weaknesses. The use of digital technology even though it has brought a lot of advantages, it has got some negative implications in that some student’s early exposure to watching pornographic content. This has led to society becoming immoral in some situations.
The students in some incidences usually end up lacking some important aspects of relating to other children in the long run. This is because the children are engrossed in the computer, no time to play with other children. This is a challenge in the growth of the children. The impact of social media on the children may be severe, thus affecting the habits of the children. From the research from the parents and the children, we realized that through digital technology, a lot of children have experienced cyberbullying. Some of the students have been harassed. This lowers the self-esteem of the students.