Maria Vernon The Composing Process Draft- 20/06/12 The Impact of Technology on Students Technology has been a slowly

growing standard in society that has impacted the lives of many in society and has changed several factors in the education system. The technological era has now encompassed our daily lives in a fundamental way that has caused changes in communication, learning, and interaction among individuals. The expenditure of schools to adapt to these new global standards has created a new field to be explored and assimilated in the lives of individuals, especially students, who easily adapt to the demands of these structures. Such items as computers, networks, printers, scanners, projectors, and internet connections have been predominant in expenditures for schools. Johnson classifies that there are three uses of technology in the classroom and these include, professional productivity, automating instruction, and for an information processing and productivity tool used in schools. The benefits of these tools are a cause for analysis in the classroom and for teachers and administrators. Technology in the classroom is adequately used as a productivity tool for students and teachers to research information and to be able to use these advancements to share information and learn accordingly. The use of technology aids students, teachers, and administrators in several forms such as being creative, reading materials related to their present topic, and utilizing different resources in studying and preparing for examinations. For administrators there is also the aspect of record keeping for students in the school, the curriculum, and for teachers it facilitates planning lesson, maintaining grading records, and in communicating with the faculty members. Technology has impacted the attitudes and behaviours and students in a form that has accelerated or decreased their learning capabilities in the classroom. The dependency or lack of use on technology also influences students to be affected by this aspect at their school. Therefore there must be a precise control over students when they are using technology by both teachers and parents as this will help maintain a balance for them. The expectation of teachers has expanded to include technology in assessments, projects, and assignments given to students. The effectiveness and efficiency of students and teachers using technology will be projected into the success of the lesson and grasp of the lessons being taught using these tools. The automating use of technology in the classroom is expanded as specific programs are used by students for learning and utilizing their skills while using these tools within the classroom to

enhance their learning. Software that is used on computers are helpful in creating an ease of access for students to use these programs to research or use as study tools and is especially useful for visual, and tactile learners. The demand of technology has been met in urban schools but is neglected in rural schools due to lack of funds. This issue creates problems as those with technology have a certain advantage while the rural schools are behind with this development. The negative effects of excessive usage o technology by students have created new problems for students and teachers. Arsing issues that affect students and teachers is the excessive use of these tools by students and their dependency that creates a lack of concentration The adaptation to a global society has influenced maintenance in the adaptation of technology within classrooms. First it requires a good deal more investment in time and effort on the part of teachers in learning how to use it and this is necessary for students to learn properly and not with misguided information. There also needs to be a sufficient availability for all students to use these tools especially if they dont have these tools at home. It means being able to determine if the use of technology is making our children better citizens, better consumers, better communicators, better thinkers - better people.

References Johnson D. (1996). Evaluating the impact of technology: the less simple answer. The Educational Technology Journal, 5 (5), 1. http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/tiol.html. Technologys imact on learning. (1995) Department of Education http://www.churchleaders.com/youth/youth-culture-trends/150994-the-impact-of-technology-onteenagers.html?p=2. The impact of technology on teenagers. Jonathan McKee