Discussion concepts and applications

¶ … Education

The most important recent changes that I have encountered in education have to do with the incorporation of digital technology into teaching and learning. In some respects, those changes are beneficial; in other respects, they present new challenges for educators. In my case, I have experienced both sides in my studies and in my limited experience teaching. As a learner, I appreciate computer technology and Internet-based digital communication tremendously; as an educator, I have encountered new challenges trying to help military recruits who are not computer literate learn how to use the new educational medium.

My Experiences as a Learner

The incorporation of computer technology into modern education has greatly improved my ability to conduct research by putting an incredible range of educational resources at my fingertips. Even if all of the same resources were available in hard-copy format in the library, there is simply no comparison in terms of convenience and accessibility between those two methods of conducting academic research. Taking advantage of online resources means that I am not limited by the hours of operation of any traditional brick-and-mortar libraries, nor do I ever have to worry about transportation to and from any library to do my research. The Internet puts me in touch with more information that I could ever need from the convenience of my residence; in fact, lately, I can even access the Internet from my cell phone virtually anywhere.

The digital communications media have also changed the way that I submit many types of assignments as well as the way that I interact with my fellow classmates. Certainly, it is more convenient to be able to submit assignments via email or other online applications; on the other hand, when time is short, the obligation to submit assignments online can make students wish that they still had to submit them in hard-copy during scheduled classroom hours. Lately, many of my courses have also featured interactive forums in which we submit postings to class discussion boards. These allow greater opportunities for us to interact with other students in so far as those exchanges involve the course material. Whereas in traditional in-person class settings students interact more than they do online in general, comparatively less of that interaction actually involves the course material. The use of online forums stimulates much greater interaction of the type that allows us to gauge our relative comprehension in comparison to our classmates to a degree that we never could in traditional academic settings.

My Experiences as a Teacher