We've seen a drastic evolution toward the use of technology in the corporate world – but have you wondered how it is affecting the educational world – for our children?  The data clearly shows that e-learning, mobile training and the use of social media have positive effects on the business world in areas of real-time collaboration, accessibility, engagement, and communication.  Can these tools be useful for the K-12 audience?  If yes, how so?

According to an Education Study in U.S. News, educators feel positively toward the use of technology in their classrooms.  One major trend is teachers uploading video tutorials onto iTunes, assigning the video lectures as homework – then utilizing class time to review the lecture and solve problems in a collaborative setting.   Another trend is implementing a completely digitized school library.  This way, students can access research materials any time, in any place – as opposed to the traditional method of finding materials ONLY in the physical library.  

Even social media is playing a role inside and outside the classroom.  According to teAchology, an online teacher resource center, “All students these days know how to use a computer and the internet, and most of them are using social media networks to share their thoughts and to support each other. Educators these days know how to harness the power of the internet and social media to get in touch with their students, and hear their thoughts.”

Despite the positive responses to technology in our educational system, there are opinions that oppose this trend.  Kristen House, a former instructor at Belmont University and founder of A Novel Idea, a novel-writing workshop for middle school and high school students, believes that any school with a limited budget should be spending the money on training teachers.  She claims, "A great teacher can do more for a student than any amount of money or technology you can throw at it," she notes. "Gadgets go out of date and humans do not. We only get better with age and with teaching and our gadgets all break down."

What do you think about technology in the classroom?  Does the good outweigh the bad?  Is the transformation inevitable in today's society?

Please share your thoughts!