Embracing Technology in Education

In the little schoolhouse painted red that lies in the depth of America, children craving to acquire education sit in rows. These children wait eagerly for what the wise teacher writing on the blackboard has to offer them for that particular day. A clear indication that the teacher is indeed wise is illustrated by the shiny apples that she offers the children as an appreciation for their respect and gratitude.

American education however, displays a very different setting from the one mentioned above. The classrooms, beige in color are filled with texters and passers who never concentrate and often make the teacher to struggle to pass information to the students. In this kind of a set up, the bright students are often bored while those slow to understand are left behind. There is great anxiety concerning standardized testing and results to low scores. According to National surveys, the education quality in America has been doubted by most parents and it has been proven that their doubts have a good basis since the test results confirm this openly.

It is however on the contrary that most parents speak well of their children’s teachers and in the process tend to support their own representatives despite the fact that most Americans are in disapproval of the congressional monkeyshines (Ward, 2010). If persons were asked how they experienced their school days, most of them would definitely display mixed feelings on the issue. One thing would stand out is the relationship that existed between them and their teacher. This thus brings out the reason why parents and more so politicians get worried when a kid tends to be more attached to a computer than a teacher.

Since we have had the opportunities to try all the other modes of education, it is worth making a try of online education. Through the influence of Arne Duncan the Education Secretary, experienced government officials have made a vow to make a change in the education sector. It is evident that the reforms offered by most of the federal race placed at the top with regards to funds, bring minor changes to the status quo instead of giving encouragement to innovative education. The development of post-secondary education has taken over 10 years and has cost $500 million as a result of the efforts of Duncan since it has thrived without federal assistance. This achievement however has succeeded 15 years late than planned and a bit expensive than it had been budgeted.

There has been notable change of lifestyle since the inception of the internet mid 1990’s. Amazon and eBay for instance have brought significant improvement in shopping, Google has made information finding very easy, and Facebook has helped keep our friends closure while iTunes has brought a positive impact in our consumption of music. It is rather unfortunate that even with the significant change in technology; kids remain glued in analogue schools (Ward, 2010). Perhaps the existence of teachers unions is the major reason for upholding the traditional classrooms where teachers supervise the children.

Although technology has improved a great deal, children are still learning on blackboards and books. It would be proper if they were to learn the same way they acquire information online. The very first step to initiate change is putting reading materials as well as lecture notes online. This situation can allude to the olden day’s movies where filmmakers shot stage plays and with this regard kids are still watching such kinds of films while the 3-D versions are readily available. It turns out to be very difficult to understand why an English teacher would struggle as the old Shakespeare’s day to tech a class while YouTube can offer so much on theater arts and film technology such as Elizabeth Theater and Kennedy Center Arts Edge site.

Bill Gates listed that online education in the U.SA is among his first priority in his foundation’s annual letters and with this regard endowed $33 billion. Bill Gates aimed at initiating reforms in education and pointed out that it is very essential to implement interactive forums where students can be assessed for what they know and what they do not know.

There is great need of developing mechanisms where teachers can be able to comfortably gauge the number of students who have grasped the concepts taught as well as devising ways of assisting those who have not. Online education has proven its worth due tot the fact that virtual charter schools are already operating in various states. A good example is the Florida Virtual School which offers online classes to its students particularly those enrolled in state system. Teachers are apparently available for any consultations from the students from 8 a.m to 8p.m through phone or e-mail. It is only when it becomes clear that all the students have understood the concept that the state cuts a funding check. This ensures very remarkable performance for the kids who enroll in this institution.

In Clayton Christensen book, "Disrupting Class," it is estimated that by the year 2019 most of the high schools in the United States will consume education over the internet. This will however take a lot of efforts if at all is to be achieved since only seventeen percent of the students in high school took an online course last year for school while twelve percent took it for self study. Most of these students are signing up for virtual schools that are in line with the state system although majority of them can be considered to have acquired the information via homeschooling system.

It is thus clear that online education is the best remedy for reshaping the education system. Embracing new technology in the education sector would ensure the delivery of quality education and leave no single student without the complete concept of what is taught. Online system can also be set up to ensure more and better supervision than any other learning system. Initiating change in our education system thus proves to the right answer for the improvement of the education system.