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Lisbel Grau

Professor Johnson

English Competition 1102

2 August 2020

How does having access to a laptop/computer affect students' studies?

Having access to an electrical device in school can potentially improve the development

of skills and knowledge in education. Leslie is from Dominican Republic when she was attending

junior high, technology was not a big part of education in the country. Leslie had to complete

every assignment researching on textbooks and navigating in a public library, due to the lack of

technology she struggled to complete assignments on time. Later on, Leslie moved to the

United States where technology was already incorporated in classrooms. Leslie did not know

how to operate an electronic device because she didn’t have the luxury other students have in

other countries, so she was a step behind in computer skills because she has only used standard

literature to do all her school work. Leslie had to promptly adapt and learn the use of electronic

devices to gain knowledge and be at the same pace as other students in the same grade.

Students that benefit correctly from the use of laptops/computers in a classroom could

potentially improve their learning, while others could certainly abuse the use of said devices in

a classroom setting and not obtain any knowledge. Technology might help students adjust to

their own pace of learning and students seem to be more interested in learning an online
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lesson rather than an in-person lesson, at the same time technology could disorient social

interaction between teachers and students because there is less communication in online

classes than in-person classes. Technology in education is subjective and comprehensive. It is

wrong to think that technology began to influence education recently. It started with just a

blackboard or chalkboard, over the years overhead projector started replacing those boards,

which allow teachers to design a more enlarged form on a screen or wall. And since then

technology has advanced more and more.

Joy Wadimo is the Special Education headteacher at Kamurasi Demonstration School in

Masindi Municipality, Uganda. Who has stated, “Children with disabilities are more

independent and more engaged when using assistive devices and accessible Etextbooks.”

(Wadimo) Technology is an essential tool that has been incorporated in schools to be able to

facilitate research and provide a new way of learning in students. According to Wadimo

students with disabilities in Uganda have also engaged more in the learning process with the

use of electronic devices.

There are a lot of advantages that come along with the use of electronic devices in a

classroom setting, such as, engagement improvement, learning at one’s own pace, online group

collaborations, and the list goes on. Providing each student with a laptop/computer in a

classroom setting would most likely improve the engagement because students and the topic

being learned, that is a possibility for the reason that students are more likely to focus reading

an article online than on an actual textbook. Also, providing an electronic device to each

student is allowing them to learn at their own pace, they can reread if they want to, they can
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research other articles related to the topic being learned at the moment, and compare them,

they can also extend their knowledge and vocabulary by doing so. Another advantage would be

being able to participate in online groups, there are a lot of students that are timid and have

difficulty participating in a classroom in front of other students, these devices have helped them

improve their communication skills.

Even though the incorporation of laptops/computers in the classroom is generally seen

as a good thing, there are disadvantages in the incorporation of electronic devices in the

classroom. For instance, the distraction. Students could easily get distracted and sidetracked

when they have access to an electronic device in a classroom. Students could not consider the

fact that the device is provided for educational purposes and utilize them for entertainment,

like googling memes, texting, and engaging in social media rather than the lesson. Another

disadvantage would be against those students that attend low-class schools and an electronic

device cannot be provided to every student, which will eventually put them on a level behind

when compared to those students that attend high-end school and have the accessibility to

electronic devices giving them the advantage of obtaining more knowledge in less time.

“The ratio of computers to students is absurd,” said English teacher Andrew Flaherty.

Flaherty reported that many of his students cannot afford computers at home and they don’t

have enough time to use them at school and complete their assignments on time. Those

students are not building their technological skills if they are not able to access the courses and

material that is given to them online that would help them build up their knowledge and be

successful.
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To incorporate the use of technology in a classroom every one of the students needs to

have the skills and knowledge to work the device, that being said there is a lot of training that

needs to happen before the electronic device is fully incorporated into class lessons. Getting all

students and teachers to understand and learn how to work computers it is essential to have an

effective lesson.

Recent research indicates that

“while 84 percent of American teens have

access to electronic devices, the other 16

percent don’t” (Sonic) this statement gives

you an idea of what percentage in a

specific population have access to an electronic device. Not everyone can afford an electronic

device, most of the time if they are used at school, they are provided by the school. But not

every school district can afford to purchase a laptop/computer to be provided to every single

student. According to a Cambridge International Global Education Census, by the year 2018, the

majority of students reported they had access to desktop computers within their classrooms.

Students without access to an electronic device at home may struggle to complete their

assignments and keep up with other students, those are also less likely to develop digital

literacy skills.

