What technologies are available for the classroom? essay

Technology plays a very big role in the world today. Wherever people go, technology is always present, making people’s lives more convenient and assisting them in everything that they do. Even in the classroom, technology is especially useful for both educators and students. Educators integrate technology in their teaching techniques, while students make use of technology in school requirements such as reporting and projects. Thus, both educators and students can no longer rely merely on traditional educational tools because of the new technologies that are continually being developed at present. They have to adapt continuously to the advances in technology in order to make learning a better experience for students as well as for educators. Today, there are various kinds of technology that can be used inside the classroom.

One of these is the lecture recording system. This kind of technology visually records the lecture and converts it into a video that will be made available online so that students can watch and review the lecture on a certain day. This kind of system requires devices such as a video camera which is installed in classrooms for automatic recording every time the lecture starts. It also requires access to the internet in order to upload the video to a web site where students can watch it (London School of Economics & Political Science [LSE], 2008). Another common technology that is being used in the classroom today is the visualisers. Visualisers are the modern version of over head projector (OHP). The difference between OHP and visualisers is that in OHP, transparency film should be used to project the image on the screen, while in visualisers anything will work—books, bond papers, and pictures, among others (LSE, 2008). The Tablet PC is another kind of technology employed in the classroom.

Tablet PC is a laptop computer where in a person can use a stylus or pen or his or her fingers to write something on the screen, and it can also be connected to a projector to annotate an application like a PowerPoint presentation. This also has a recording system that can record the voice and every activity that is being done in the Tablet PC and can be posted online for the students’ use as well. The interactive whiteboard is also being used in the classroom today.

It is also touch screen and can be operated by fingers or electronic pens. Thus, the interactive whiteboard is a bit similar to the Tablet PC, only that it is larger in size (LSE, 2008). There are still a lot of technologies that are being used by most schools today, and most of them are computer and internet based technology (LSE, 2008).

In conclusion, since different technological approaches are being applied in the school setting, people should expect for more innovations to come. Both students and educators should be aware of the different technologies that are available for their use and familiarize themselves with these technologies in order to maximize their use. With the continuous advances in technology, the educational tools are stretched infinitely, making the learning experience more enlightening and exciting for both students and educators.