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Role of Technology in Education

By

Usabimana Yvens, Manirafasha Marie Xaverine, Umutesi Alice, Arame Niwedusa Francoise, and Niyonsenga Rose
University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB)
Faculty of Education. Post Graduate Department
April 8, 2024

Supervised by
Prof. Dr. Vicente Sinining, PhD, PDCILM
Full Professor

Click here to download the Handbook on Writing Academic Papers for Postgraduate Students at UTAB prepared by Prof. Vicente Sinining.


Introduction

This research intends to show the meaning and significance of technology to enhancing the changing education in this post- modern period. Moreover, this research will also show the role of education to the society. About this case, sociologists show that education does not arise in response of the individual needs of the individual, but it arises out of the needs of the society of which the individual is a member of.

The educational system of any society is related to its total social system. It is a sub-system performing certain functions for the on-going social system. In static society, the main function of the educational system is to transmit the cultural heritage to the new generations. But in changing society, these keep on changing from generation to generation and the educational system in such a society must not only transmit the cultural heritage, but also aid in preparing the young for adjustment to any changes in them that may have occurred or are likely to occur in future (Dr. Mani et al, 2015).

They added that education is a systematic process through which a child or any adult acquires knowledge, experience, skills and sound attitude. On the other hand, technology refers to the mix of process and product used in the application of knowledge. It includes tools from pencil and paper to the latest electronic gadgets and tools for practical tasks.


Objectives of this paper.

The main objective of this research is to show the contribution of technology to the improving teaching and learning. After reading this research, different scholars will know how to design the most helpful instructions without ignoring technology. This also will have good impacts to the students where they will have opportunities of knowing the importance of using technology in their everyday learning.


Literature review

Various scholars had continuously written on the role of technology to enhancing teaching and learning. The number of literatures on subject is voluminous, extensive and varied in perspectives (Professor. Wahab, 2012 as sited in Kumar et al 1999). A review of literature reveals that past studies have made little attempt to explain the difference between knowledge transfer and technology transfer.

When technology is directly applied to educational setting, such as school, both the students and teachers can be viewed as learners. Thus, we can operate under the assumption that any increase in teacher knowledge and utilization has the impact of increased learning in students. Most of the time, technology should serve to increase student achievement in schools (Courville, 2011). He added that technology removes the physical barriers and allows teachers greater accessibility in regards to professional development and graduate education. After the introduction of internet, many graduate schools have begun transitioning into programs that allow for distance education. Non longer is necessary for the teacher have geographical proximity to university.

Nagasubramani, (2018) states that by using technology in education has made the transfer of knowledge to become very easy and convenient, as well as effective. This means that our minds now tend to work faster when assisted with the use of modern technology, be it any part of life, here we talk about education. The reliance and dependence of such an innovation, that simply makes life an easy, smooth journey is completely unavoidable these days even in schools, universities and colleges.

He added that the role of technology in the field of education is fourfold: it is included as a part of the curriculum, as an instructional delivery system, as a means of aiding instructions and also as a tool to enhance the entire learning process. Thanks to technology; education has gone from passive and reactive to interactive and aggressive.

Nagasubramani, (2018) shows that technology is the engine of promoting the students engagement during the delivery of the lesson. Some ways where technology has improved student's engagement are the following:

Creative Learning: Technology promotes the manipulation of existing information and to create one's own knowledge to produce a tangible product or a given instructional purpose.

Integrative learning: Technology promotes an integrative approach to teaching and learning, by eliminating the synthetic separation between theory and practice unlike in the traditional classroom where emphasis encloses just a particular aspect.

Evaluative learning: Use of technology for learning is student-centered and provides useful feedback through various interactive features. Technology allows students to discover and learn through new ways of teaching and learning which are sustained by constructivist theories of learning rather than students do memorization and rote learning.

