21st Century Learning: What Does It Mean For Students?

Discussion one 

Technology development in the 21 st century has changed the education sector for the better as students can access learning materials more efficiently than ever before. According to the author, research indicates that the use of technology has made the learning process efficient as the students have all the resources they need online. Unlike before where students spent a lot of time in the library searching for information in books which is a tedious exercise but with technology this has changed as the internet has simplified the learning process. Research depicts all the positive impacts that technology has on learners and how learners have benefited from technology. Technology has changed a lot regarding information access and thus is the reason why researcher believes that today’s learners are on a different level and they tend to conflict with the old learning system (Liu & Cesar, 2014). Through technology, learners obtain knowledge through various platforms not only through books, but they tend to gain knowledge from social media. 

The trend in learner’s use of technology compare with my observation since this is evident from the way technology has changed the learning process. Things are no longer the same as research is done online and there are millions of websites which have explicitly provide knowledge to learners in various fields. One does not have to visit the library, but he/she can pull all the information from the library database through a laptop or a smartphone. This is an experience that has made the learning process simple and effective. Despite the fact that other authors argue that technology has made leaners “lazy” in the sense that students don’t struggle to search for knowledge as Google provides all the information that they need which is not recommended to learners (Thompson, 2012). The change in technology is likely to cultivate the culture of laziness among students as they will turn to be incompetent as they lack the content that one obtains while reading and technology will change the reading culture among students. 

References  

Liu, M., & Cesar, N. (2014). Potentials of Mobile Technology for K-12 Education: An Investigation of iPod touch Use for English Language Learners in the United States. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 17(2): 115-126. 

Thompson, P. (2012). The Popular Profile of the Digital Learner : Technology Use Patterns and Approaches to Learning . ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University. 164 pp.