In the year 2011, technology is part of our everyday lives. Can you imagine what the world will be like in 50 years?
I am in a program called R.O.G.A.T.E (Resources Offered for Gifted and Talented Education) which is organized by the EIRC’s (Educational Information and Resource Center), the National Talent Network. Last year, I had to do a presentation on my topic and Montclair State University. My topic referred to technology and education.
Here is my paper for the program:
Technology has made a major impact on our world. It has specifically influenced the younger generation because since we are growing up, it might make our world change and it might help to create useful inventions. The internet provides easy access to many sources that could extend our research. Mrs. Scarafile, who is a teacher at Roosevelt school, states, “With technology, teachers expect a better presentation because all the sources are at your fingertips.”
Of course technology has its flaws, too. For example, if you write “The Loin King” on Microsoft Word, even though there is an obvious error, the word processor leaves it that way since loin is a word. Word processors have had consequential effects on students’ grammar.
When typing, some words can be changed to what you originally meant while other times, you can misspell and word and the word that you typed actually exists, so it doesn’t underline it. If you misspell a word and it automatically corrected it, then you don’t realize your mistakes and you are going to keep on misspelling the word until you finally realize what you did wrong. Computer software has trouble detecting a word that is being misused. Many people may think that having correct spelling and grammar is not important but there are some jobs where if you don’t spell correctly, they wouldn’t even consider giving you the job. On the other hand, computer programs may come in handy when you want to finish your work faster and when you want to make your work appear neater.
I have recently conducted a survey in which I asked “How do you learn better more, by typing or writing?” The results were: 56 percent said typing, 24 percent said writing, and 20 percent said both. Another question was, “Would you prefer writing homework or typing it?: The majority of the participants said typing, while 8 percent said writing, 8 percent said both and 4 percent said that it depended. According to my research, it doesn’t really matter if the teaching tool is a computer or a textbook. All that matters is that the student is learning the lesson. Both methods work it’s just depending on the student and how they absorb the information. Computer programs and the internet may come in handy but don’t forget to always proofread your work.
In my research, I learned that many children want to be more modern but they don’t know that if they get carried away, that there is a possibility to learn the lesson the hard way. An example of this is what I mentioned before which was the mistake of misspelling The Lion King. Technology is becoming a major part in our society and with computers, there is the option to spell-check your work.
While doing my presentation, I decided that there was a way to solve the problem. In my school, there is this activity called Writers Workshop. Writers Workshop is the process where the children are given a genre. Using that genre, they are to write a story and then they edit it by themselves handwritten. They then retype it and give it to a peer so that they could edit it. Afterwards, they fix the mistakes and include any suggestion that was given to them. At our school, we have a folder and it that folder, we keep our stories, a sheet of stories which we published, and rules that the teachers give you that you use for your next story. The first time that they go to the teacher, they ask you want you need advice on and they give it to you. Our teachers allow only one conference per day for each student but that is up to the teachers. They go to the teachers a second time so that they could edit it once more. This time, they fix grammar, description, setting, etc. Afterwards, they edit it again and they publish, making their story a final product.
Some rules that are good to keep in mind are:
• Put a comma before the words but, or, nor, which, if they are in a long phrase.
• Don’t use childish words such as: nice, kids, weird, stuff, good, bad,
• Use quotation marks when a person is speaking
• Underline when you mention a novel (i.e. The Upstairs Room).
Editor’s Note: The students of the ROGATE gifted program at Woodrow Wilson School in Union City were required to publish their essays as part of their assignment. Their views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.