Numerous studies have supported the idea that implementing technology into the classroom facilitates meaningful learning, greater use of prior knowledge, hierarchical cognitive structure, elaboration, greater depth of processing and innovative practice (Hillman, 2014). This integration shifts the focus of the learning environment to being more student-centered and allows for them to develop autonomy and control over their learning (Mo, 2011).

Briefly, the integration of technology in education has been improved teaching and learning. It has increased students' engagement by doing research on technological resources including Google, Facebook, YouTube and other technological resources.


Methods used to collect data

Research methods may be understood as all those methods and techniques that are used for conduction of research. Research techniques refers to the behavior and instruments we use in performing research operations such as making observations, recording data, techniques of processing data and like (Kothari, 1985).


Data collection

One of the main stages in a research study is data collection that enables the researcher to find answers to research questions. Data collection is the process of collecting data aiming to gain insights regarding the research topic (Taherdoost, 2021).

Generally, data collection methods are divided to two main categories of Primary Data Collection Methods and Secondary Data Collection Methods.

Data that is not published yet and is the first-hand information which is not changed by any individual is known as primary data. In other words, researchers use different approaches to gather and collect primary data for a specific purpose (Taherdoost, 2021).

Secondary data is the data gathered from published sources meaning that the data is already gathered by someone else for another reason and can be used for other purposes in a research as well. In all papers, the literature review section is based on secondary data sources. Thus, secondary data is an essential part of research that can help to get information from past studies (Taherdoost, 2021).

During the conduction of this research, secondary data collection has been used. We have visited library for searching information in different books that related to our topic. We also used online resources where we have use e-books for searching information that could help us to conduct our research and make it reliable.


Conclusion

As a conclusion, this research was very helpful to the students of post graduate diploma in education. It helped us to get and understand the role of technology when it is integrated in teaching and learning such as making students more engaged in learning. Therefore, using technology in education has to be increased and improved.


References

  • Courville, K. (2011). Technology and its use in education: present roles and future prospects. Baton Rouge. Louisiana.
  • Hillman, T. (2014). Finding space for students innovative practices with technology in the Classroom. Learning media and technology, 39 (2), 169-469.
  • Kothari, C. R.(1985). Research methodology. Methods and techniques: university of Radasthan. India.
  • Kumar, V., Kumar, U.(1999). Building technological ability through importing technology.
  • Mo, S.(2011). Evidence on instructional technology and students' engagement in an auditing Course. Academic of Educational Leadership Journal, 15 (4), 149.
  • Nagasubramani, P. C. (2018). Impact of modern technology in education. Department of Pedagogical. Sciences, Tamilnadu Teachers Education University, Karapakkam,Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
  • Professor Dr. Wahab, A. S. (2012). Defining the concepts of technology and technology transfer: A literature analysis. International Business research: university of Malaysia Kelantan. Malaysia.
  • Taherdoost, H. (2021). Data Collection Methods and Tools for Research; A Step-by-Step Guide To Data Collection Technique for academic and business research projects. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 2021, 10(1), pp.10-38.
  • Thomas, L., Knezek, D. (2002). Standards for technology supported learning environments.



IMPORTANT GUIDELINES TO STUDENTS

  • Students must follow the standard format of APA Style References
  • APA style uses two main parts for citations: in-text citations and the reference list.
  • In-text citations briefly acknowledge the source you're using within your writing. They include the author's last name and the year of publication, enclosed in parentheses (Author, Year). For example:
  • A study found that exercise improves memory (Smith, 2023).
  • If you're directly quoting something, you'll also include the page number after the year (Author, Year, p. #). Here's an example:
  • "Regular physical activity is essential for maintaining cognitive health," (Smith, 2023, p. 12).
  • The reference list, at the end of your paper, provides complete details about the sources you cited. The format for the reference list varies depending on the source type (book, journal article, website, etc.). Here are some general guidelines:
  • Start the reference list on a new page.
  • List references alphabetically by the author's last name.
  • Double-space the entire reference list.
  • Indent the second and subsequent lines of each reference.
  • For specific formatting instructions on different source types, you can refer to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) APA Style Guide


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