In this fast paced world, we can’t think of spending our days without the use of some common technology. Even it has revolutionized the field of education to a great extent that almost every school and college struggle to adopt new technology in their system.
However, there are some teachers and administrative faculties who face a great many hurdles while taking initiative of education technology. Hence, they sometimes need a solely dedicated office to make them know the use of technology in the classrooms.
What is Technology in Education?
Increasingly, every institute is allowing the faculty as well as students to make the maximum use of technology. It is most likely that teachers are making charts to record students’ progress. In many classrooms across the world, students are allowed to get laptops, tablets, and some other devices for research, lessons, and projects. More often than usual, teachers also use SMART interactive boards with touch screens.
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The technology in education is encompassed with programs that are easily accessible with the use of internet. In such courses, teachers use several different ways to share homework assignments, projects, quizzes and other study material with students conveniently.
In recent years, the rapid use of technology has grown in the field of education. Teachers and students have started using devices like laptops in the classrooms much more commonly like never before.
Some Common Problems
When there is no doubt in technology’s integration in almost every aspect of our lives, why some classrooms should lag it. Therefore, we must discuss some of the great barriers to the adoption of technology in education.
1. Cost:
It is least surprising that cost tends to be the largest obstacle in adopting educational technology. And most importantly, when the odds are good for the cutting end technology to become outmode in a matter of years, budget-restricted schools get cautious to make such investments.
Additionally, it gets a lot more problematic for schools with BYOD policies. Because the students have to bring their own devices, the problem may arise that the teacher’s online material will not work on some devices. Ultimately, such underfunding of schools may exacerbates cost problems.
2. Lack of Training:
Tech training plays a vital role in making teachers familiar to all new education technologies. Since many teachers are not digital natives – they didn’t grow up with technology like students who have it most of the times at their fingertips these days. Hence, they have a steep learning curve when it comes to new technology.
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In this regard, schools must invest money as well as time in training teachers to take initiative with education technology. Since they don’t receive any proper training in order to harness new technologies, they are unable to make positive results.
3. Resistance to adopt New Technologies
After lack of training, lack of familiarity with new tech tools is another big issue. Many teachers are cautious of adopting new tools in the classroom, most likely when there is no support from the end of school or department. In addition, when parents think that their kids are inundated with technology, it also results in resistance of adopting new technologies.
4. Insufficient Infrastructure
It is observed that even if schools widen their budgets, there is still a barrier encountered in the adoption of technology in education. Many schools lack network infrastructure as well as internet access that is needed to support education technology. Some surveys reported that more than 16% of the teachers don’t get access to the internet for students in majority areas.
When so many education technologies depend on the internet to access many programs and systems, insufficient infrastructure results as a significant hindrance in the adoption of educational technology.
5. Support is not equal for all
Unfortunately, students who can’t afford adopting education technology left unprivileged as they don’t have any access to technology at home. It is the fact that put them at a great disadvantage in the classroom and they remain less familiar with the tools as compared to the peers. They are even at a bigger loss when it comes to BYOD policy. There are times when students need to use such technology outside of the classroom as well; they feel embarrassed of not bringing this issue up with the professors.
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Conclusion:
These are just a few barriers in the adoption of technology in education. If these are overcome, teachers may scale back on using technology neither inside nor outside the classroom.
Besides these barriers, technology is an unrivaled way to benefit the field of education. Teachers can help students with a lot of things by delivering lectures strategically. Hence, technology changes quickly with the passing time, there are a lot of educators who use it for significantly mutual benefits only.
- 5 Biggest Barriers to the Use of Technology in Education - July 7, 2017