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Issue in Educational Technology

Haley AlNabulsi

EDU 352 Foundations of Educational Technology

Instructor Autumn Leal

August 14, 2018

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Issue in Educational Technology

I chose the issue of "Funding for Educational Technology". "This year, schools across

America will spend an estimated $10 billion on educational technology solutions" (Saltmarsh,

2014). I chose this issue because although technology has become such an important part of the

education world when schools have to provide/replace new, updated technology it takes away

from the overall budget of the school which means they will be forced to cut back from some

other department of the school funds. It is believed that schools could probably save in the long

run by abandoning traditional computer labs and incorporating more iPads and tablets in schools.

Replacing traditional paper textbooks with e-books is another cost-effective way to cut back on

expenses.

What is the importance of the issue to education?

Technology allows any student more opportunities to learn at their own pace. Students who are

slower to understand a lesson can have a teacher work with them, then sit at their desk and do

programs that teach the necessary skills until they understand a lesson or concept better. At the

same time, students who learn faster than the rest of the class can sit at their desk and do more

advanced studying, so they are challenged and don’t get bored. When used in conjunction with

lessons taught by the teacher, technology is an effective learning tool which can increase student

engagement, save time and support future job skills.

There is fear that people are tapping a different part of their brain when they solve problems

using computers than when they use paper and pencil (Stansbury, 2013). If that is true, what will

happen if a student is expected to solve problems using their brains and a pencil in the future?

That skill may not have been learned appropriately. Too often, computers are used in very
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limited ways in classroom settings. When they are not used as search engines students primarily

use them for word processing.

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References

Hicks, K., (2015). 3 Ways Schools Can Fund Education

Technology. http://www.edudemic.com/3-ways-schools-can-fund-education-technology/.

Nagel, D., (2013). 6 Technology Challenges Facing

Education. https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/06/04/6-technology-challenges-facing-

education.aspx.

Riddell, R., (2015). 5 tech budget issues every school and district must

consider. https://www.educationdive.com/news/5-tech-budget-issues-every-school-and-

district-must-consider/391937/.

Saltmarsh, J., (2014). School Funding and Educational Technology: Less Is

More. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-saltmarsh/school-funding-and-

educat_b_6249410.html.

Stansbury, M., (2013). The pros and cons of U.S.

education. https://www.eschoolnews.com/2013/01/18/the-pros-and-cons-of-u-s-

education/.