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Alexis Niemi

Professor Riley

ENG 1201

28 July 2019

Technology Impacts the Classroom Environment in a Positive Way

Technology has and always will be a very important aspect of my everyday life. I can

remember a time in elementary school where I was not able to use technology, and I was

learning in a traditional way. Once I made it to high school, my eyes were opened to a new way

of teaching and learning. This way of teaching was where me and every other student in the

school were given a laptop. When I was given this laptop I thought it was the most amazing

thing ever, but I never knew the essential life lessons I was going to gain by having this laptop by

my side throughout my high school career. I learned things like how to write on Microsoft Word,

how to compose a proper email to send to my teacher, and I even learned how to find solid

websites to write a well developed research paper. I was able to do some of my assignments

online making it possible for every student to be able to complete their work, even if they were

sick from school. Having this laptop helped prepare me for success far beyond the classroom

walls, and I gained the knowledge I needed to succeed in the future. I know I have experienced

the benefits of technology, and I know other students have had the same effect from technology.

The point of school is for students to learn and grow, and with technology being implemented in

the classroom students are able to achieve success in their learning endeavors. Technology

impacts the classroom environment in a positive way because it gets teachers more involved,
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prepares students for the future, helps students take more initiative in their learning, and makes

education more universal.

Technology has had a long history of being implemented in and out of the classroom. The

first programmable computer was created between the years of 1936 and 1938. It was created by

Konrad Zuse, he is German. While, the first portable computer, better known as a laptop, was not

created until 1975. It has been a process over the years to continue to develop the computer into

a more advanced version then the one before it. Technology was suddenly introduced into the

classroom starting with little amounts of technology in 1951, mostly just TV’s. From that point

on technology began to flourish causing students to benefit in an immense amount of ways

(​History of Computers in Education​). Now, let us look more into how teachers are responding to

this new innovative way of teaching.

In the article ​Teaching with Technology in 2018​, written by David Nagel, it focuses on

how teachers reveal through various surveys that technology is a positive aspect of learning in

the classroom. In the most recent survey, not one teacher felt as though technology only had a

negative impact on the learning environment. In another recent survey, only two percent of the

respondents expressed that technology made their job harder than it was before. Also, eighty

seven percent of the teachers surveyed expressed technology actually impacted their teaching in

a positive way. Teachers are noticing the major impact that technological devices, such as

laptops or ipads, are having on the learning environment for students (Nagel). With teachers

learning to accept this new innovative way of teaching it may be easy to explain a reason as to

why teachers could be feeling this type of way.

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In the article ​Here's How Technology Is Shaping the Future of Education​, written by Zoë

Bernard, it focuses on the idea that with this new transition of technology being implemented

into the schools teachers are going to be more beneficial than ever. Zoë describes what Brian

Greenberg, who is the CEO of Silicon Schools, said “​The real magic is in giving great educators

freedom and license into how school works” (Bernard). This means teachers are given the

chance to embrace technology with open arms, and come up with new creative ways to

incorporate it into their teaching. Technology in the schools helps teachers be able to monitor the

progress of their students, and through this teachers can see which of their students are

struggling. She focuses on a software program called DreamBox, which is a math program, and

through this program teachers receive actual data to show how their students are progressing in a

certain area of math. This gives teachers the opportunity to be able to figure out certain areas in

math where their students need the most help. She discusses what Tim Hudson, DreamBox’s

SVP of learning, said to Business Insider about how technology can only be successful if

teachers are on board with it. He states, “It's important that we listen to teachers and

administrators to determine the ways technology can assist them in the classroom” (Bernard). In

an academic journal called ​The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Students

Learning​, written by Kevin C. Costly, he talks about a study done by pre-service teachers who

began implementing technology in the classroom during their math lesson. The study showed the

positive effects that resulted from the pre-service teachers implementing technology in the math

lesson. The majority of the students said that they felt as though that using the technology helped

them to create a better understanding of the lesson that the teacher was teaching (Costly). This

shows that teachers embracing technology is now more important than ever. Teachers are just as
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important as the technology that is being implemented because teachers are the ones who are

required to implement technology into their classroom in the best way they possibly can.

Lastly, a great way to gain insight on the way teachers feel about technology is through

an interview I had with a middle school teacher. Her name is Elise Johnson, and she is a teacher

for Westerville School District. She teaches eighth grade science, and thinks technology is one of

the best resources to utilize in the classroom. She states, “I am able to use technology to get the

kids involved by showing them exciting videos about the topics we are discussing for a certain

week” (Johnson). She also discusses various other ways she uses technology in her classroom,

and states how her classroom would not be as efficient without technology. She explains how

technology is our future, and schools should be trying their best to figure out ways to implement

technology in an efficient but beneficial way for the students (Johnson). This is a perfect

example of how technology can be used correctly if the teachers are on board with it. Now, all

this being said about the benefits teachers get out of technology let us look into some of the

major benefits students will receive from technology being implemented into their classroom.
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The photograph above is showing the positive impact that technology can have in the

classroom. On the left side of the picture, it is black and white which gives off a dreary feeling to

the viewer because there is no technology. On the right side of the picture its portrayed as bright

and happy because the girl has a laptop, this is trying to give off a positive outlook on

technology. Also if you look at the details of the picture, the board in the background on the left

has old triangles and cubes, while the right side of the picture has graphs and charts which are

more modern. This is portraying how technology is preparing students for the real world and not

just regular old math problems (​EBSCO​).

