Technology As An Issue Related To The American Education System (Research Paper Sample)

Student name Professor’s name Course Submission date Technology as an issue related to the American education system 1.0 Introduction Undeniably, the use of technology in education has all over the years gained momentum with different schools embracing and incorporating various technological advancements to their system so that they can facilitate teaching and learning processes. According to the Growiec 777-807, the use of technology in schools is an essential aspect. Today, public schools in America provide at least one computer to every five students. On the same note, the federal government has been at the forefront in ensuring that free online learning and teaching resources, as well as an affordable high-speed Internet, is readily accessible to learners and learning institutions located in remote areas. Notably, Kirkscey 17-33, state that the American government spends approximately $3 billion of its budget every year on digital content. That has brought commendable reforms in the American education system subsequently improved the learning process. In the 2015-2016 academic year, more states standardized tests for the middle and elementary grades were administered using technology as opposed to the pencil and pencil which were previously used. In light of this task, the research paper will primary focus discussing technology as an issue in the American education system. In this case, the article will elaborate how the use of technology is unevenly distributed. Also, the essay will illustrate how other technological factors such as resistance to change, change of learning priorities, inadequate network infrastructure, unreliable devices or network options and constant changes in technology have been issues in the U.S education system. 2.0 Technology gap The use of technology in the American education system began in earnest. It was characterized by massive support and widespread appreciation from teachers, learners and various stakeholders in the education sector. The adoption of computer technology is increasingly becoming a trend that is embraced by most learning institutions in the United States. Recent statistics indicate that 70% to 90% of schools in America have computers, more than half of the devices have been well equipped with CD-ROM drives, 85% have multimedia computers while 64% can access the internet (Kirkscey 17-33). Growiec 801- 805 argues that the use of technology in American education sector is a major issue because it is unevenly distributed. To illustrate, the supply of computers to elementary and secondary schools in the U. S depends on various factors such as their geographical location, parents’ level of income and racial composition of the student population within the schools. Evidently, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. As a result, the society has been divided into the moderate and high-income earners as well as the low-income minorities. Because of that, public schools that have a higher minority enrollment are likely to have limited access to computer technology as opposed to other learning institutions with low intake of students from humble family backgrounds. That has significantly affected equal distribution educational technology software and hardware in different schools in the United States. As a consequence, students from low-income earning families are not provided with networking, programming, and word processing computer skills. That will compromise their education, economic as well as their employment potential. On the other hand, students from wealthy families will have easy access to educational technology. They will use different applications to enhance their critical thinking skills, use internet and email presentations to improve their academic performance and general lifestyles. Similarly, America is a multinational country with immigrants from different parts of the world. Therefore, issuing out electronic devices such as laptops and computers based on race and ethnic background has been a major challenge in reaping maximum benefits from the use of technology. 3.0 Resistance to change Also, Sullivan 4-19 contends that the use of technology in the American education system is an issue because of the resistance and diverse views leveled against its adoption by the teachers, school administration and other stakeholders in the education sector. For instance, most educators claim that technological experimentation is not part of their job description. Therefore, they are not under any obligation to incorporate the use of technology into their teaching processes or even ensure that their students embrace it in a bid to improve their learning experience. Equally important, most teachers believe that implementing technology into the American education system will replace them in due time hence rendering them jobless (Sullivan 12). They are more concerned with their ability to effective after adopting the changes. That has raised fears hence making most of them to be hesitant in accepting those reforms. Additionally, learning institutions do not have the much needed skilled personnel to move teaching innovations into the mainstream practice so that the learning processes can be enhanced. Also, sometimes teachers may have a negative attitude as far as the effectiveness and success of implementing technology are concerned. Hence, they will be demotivated to spearhead technological changes. Unless teachers develop a positive attitude towards implementing technology in the education sector, all the efforts made will be futile. More importantly, teachers cannot implement educational technology on their own. They need support from the school administration as well as the relevant stakeholders in the education sector. However, lack of support through training hinders the process of incorporating technology into their daily activities (Sullivan 4-19).Often, teachers are left with no tools to successfully integrate the technological advancements into their teaching methods. Consequently, it means that the introduction of new technology in the education sector will be underutilized inhibiting the development of new processes which will increase student engagement. That discourages its adoption, experimentation, innovation and diffusion of new ideas thus making it be one of the issues experienced in the American education system. 4.0 Changing learning priorities The use of technology in the American education system is an issue that has made students change their learning priorities. In this case, students have shifted their concentration towards finding out where the information can be found rather than the facts about that particular concept. To illustrate, technology has provided various platforms such as Google where they can easily access all the information that they need to do their research or assignments. That has increased incidences of plagiarism. Notably, the primary purpose of learning is to equip students with the necessary knowledge so that they can be in a position to deal with particular challenges that they will face throughout their lives. However, overreliance on the internet due to technology has affected their aptitude to handle and efficiently address the problems experienced in the corporate world (Kirkscey 17-33). Besides, this constant stimulation from the internet has also changed the ability of learners to focus with their classwork. That is because they spend most of their time on different social media sites to interact with their friends or even play video games consequently affecting their time management skills, academic performance and ability to resist any form of impulsive conduct. Such behaviors have been highly associated with the increased dropout rates in the United States. Moreover, the use of video-based information sources instead of textual resources has resulted in deeper intellectual laziness amongst students. That has also hindered creativity amongst students. For that reason, technology is an issue in the American education system because learners have focused more on the internet for their research thus compromising the primary goal or objective of learning. 5.0 Inadequate network infrastructure According to Kretschmann 261-277 claims that more than 20% of the public schools in the United States have inadequate network infrastructure. In this case, these learning institutions do not have the facilities necessary for transmitting voice, video, and data in classrooms or within the administration areas. Further, Kretschmann 267 argue that out 99% of the schools with permanent buildings the U.S, 21% of them do not have sufficient network infrastructure. Here, the network systems meet the minimum conditions, but they are not reliable because they break down frequently or the available features are inadequate, and they do not meet the minimum requirements for the different learning institutions to incorporate technology into their operations effectively. It is also important to note that most schools with high student population have challenges in accessing adequate and dependable internet connection as opposed to learning institutions with a fewer number of students. Despite the benefits that arise as a result of using technology, the inadequate network infrastructure is an issue that is related to the American education system because it affects its effective implementation. 6.0 Unreliable device/software options American education system has gained more attention due to the increased demand from students, parents and teachers to have a more personalized, unique and flexible learning environment so that it can adequately meet their needs and preferences (Growiec 777-807). Nonetheless, the efforts have been affected by the unreliable devices or software options that are meant to ensure that educational technology is fully implemented. That has negatively affected the ability of American sc...