In a typical school day, students find themselves wishing for the chance to look up something online – an answer to their homework or simply some fact they weren't sure about. They wish they could use computers to take notes instead of pen and paper. They would rather record a lecture than try to listen to it while scrambling to take notes or retain what's being spoken.

The use of technology as an aid has proven to be effective in our lives. From a student's point of view, it's simply easier and faster to type out notes, or play back a lecture I've been given that day instead of trying to recall all of the facts and figures during lecture when I was trying to keep up with writing my notes. It makes things simpler and gives us more time to actually comprehend and ask questions instead of spending the majority of our time recalling information.

In the classroom, technology is usually available at a teacher's disposal. In most classes, there are interactive whiteboards, computers, projectors... the list goes on. These alone help us learn far more than we would have previously been able to, and at a much quicker rate. Notes can be printed out and handed to students, instead of having to take the time for each and every student to copy them down. And via the use of the internet, we're given the chance to further our knowledge by looking up the unknown answers to questions we might not have been able to answer otherwise.

A popular argument might be the distractions that technology might provide, but many disagree. The use of technology in the classroom not only helps us learn, but also prepares us for the real world. A well known fact is that nearly every business now revolves around technology –computers, cell phones, tablets, or other forms of technology. Without basic knowledge of how to use various machines that students will likely encounter in their real-world jobs, have we really learned anything useful? The idea of high school is to learn and prepare ourselves for college and the real world. If that is the case, we need to be learning how to operate technology and use it to our advantage.

Overall, technology has been proven to be an aid in the classroom, even if most teachers don't realize it. Most of them take for granted the fact they use it in their day-to-day lives, and don't realize how much it helps aid us as students. After all, if we're going to learn, we may as well learn in a way that teaches us as much as possible, and in this day and age, that is with technology. Be it because it makes learning more simple or simply gives us more time to understand, the simple fact is that classroom technology is the answer.

Source:
Study: Emerging Technology Has Positive Impact in Classroom
http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/07/14/study-emerging-technology-has-positive-impact-in-classroom?page=1

Written by: Kasey, 10th grade