Al Fahdi 1

Al Salt Al Fahdi

Professor Alexandra Soya

Com 1101-15

26 April 2017

Using Technology in Education

Education is one of the most important fields through history, and its

importance has increased significantly in the last years. This caused the

methods are being used in classrooms change depending on the tools and

scientific researches available. The modern method to teach is by using

technology, where technology has solved many problems that we had

before. In addition, people have become more fascinated and interested in

technology. Using technology in classrooms has a positive effect on motivation and academic

performance if applied using practical platforms like Mobile devices and Smart Boards.

The mental health of students and their attitude towards a certain

subject plays a big role in their grade. A lot of teachers find it difficult to

motivate the students to study hard and do their best. Where technology

comes to solve this problem. The new generation is fascinated about using

technology, so involving technology in the education system will make the

student excited to learn the topic. Ozerbas and Erdogan conducted a study on this topic

and found that learning methods that are based on technology are more

attractive visually and auditory (209). Grabbing the students full attention is

important, but this cant be achieved if the teacher is using an old-fashioned

strategy. The students will feel bored and unwilling to learn the topic because
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it is off their attention. Technology, on the other hand, can be used to teach

topics using videos, animation, or games. In addition, using this method

gives a space for creativity for teachers and students which will make them

more knowledgeable about the topic as Estapa and Nadolny say (41). The

same researchers, Estapa and Nadolny, used augmented reality to measure

the motivation of the students towards learning, students showed an

increased interest to use this method in learning. This interest is because

technology which made the topic easy to learn (46).

Introducing technology in classrooms makes a big difference in

achievement and the academic success. Technology is known for being easy

to use, so the teachers can use this to their advantage to increase the

understandability of the material. For example, instead of teaching a topic in

the traditional way, teachers can use software or media. This will not only

save effort, but it will also save time. Time is one of the most important

factors the teacher must consider when distributing the curriculum over the

semester. What the teacher normally worries about is how much time he or

she has to teach the subject to the students. Using technology makes

lessons more effective and productive. Moreover, if productivity increases,

then the academic results will increase, and that is what the teacher is

aiming for, academic success. An academic study was conducted by Ozerbas

and Erdogan in Turkey showed that digital classrooms have and a higher academic record than

other non-digital classrooms. The previous result has been concluded after testing two groups

with pre-test and a post-test. Group A were taught the topic using the traditional method, and
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group B were taught using technology. Both groups were given pre-test to measure how much

the students know about the topic. After the lesson, both groups were given post-test to evaluate

the difference in understanding of the taught material. Group B showed an increase in

understanding more than group A (209).

The first method is using mobile devices. Nowadays, this platform is

widespread around the world because of the increase of internet usage.

Peoples adoption of the new technology depends very much on the

usefulness, ease of use, and cost which can be found in mobile devices. The

institutions that have adopted the new technology applications have proven

that they are good tools to spread knowledge (Marta and Gargant 21).

Marta and Gargant proved that learning using mobile devices in classrooms

motivates students. After experimenting a technology-based method,

students were happy to express their excitement about the experience when

they were given a questionnaire to identify their attitude towards the new

method. In addition, mobile learning can be useful to share knowledge and

achieve the course goals. Many teachers of primary schools emphasize the

idea that mobile technology impacted positively in classrooms. This (22).

A good example of a practical method using mobile devices was tested

in a study where researchers used an iPhone mobile game to teach the water

cycle to a primary school students. This game uses augmented reality where

the student could interact with the game by tilting the mobile device. The

learning content had been extracted from the course book. First, the game

introduces itself to the student using a video. Then, the first mini-game
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asked the student to form water drops using three atoms: two hydrogen

atoms and one oxygen atom where they have to select the types of atoms.

Once the drops formed, the next mini-game is collecting 20 suns which were

needed for the evaporation process to make a cloud. After collecting the

suns, the student had needed to place the formed cloud on top of a

mountain peak by tilting the device. The last stage is precipitation.

