Educational technology ensures that learning is effective, with better retention, and is available at an affordable price. It operates under various social, cultural, and ideological environments. Understanding these environments is an essential step toward ensuring that educational technology operates under the ideal circumstances for the best results. Here is a look at the socio-cultural and ideological aspects of EdTech.
Educational Technology in Organizational Sociology
Various institutions have unique organizational structures to guide daily interactions and facilitate learning. Sociology refers to how people interact with each other and how these interactions affect the individual. A school’s daily organization provides a basis for students, teachers, and parents to interact and achieve educational goals. By looking at how schools organize classes and learning, we can determine the effectiveness of various technological developments for the overall learning experience.
Modification of Communication
Traditional learning has mainly centered on a passive mode of conveyance, where the institution sends communication while the student’s role is to receive this communication and take the necessary action. There has been a paradigm shift with EdTech to ensure students participate actively in communication within learning institutions. Modification in communication aims to provide sufficient and effective communication channels between stakeholders. Providing a feedback channel is one way to promote mutual understanding and limit misunderstanding.
Deeper Cultural Understanding
Cultural background is important in shaping student personality and belief systems. With various interaction tools, learners and instructors from different backgrounds can collaborate and achieve success. Educational technology is an essential tool for the promotion of harmony between students.
Knocking Down of Physical Territories
Thanks to technology, the world is now a global village. Students have access to quality education despite their geographical location. As long as they have internet-enabled communication gadgets and a reliable internet connection, the choices are endless. Online learning platforms have provided international students with an opportunity to enroll in their dream institutions. Exchange programs and collaborative lessons are possible through virtual lessons. Students from different institutions located in diverse locations can share thoughts and lessons through videoconferencing. They can also hire writer for essay by essayservice.com at the click of a button.
Online Education as an Inexpensive Option
Quality education is expensive and remains elusive to many needy students. With technology and internet connectivity, such students stand a better chance at landing affordable courses. There are online platforms offering certificate courses for as low as $30. Sometimes, these platforms offer great discounts and provide free courses to learners. Consequently, learners from disadvantaged backgrounds can add to their skills and stand a better chance of making a living.
Sense of Security
Technology provides an added sense of security for learners. For instance, international students may have difficulty finding their way around, and asking strangers for help makes them vulnerable to danger. With a smartphone, there is no fear of getting lost, and such students can settle down faster and get the most out of their experience. By joining student groups on various digital platforms, these students quickly shake off feelings of isolation and get useful tips on the best coping strategies. Such platforms also help such students find friends and increase their social connections.
Change in Funding Strategies
The high cost of education is out of reach for many students. Many institutions understand this and try to find ways to cost-share fees with students. Some institutions have embraced crowdfunding, which involves raising funds from online platforms to facilitate the education of students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. While it is impossible to sponsor all students, technology has made it much easier to raise money for such courses.
Limiting the Role of Instructors
Traditional learning methods give instructors the upper hand regarding lessons. The instructor controls all matters with little input from learners. Educational technology makes it possible to promote learner engagement for better outcomes. With developments like online classes, students are good to go with a few instructions. They are in charge of the learning process in self-paced modules and must actively participate and develop enough self-drive to complete courses and grasp the content.
Collaborative Partnerships
Learning institutions need financial and intellectual support to offer quality education to students. Digital schools collaborate with established institutions like universities and colleges to bridge skill and knowledge gaps. Teachers from different institutions can make meaningful connections virtually to share ideas for better learning outcomes. Social media provides an excellent avenue for finding and connecting with other professionals.
Trendy Teaching Aids
Technology provides various tools and aids to transform learning for better results. By incorporating audio-visual aids during lessons, teachers can increase learner interest and promote better retention. For instance, 3D depictions of geographical features and formations can make a geography lesson memorable. Powerpoint presentations can provide meaningful stimulation and break the monotony of sharing information on the blackboard. Besides, students rarely forget what they see, making visual aids indispensable in the learning process.
Personalization of Education
Different learners have different abilities, and this can pose a challenge. Students with learning challenges may fail to catch up with the rest of the class in the absence of a personalized approach. This is usually the case with traditional learning. Thanks to technology, it is easier to craft personalized content for individual students where each student has a unique learning profile. Each learner benefits from a plan that focuses on their strengths, interests, and needs to unlock their full potential.
Lack of Discernment
Technology also has some undesirable outcomes. There are millions of learners from diverse backgrounds interacting on online platforms. Without proper guidelines and restrictions, these platforms quickly degenerate into avenues of online wars. Some users have little regard for others’ feelings and have no qualms using profanities or racial slurs in their communication. There is a need to establish proper communication and limit careless banter among internet users.
Anonymity
Digital literacy among students is at an all-time high, which comes with certain challenges. Technology makes it possible for fraudsters and other criminals to take up anonymous profiles on social networks. Students need to learn how to protect themselves online. There is a need to emphasize extra security measures like using complex passwords and keeping personal information private. Learning institutions must ensure that students’ personal information is safe. Identity theft is a real threat and can be costly and hard to undo once the damage is done.
Conclusion
EdTech plays a transformative role in modern education. Despite various challenges, the gains in the education sector are impressive. There is a better organization and a higher level of control as a result of integrating technology. Students have also gained access to a higher quality of education and have various options to consider. The future looks bright for educational technology.
