How Technology Can Change Education

     Technology is something that is amazing. Well, that's just my opinion and it kind of influences how I think technology can change education. If implemented correctly I think that technology will influence education in a positive way. Since everyone learns most effectively in different way, technology will be able to help pinpoint what way that is for each person and help them learn in the best way possible. Today, most people know how they learn the best, but it usually takes years and years of trial and error to narrow it down to around the best way they learn.
     While technology has been rapidly improving outside the classroom, technology inside the classroom has been slowly improving. Understandably so, because teachers and other educators don't know how to implement these amazing technologies as teaching tools. I have heard of and seen schools that are either so far behind in technology that their computers are 10 years old, or that have up to date (or fairly close) technology and not use it correctly. Both situations are almost equally as bad. Now enough on what the schools do with their technology.
     Technology can change education in a very positive way. For starters, in a general classroom setting, technology can help students learn the material in many ways. Through new and upcoming technology, the versatility of techniques that can be used for displaying the material that is being taught. For instance, one used to have to print out black and white overhead projector sheets or use blank sheets in order to show something on the wall. Now, most schools have projectors with computers plugged into them and they can show countless teaching materials. Along with the projector, there are "SMART" boards that students can write on, with electronic markers. The boards also allow them to interact with various objects to help them learn material. Recently, schools have even started buying iPads for students.
     As far as I'm concerned, technology, for schools, will bring more good than bad, but the bad still has to be addressed. As I said before, schools, and individuals, are buying iPads for school. Now that alone is not a bad thing. Nothing is much better than an old fashioned, paper, hardback textbook, well, I think. It is cheaper and better for the environment to purchase electronic books for iPad or computer but there are some aspects of a physical book that are better. There have been some studies about that, that have shown some preferences to physical books. (For example: http://lifehacker.com/5898644/read-a-physical-book-when-you-really-need-to-remember-something) Another possible downfall to an only technological future is that some people can't look at computer screens for long periods of time in order to get things done to learn from them or read a book off a screen.
     All of these technological materials, and more, are good and have helped some students learn, but they aren't the best. Future technology will, or at least should, be able to help everyone learn a little bit better. I envision technologies that are outside of our current reach but I hope we will be able to achieve them at some point. I look forward to the future technologies both outside and in education.