Education has been changing so much in the last few years with the introduction
to the computers both in the classroom and at home with the students. Students
are no longer expected to write papers but type them up; Papers are no longer
expected to be just writing but integrated with pictures and graphs; Projects
have also changed from who can learn the most to who can make it look good.
Computers have revolutionized education, but not without a cost. The cost is the
quality of education some students receive. Computers take time students would
normally use reading and researching so that they can make their project or
paper more attractive. Time is taken away because teachers have not looked upon
quality lately, and teachers don’t grade harshly if it looks good. Papers have
such a high expectation of visibility and a low expectation of quality these
days. This theory has been tested by both students and experts and has been
found to be true. The same paper in a different form with more pictures and
charts will get a significantly better grade then one of just writing. They have
also found that the same paper when written, as opposed to typed, will receive a
significantly lower grade then the one done on the computer. This shows the
paradigm shift that has taken place over the years from quality to
computerization. If a medium could be reached where students put as much time
and effort into the contents of their work as they did into the look of their
work it could easily be said that education is better today then before. Until
the student takes it upon his/her self to improve quality or until the teacher
comes to grade on quality things will only be about who can make it look the
best. Any student will learn at a very early age that it is important to learn
how to use the computer. It is also very important to learn how to integrate
graphs, charts, and pictures into any document that is done for school. In doing
this the student will receive a better grade in most cases with less work. In
all cases the computer has drastically changed the way both student look at
doing a project or paper and the way that the teacher will grade something.
Teaches need to stop looking at how the paper was done and start looking at the
paper itself. If this happens grades would probably decrease for a little bit
but there would be a shift back to students doing more quality work, instead of
more attractive work. Computers are a great addition to our society, culture,
and social structure. Computers are one of the greatest revolutions in the
twentieth century and will most likely have the greatest impact on our
civilization. The usage of the computer today, especially in education, is being
abused. Society is putting to much emphasis on technology rather than on
education. We have what we do today because of the way people were educated in
the past. Educators should look back on how they grade or rate students since a
computer can not expand ones mind, only help it to better express what one is
trying to say. We are looking more at how someone says something over what they
say, and the learning process should not start out like this but rather end up
in this mode. Computers are just used at to high of a rate early in the
child’s education process and takes both from learning skills and
interpersonal communication skills.