Technology is helping students benefit in a positive way because students are gaining

knowledge that will be beneficial to them in the 21st century. We live in a day in an age where

technology, especially our phones, play such a vital role in our lives. I am always on my phone

whether I am calling up my friends to go do something, or emailing my boss about a question I

have. Technology has become such a vital part of my everyday life, and I gained this knowledge

through being given the opportunity of having technology throughout my educational career.

Elise Johnson, who is a middle school teacher, said “I was given a chance to have technology in

my learning environment, and it not only prepared me for college but it prepared me with the

knowledge necessary for my job” (Johnson).

Through implementing technology in schools students are given the knowledge

necessary to be successful in today’s society. Just like Kevin C. Costley, who wrote an academic

journal called ​The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Students Learning​, said

“technology is becoming such an integral part of our everyday world” (Costley). The point he is

trying to make is that students need technology in their educational lives to help prepare them for
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the real world. Most jobs, especially in today’s society, require their employees to have some

type of knowledge on how to use technology (Costley) . Technology is an important part of our

daily lives, and everyone knows all students are engaged in some forms of technology at school,

so blending technology in with students learning will greatly benefit them (Costley). Adding

forms of technology within the schools helps students over the years gain the knowledge

necessary to succeed beyond the classroom walls.

Lastly, Kevin dives deeper into the ideas that kids in today’s society are constantly

engaged in various forms of technology in their everyday lives. Living in the 21st century most

students are engaged in technology from a very young age at their own home, and as they grow

up they become more involved in the world of social media. According to Kevin, “These very

same students that are accustomed to these types of technologies will relate to using technology

at school” (Costley). The point is that students view a world filled with technology, and if they

see the world this way the should be able to view their own learning in the same exact way. Both

education and technology being one has the power to help students succeed in their educational

experience (Costley). Technology in the classroom leads to success outside the classroom, and

helps prepare students for the real world. From technology, students begin to gain the power to

be more in control of their own learning.

In the same article written by Zoë Bernard, its focuses a good amount about this idea that

students gain the privilege to take more of an initiative in their own learning experience. The

reason for this is because teachers, through the technology, now have the data to show the

progress of their students. This helps teachers identify where students skill levels are and be able

to group them with other students that are within a similar skill range. She again discusses
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Greenberg, and his ideas about this topic of students taking their own initiative. He states,

“​There's an increasing push for students to take more ownership and have more involvement into

how they learn,.. Creating agency in the classroom improves student's motivations” (Bernard).

Through technology, and through the grouping of students based on their skill level students are

more motivated to succeed in their own education (Bernard).

According to Kevin C. Costley, he talks a ton about this school in Iowa called Van Meter

Community school. This school in 2009 adopted the one-to-one laptop initiative for grades sixth

to twelfth grade. Through this new initiative in the school in Iowa students were able to be more

engulfed in their own learning experience. This means students were actually able, by using

these laptops, to help grow in their education by partaking in activities online that they were

actually interested in. He states, “They are using technology to interact and exchange ideas,

research independently, adapt to new situations, and take ownership over their own learning”

(Costley). Students throughout this school were given a gift by receiving this laptop, because

they were finally able to take part in learning activities that they actually enjoyed. Students were

given the chance to actually learn stuff that actually interested them (Costley).

As Elise Johsnon discussed with me in our interview, she loves being able to have

technology in the classroom because it gives her a chance to come to better understand how

students learn. She talks a lot about how if she comes to understand how students learn then she

is able to apply certain learning activities to individual students. By doing this she sees the

excitement in her students eyes, and sees them actually want to take an initiative in their own

learning. The students in her classroom are more excited to learn with technology because they

are learning things they want to learn. Elise says that the students in her classroom actually come
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to understand the lessons better when she incorporates technology into the lesson. She states “my

students are always more motivated to learn when I bring out the laptops “ (Johnson).

Technology also helps her hold her students accountable on assignments because sometimes she

will assign homework that requires technology use. According to her students are more

responsible in their educational experience when technology is involved. Technology creates a

learning environment for students that actually excites them (Johnson).

A huge benefit that can be received from technology is that it can now be made available

to students at any given time of the day. The article ​Use of Technology in Teaching and

Learning​, published by the U.S. Department of Education, focuses on the idea that by using

technology it is possible for education to be universal, meaning everyone no matter where you

are in the United States you will be capable of receiving an education. It discusses multiple

online schools that are a possibility for online public schools that can assist kids from

kindergarten to twelfth grade, or an online charter school that is for students ages ranging from

fourteen to twenty one. The case may vary based on individual students and their needs, but

online schools are becoming a very popular thing in today’s age. The main overall purpose for

this website is to promote education equality among all individuals within the United States. This

is showing how technology can be such a beneficial tool for students in the United States (​U.S.

