Experience of mobile technology: How Technology Has Changed The Way We Learn

As I awoke this morning, I had a thought of what it was like, when I was at school, (when I went of course) a few years back, I might add.  My education, was throughout the 1970's and 80's.  I'm now giving my age away also! How bizarre, that as I attempt to write this blog, I am back in education and my memory is not as good as it once was.  I find myself, using the Internet to remind me of what it was like back in the day, oh those were the days!  So, has technology changed the way we learn?  I certainly think so.  But, has technology really changed, how we learn?

I do wonder, that with all his technology at our finger tips, do we really need an education?  By that I mean, venture out into the cold, to go to a place of education, when it would be so easy to stay at home!  Everything we need to know can be obtained instantly, through the wonders of Google.  Back in the day, if you wanted or needed to know something, you'd ask your Dad your Granddad, Mum,or Grandma, who were, to you the font of all knowledge and if they didn't know, you'd have to go to the LIBRARY, or ask an uncle or somebody else.  That's how you learnt back then. the image to the left is of the library, I used to go.
I remember the days of overhead projectors, cassette recorders  and television. Floppy discs came a little after my education  But, I do  remember quite well in my history class watching the raising of Henry V111 flag ship the "Mary Rose" on television.  Little did I know then, that I was witnessing and a part of the evolution of technology in the classroom.  The television, was I guess, today's version of You Tube.  The difference being, the TV I was watching had a 12 inch screen with a pretty fuzzy picture, and, has you watched, you would be huddled around it to capture every moment.

Education and technology certainly has moved on, however, when you look back during the 1800's black slate was used as a means of writing and recording words

math and sentences.  Today we are using android tablets, Ipads etc. The early 1900's saw the black board in wide use and is probably one of the early stages of technology in education, today we use the white board, not much difference really?  Then, from around the 1920's we saw film projectors, overhead projectors and videos introduced to the classroom.  All deemed revolutionary at the time.  Technology, doesn't stop there,  

Can anyone remember carbon paper?  You what? What's carbon paper, I hear you ask, well for some of you too young to know.  Carbon paper was paper coated in loosely bound dry ink.  It was, what was used if you wanted to make more than one copy of your work simultaneously.  It was placed between the paper you wrote on and a second sheet. Revolutionary in its demise was the photo copier and now by computers.  Then there was the slide rule, remember those, used for long multiplication and division, eventually replaced by a scientific calculator.
Today, education is primarily technology based, there is a plethora of devices, applications, devices all used both in the classroom to aid in the learning experience and at home.  All designed to make our lives simpler and some would say more beneficial.  Others, may argue that there is too much, and that, it is far easier to search the world wide web for information.  Is that any different to travelling to the library to obtain a book?  Or seek out a wise person for knowledge?  Granted ,it is quicker to search using our new best friend Google, but are we being educated?  I will leave that for you to decide.

What is obvious today, is that if you enter any classroom in the UK, you are likely to encounter a computer, projector, white board, and an android tablet of some design.  On reflection, this is not much different to the good old days of slate, black board, TV and videos, slide rules etc,  Yet when you look at this way, innovation has changed the way education is taught.  Technology has only advanced, the learning experience and made it simpler for us all to educate ourselves whether at school, college or at home.

With the development of innovation and technology, the question I pose is. Is the educator becoming just a guide in the classroom?  With the use of such devices, like laptops,tablets,You Tube etc, it certainly appears to be the case.  The introduction of new technology, only allows the student to have greater access to devices like a laptop or tablet and less time of the teacher according to (Richel, 2011).  You can read the full Article here.  Education is radically changing, Jane Wakefield technology writer for the BBC, certainly thinks so and stresses that, teachers are becoming guides over teachers.

My previous blog identified the value of technology in learning and suggested that within it, it is making a difference to the way we learn.  However, when you consider many of the great scholars, for example, Sir Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, Socrates and many others, were not privileged or possibly had the misfortune of technology to aid them in their education, it never prevented them either, Food for thought maybe?

Technology, certainly has the power to transform the way we learn, Thomas Edison, predicted that thanks to the invention of projected images, "books will soon be obsolete in schools.  Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye"

I will leave you with this thought, in 1925, millions of students received lessons simultaneously in what were once known as "schools of air".  There was no Internet available back then, so how was this achieved.  Over to you, you can search this through the method we all know so well, yes Google or whichever search engine you prefer, you could also pop down to the library or ask a wise person you know, it is up to you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/technology-in-schools-faces-questions-on-value.html?_r=1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30814302