Technology Vs Classroom

Technology vs. Paper in the Classroom

In a society that is now dominated by technology, many schools and colleges are making their learning more technologically based. Whether it’s electronic homework or even online quizzes, some say this is a large innovation in the world we see today, but when it comes to education, does it help students in a classroom? There has been numerous debate around the topic, if technology is hurting students in schools or if it’s beneficial to them. Students are becoming increasingly dependent on using computers to write essays and to take notes, but does it work better than using paper? Yes, it is easier to type, but as learners we don’t get the full effect of the information that’s being given when we use these …show more content…
“Writing by hand is slower and more cumbersome than typing, and students cannot possibly write down every word in a lecture. Instead they listen, digest and summarize and essence of the information.” (May 2) Handwriting while note taking takes more cognitive skills meaning that the note taker gets more in return when they revisit their notes. When the students put their notes in his or her, own words making them more likely to remember the notes are being taken and given during lecture. Also, when students put their notes in their own words, they look back and get the full understanding because they put it in words that they understand. Also, more research shows that notes taken on a laptop are more just copied notes, they have more verbatim to them. If the students didn’t understand in class they won’t understand when they look back in their notes because it’s just copy of what the teacher said. “Content analysis consistently showed that students who used laptops had more verbatim transcription of the lecture material than those who wrote notes by hand.” (May 2) This further more backs up the point on why computers are bad for note taking. Some people may argue that using laptops are a lot easier because you can type faster as well as get most of everything that is said during the lecture, but if the studies say that it makes the notes …show more content…
We already touched base on how using computers during notes makes it easier for people to write it down, they might not get the full comprehension of the notes, but in this case, students that have Dyslexia may see some time of resolution with the spell check and as well as being able to write things down quicker. They can also go back and fix the mistakes that they made throughout the process of taking down notes and have time to go back and fix them. “They found that small screen hand-held devices facilitated an improvement in reading speed and comprehension in many of the students.” (Choski) Some may say that e-readers don’t provide the same feeling as a book and that’s why some students don’t get the same retention of it, but in this case, it helps a lot of students that suffer from Dyslexia. The authors of this study speculate that, “the shorter lines and less crowded text small e-readers helps reduce word fixation and reading regression.” (Choski)The studies showed that the words and perfection of the words and the way they were written was a big reason to why it worked so well for people that suffered from Dyslexia. Although it didn’t help with every student but even just helping with one student and making it easier for them in school, then that’s a positive. This may perhaps spark an idea in some companies of e-readers to make them more under