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3.1.1 Technology in the Classroom
Since the invention of the computer technology has slowly grown in importance to American education. With the advancements involved with personal computers comes a huge opportunity for the educational institutions of America. There are few, if any, areas of society that are not affected to some extent by technology. An American youth now can't even work in a fast food chain without being exposed to computer technologies. With this being the case it becomes increasingly important to increase the amount of technology available to our school age children, as well as utilize the technology which is available to its fullest potential.
This, of course,
begs the question: What is technology? According to Webster's New World
Dictionary, technology is 1) the science or
study of the practical or industrial arts, applied sciences, etc, and
2) applied science. This is an extremely important point because it shows
that technology encompasses areas more diverse than computers. If technology
can be seen as the application of the sciences on our everyday life, then
we can begin to see technology all around us. At one time the main instrument
for writing was the feather pen dipped in ink. Through the application
of the sciences the pencil was invented, and further along came the ballpoint
pen. This is eye opening, because it means that at one time the pencil
was cutting edge technology. That is something that very few people can
imagine. Few people see the pencil as technology.
This pencil analogy
also serves to prove another important point. Eventually cutting edge
technology becomes an everyday utensil.
Fifteen years ago very few people had VCRs or Microwaves. Now it is difficult
to find anyone who doesn't have one, the other or both. This is mostly
due to the fact that the price of these devices has decreased dramatically
from when they were introduced, but it also is caused by the usefulness
of these devices. A similar process is beginning to happen to home computers
and the Internet. The price of computers and the Internet is beginning
to drop into a reasonable range for truly mass appeal.
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Are computers the only example of technology in the world around us? |
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No Question |
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