The accessibility and quickness that is developed in typing after students become

accustomed to the keyboard have a positive effect on the total amount of time students take to

complete an assignment when they type it instead of writing it. The time spent on writing a
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paper may vary depending on different factors, such as the training the students have had to

operate the electronic device, how familiar they are with the programs they are using in class,

how comfortable they are with the topic among others.

The incorporation of technology in a class setting would be up to the teacher what use

they make of it. For example, an English teacher post an assignment and one of the

requirements is that the paper has to be on MLA format, it is the teacher’s duty to teach the

format and the students must learn how to properly format the paper by adjusting margins,

spaces, citations and other features that are required in the Word processor. It is easier to keep

track of a document that is saved on a file in your computer than having hundreds of pages to

keep track of. It is also easier for teachers to grade assignments online than in paper, they can

use a generator that grades the test as soon as a student completes it, that way the student

knows their grade right away instead of having to wait for an extended amount of time until the

professor returns the graded test or assignments.

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As

teachers learn

more about the

technology

world, they

have come

across

interesting

ways of making

their lesson

more entertaining and competitive at the same time like online practicing games. Online

practicing games are developed to test students’ understanding and help them figure out what

their weak point in the lesson is. With the use of games such as Kahoot, the teacher has a

better understanding of where their students are struggling, that way more time can be spent

going over those topics that need to be reinforced. Also, while students are entertained playing

and learning, there is a healthy sense of competition involved between classmates to obtain

first place. These platforms are created to not only help high school students but it even helps

college students to test their knowledge and abilities.

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In the article, “Will technology transform Education for the better” by J Pal, he

mentioned high school students in their senior year having to go through the process of college

application to further their education. College applications can be overwhelming and

complicated at times, and the application needs to be filled out correctly to avoid further

complications with the inscription. Technology has helped simplify the process, being able to

generate a feature that guides the applicant to complete the application smoothly and

understandably. J Pal also focuses on how technology alleviates psychology intervention and

helps reinforce that intelligence is not fixed but it is taught with hard work and dedication.

The experiments that have been

performed throughout the evolution of

technology and the use of it in classrooms

have shown that the use of technology

devices are rapidly taking over in education,

especially in college where students are

more likely to choose an online class versus a

face-to-face class. Online classes have lower the students’ academic achievement compared to

in-person classes. However, students seem to perform equally in online and in-person when

they are well prepared to use technology properly and they are persistent in completing all

schoolwork.

Victoria Williamson stated, “Computers ensure the accuracy of teaching text materials

as it has a word processing software that provides spelling and grammar checking tools.”
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(Williamson) this feature that students have access to when completing a paper can either

make or break their study habits. In a classroom without technology students pay more

attention when they are writing checks for misspelling and grammar errors, while having access

to a processor like Word that can do those things for them it doesn’t require as much effort. At

the same time, it also influences student’s personal interaction with classmates and teachers,

they lose part of that communication when one is not sure how to spell something and one

asks, but since the computer does it on its own there is no need to ask for help.

In conclusion, using computer at schools convey substantial parts among students and

teachers. Students are now able to access global libraries such as, e-books, tutorials, and FAQ

forums where they can hold effortlessly. Allowing students to have access to electronic devices

in a classroom setting does not have a direct influence on that they learn, but it influences on

the communication students have with teachers. Depending on how interactive the teacher is,

the student is going to be engaged in the class lesson.

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Works Cited

Bullock, Richard, and Francine Weinberg. “Tips for Writing a Rhetorical Analysis.” The Little

Seagull Handbook, Third Edition, edited by Michal Brody, W. W. Norton &

Company, Inc., New York, NY, p. 52, ncia.wwnorton.com/8486/r/goto/cfi/30!/4.

Accessed 29 July 2020.

"Technology and Education." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/PC3010999175/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=b8fbe994. Accessed 28 June 2020.

Williamson, Victoria. “Advantages of Having Computer in Education.” Olpccanada.com, 26 Oct.

2018, olpccanada.com/advantages-of-having-computer-in-education/.

olpccanada.com/advantages-of-having-computer-in-education/ Accessed 28 June

2020.

America, J-PAL North. What 126 Studies Say about Education Technology. 26 Feb. 2019,

news.mit.edu/2019/mit-jpal-what-126-studies-tell-us-about-education-technology-

impact-0226. Accessed 2 Aug. 2020

Bullock, Richard, and Francine Weinberg. “Tips for Writing a Rhetorical Analysis.” The Little

Seagull Handbook, Third Edition, edited by Michal Brody, W. W. Norton & Company,
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Inc., New York, NY, p. 52, ncia.wwnorton.com/8486/r/goto/cfi/30!/4. Accessed 29

July 2020.