Technology changes the way people interact with the world. It also changes the way instructors educate the world around us and the way we learn as students.
All of these changes can be contributed to one major piece of technology, the computer.
According to Moore’s law which states that the number of transistors in a circuit doubles every 18 months, which only means one thing computers get smaller and smaller.
The smaller computers become the more they are embedded into other things people use in our daily lives turning those regular objects into smart objects.
In the field of education students haven’t seen computers embedded into books but rather replacing books entirely.
Kevin Ault, former Kirkwood bookstore manager, said, “Currently 230 sections or approximately 8% of all classes or over 7,000 students at Kirkwood Community College use Day 1 Digital, Kirkwood’s choice service for digital books.”
Day 1 digital helps students get the digital copies of books they need for class the first day they need them, plus it lightens the load students would otherwise be required to carry around with them all day.
There are many classes using other online services, whether they be apps or websites to help students get the information they need to succeed in class.
While the use of technology is spreading into every part of one’s daily interactions, sometimes it is met with some inconveniences. Most of these services students rely on are dependent on the internet, without it students couldn’t check grades, email professors, or register for classes which is now exclusively through Talon, Kirkwood’s learning management system.
The technology is changing and it is changing rapidly. Looking back, only 10 years ago, many services that almost all people use today, including GPS on a phone, Snapchat, Spotify, Instagram, even digital books, were not yet available.
Considering Moore’s law and Kirkwood’s near 10% digital book usage that number is guaranteed to rise.
Mark Bromwich, web technologies professor at Kirkwood, said, “The advancements in technology are a good thing. The use of technology improves people’s lives. It helps people get more of the information they need in more ways than one. Videos and other media also help students learn. It just makes education even more easily accessible.”
He added, “Someday computers might take over every part of the education process but that won’t be for quite some time.”
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