Thermometers are shown on the screen where the student picked the one

with the lowest temperature to help to condense the cloud and eventually

make precipitation (D. Furi et al. 192-193).

After the lesson, using a post-test, researchers were able to draw a

conclusion that children are able to remember information that is given in

the game more easily. Even though, there was no major difference between

the traditional and the mobile-based learning in the overall academic

performance in this study, children showed positive answers when asked if

they want to use the same method to learn other subjects (D. Furi et al.

199).

Another method is using Smart Boards to teach students. Smart

Boards give teachers and students a new way of teaching topics and

subjects like images, animations, and videos. Learning is more effective

using these features where students are motivated to be interactive in the

classroom when content is displayed on the smart board (Preston and

Mowbray 51).
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Campbell and Mechling conducted research to find the effectiveness of

using smart boards in teaching students with learning difficulties. Three

kindergarten children were involved in this study where the goal was to

teach these children the sounds of 26 letters and 52 letters names by

presenting both upper and lower cases letters. The researchers used a smart

board which the student can interact with using the touch-sensitive surface.

The images of letters were displayed by a projector that was connected to a

computer which the smart board was also connected to (49).

To teach the names of the letters, three letters are displayed on the

middle of the board and the program asks the student, for example Touch

B After the student touches the guessed letter, he or she touches an arrow

that is displayed in the board to take him or her to the next slide which will

display the correct letter and the sound of it (Campbell and Mechling 49).

The measurement technique was by counting the number of attempts until

the student can identify the name and the sound of the letter correctly. The

results of this experiment came up supportive of the method used where

each student showed a gain in learning after each session. In addition,

students were asked after the lesson if they were having fun. The answers

were positive also (Campbell and Mechling 55).

In conclusion, technology improves the students academic

performance where it creates an interesting environment. This increases the

motivation towards learning which will make the learning process easy to

control and to assess by the decision makers. Every method has its own
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advantage where the teacher should think of what is the best digital-based

approach that suits the subject.

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Works Cited

Campbell, Monica L., and Linda C. Mechling. "Small Group Computer-Assisted Instruction with

SMART Board Technology: An Investigation of Observational and Incidental Learning of

Nontarget Information." Remedial and Special Education: RASE; Austin 30.1 (2009): 47-

57. Web. Mar 21, 2017.

Domingo, Marta Gmez, and Antoni Badia Gargant. "Exploring the use of Educational

Technology in Primary Education: Teachers' Perception of Mobile Technology Learning

Impacts and Applications' use in the Classroom." Computers in Human Behavior 56 (2016):

21-8. Web. Mar 22, 2017.

Estapa, Anne, and Larysa Nadolny. "The Effect of an Augmented Reality Enhanced Mathematics

Lesson on Student Achievement and Motivation." Journal of STEM Education : Innovations

and Research; Auburn 16.3 (2015): 40-8. Web. Apr 12, 2017.

Furi, D., et al. "Mobile Learning Vs. Traditional Classroom Lessons: A Comparative Study."

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 31.3 (2015): 189-201. Web. Mar 22, 2017.

Ozerbas, Mehmet Arif, and Bilge Has Erdogan. "The Effect of the Digital Classroom on

Academic Success and Online Technologies Self-Efficacy." Journal of Educational

Technology & Society; Palmerston North 19.4 (2016): 203-12. Web. Apr 13, 2017.

Preston, Chris, and Lee Mowbray. "Use of SMART Boards for Teaching, Learning and

Assessment in Kindergarten Science." Teaching Science; Deakin 54.2 (2008): 50-3. Web.

Apr 6, 2017.
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Varma, Keisha, and Marcia C. Linn. "Using Interactive Technology to Support Students

Understanding of the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming." Journal of Science

Education and Technology 21.4 (2012): 453-64. Web. Mar 22, 2017.