Department of Education​).

A perfect example of education equality is going on at The Ohio State University.

Incoming freshman at Ohio State University are all apart of a program called “Digital Flagship”.

In this program, every freshman receives a brand new ipad air, apple pencil, apple keyboard and

case, at no personal cost. The purpose behind this program is to provide equal technology to the
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whole campus and also so teachers can teach on one platform. Another really great thing about

this program is that the ipads are free to the students. This eliminates the price barrier of

technology and gives everyone an ipad no matter your income or well being. Using this

technology will also prepare the students for the real world because the job market is changing

toward a technological workforce. If other schools follow in the footsteps of this program, it will

become easy to see how technology can have a very positive impact in the classroom (​The Ohio

State University​). Technology has numerous amounts of benefits, but it also can be a major

disservice to students to students if it is not implemented correctly into the schools.

Technology has many different positives that comes along with it, but there is one thing

that causes parents and teachers to doubt the positives and that is students can get easily

distracted with technology. Students can sometimes get easily distracted when an iPad or laptop

is in front of them. This causes teachers, parents, and school administrators to doubt the ability

technology can have on the classroom environment. For example, in a survey on Harvard

University's page, 92% of students reported using their phones to send text messages in class.

Also, 80% of students agree that having their phones decreases their ability to pay attention in

class (Harvard). While some of this may be true to an extent, it is because technology in the

classroom is not being utilized how it is supposed to be, which will be discussed further.

In the article ​Classroom Technology: How Educators Can Better Manage Learning

Tools​, written by Naimish Gohil, it focuses on how technology can be effective in the schools if

it is being implemented correctly. Technology can be a very useful tool in schools if the school

administration is going about implementing technology in the right way. The author gives a four

step process on how to implement technology correctly, and the steps are as follows: discuss a
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use case, define the purchasing process, training users, roll-out, and on-going maintenance.

Technology has a way of being such an amazing assets in the classroom, such as teaching kids to

read on tablets, it just has to be implemented in a correct way (Gohil).

In the article ​Matching Technology with Teachers to Improve and Accelerate

Learning​ , written by Thomas Tan, Ed.D., Joseph Calmer, Ed.D. and Ricardo Recinos, it focuses

on how technology is being implemented in a classroom, in the 21st century, has the ability to

lead students to success far beyond the classroom environment. The SAMR model, which was

created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, was created to help administrators monitor the progress of

learning with technology use. Technology has a way of helping students in education succeed,

but it's coming to understand how the tool should be used, such as laptops. This means the tool

can be useful in education if it is being used correctly. The goal is for teachers is to accept these

new innovations with open arms, and encourage students to embrace them as well. Technology

has the power to change the world, and that includes the education world as well (Tan).

In conclusion, technology plays a vital role in our everyday lives. For example, I used

nothing but my computer to complete this paper. Also, I am taking a class online which just

shows how universal technology is making education. Technology is only going to continue to

grow, and will begin to play an even more important role in our everyday lives. ​Technology

impacts the classroom environment in a positive way because it gets teachers more involved,

prepares students for the future, helps students take more initiative in their learning, and makes

education more universal. Without technology being implemented in my classroom I truly

believe that I would not have been as prepared for college, and my current jobs. I learned the

most basic, but necessary, things to help me in my future endeavors such as, sending an email or
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learning how to use Microsoft Word. Technology is the new tool to help students be more

successful in and out of the classroom.

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Works Cited

Bernard, Zoë. “Here's How Technology Is Shaping the Future of Education.” ​Business Insider​,

Business Insider, 27 Dec. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/how-technology-is-shaping

-the-future-of-education-2017-12#artificial-intelligence-is-poised-to-play-an-integral-role

-as-well-4.

Costley, Kevin C. “The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Student Learning.”

Online Submission​, 30 Oct. 2014, eric.ed.gov/?id=ED554557.

EBSCO Information Services, Inc. “Learning in the 21st Century: Technology in the

Classroom.” ​EBSCOpost Blog​,

www.ebsco.com/blog/article/learning-in-the-21st-century-tech nology-in-the-classroom..

Johnson, Elise. “Positive Effects of Technology on Education.”

Harvard, University. “Technology and Student Distraction.” ​Derek Bok Center, Harvard

University​, bokcenter.harvard.edu/technology-and-student-distraction.

History of Computers in Education​, web.csulb.edu/~murdock/histofcs.html.

Nagel, David. “Teaching with Technology in 2018.” THE Journal,

thejournal.com/articles/2018/07/11/teaching-with-technology-in-2018.aspx.

Tan, Thomas, et al. “Matching Technology with Teachers to Improve and Accelerate Learning.”

Sinclair College Off-Campus Authentication Form​ ,

eds-a-ebscohost-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=0868a55

b-0f16-4cf5-a908-40276c0c97f7@sdc-v-sessmgr01.

The Ohio State University. “Digital Flagship.” ​Digital Flagship​, 2 May 2019,

digitalflagship.osu.edu/about.
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U.S. Department of Education. “Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning.” ​Use of

Technology in Teaching and Learning | U.S. Department of Education,​

www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning..