How Can Technology Improve Education?

To show the effect of technology on education, Don Kenzek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education uses an analogy of technology in the medical field.

"If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar," he said. "Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots."

Advances in technology have allowed teachers to move beyond traditional methods of education, which primarily rely on the use of text-books and verbal instruction. At one time, a student's only exposure to technology was found in a basic computer class. Now, technology has enabled the creation of various teaching and learning tools that can "demonstrate concepts, assign projects, and assess progress."

The drawback with incorporating technology into education, though, is hesitation by U.S. schools to utilize new educational tools and methods. Other nations around the world are looking for ways to integrate technology and education, while we are still questioning whether this merge should take place at all.

Kenzek points out the following 8 ways in which technology has proved effective in instruction and student progress.

1. Improved simulation and models can assist teachers in demonstrating difficult concepts and specifically help students that are visual learners.

2. Global learning exposes students to other cultures and puts them in touch with other people around the world.

3. Virtual manipulatives allow students to experiment with unfamiliar concepts and ideas.

4. Probes and sensors allow students to collect data, compute statistics, and analyze results quickly and efficiently.

5. A more efficient assessment of student progress can be made and monitored with new forms of technology.

6. Storytelling and multimedia encourage teamwork and excites students.

7. E-Books create a level of ease, convenience and visualization that isn't available with standard print textbooks.

8. Epistemic games put students in real-world situations and train them to use innovative thinking.

Technology Trends in Higher Education

Technology has had a great deal of influence over education. Over 1.6 million college students (specifically community college students) enrolled in at least one online course during the fall of 2002 and over one-third of these same students took all of their courses online. With these numbers in place and the continued growth of student population, technology in education has become the solution for many higher education institutions.

With such an explosion of growth and need, the use of technology has not always been positive. Problems have plagued the use of technology in higher education classes throughout the country. Many people within the system see five major trends that will affect the future of technology/distance learning. The following is a list these current trends in higher education:

o Growing population of students enrolling combined with inadequate infrastructure (faculty, administration, buildings, etc.)
o Changing student needs (lack of time and need for flexibility are foremost)
o Instruction altered to more student centered, non-linear, and self-directed (needed in order to meet the diverse academic needs of students)
o Necessity of lifelong learning classes
o knowledge and competency of students in the use of the Internet

All of these trends can be traced back to distance learning. Higher education institutions need to take action now, in order to enhance their distance education programs.

There are ways in which schools can meet the current trends through distance education. One way is to provide more help through Student Services. By encouraging the use to of help desks at schools, students will have their needs assessed and met. Some campuses have found the creation of a centralized website for the school to be beneficial.

The website has given future and current students access to information quickly. The majority of the states have become a part of statewide coordinating board or consortium of distance education learning programs. These boards/consortiums have provided support, financial sources, evaluation procedures, and the establishment of clear missions for distance learning education courses throughout the states. All of these efforts work toward the goal of implementing valid distance learning programs.

The key to the future of education is online distance learning, but only if continued research and the development of quality programs persist. By examining current trends, campuses will be better equipped to meet the needs of today's student.

Surgical Technologist Education Programs

Surgical technologists are an indispensable member of any surgical team. Their roles are varied, but these roles essentially revolve around providing quality and fast assistance to all the other members of the core surgical team, from the surgeon and surgical assistants, to the anesthesiologist and perioperative nurses.

The path to this profession starts with good education. There are several education programs open to surgical techs, each of which come with their own advantages and disadvantages. People who are interested in becoming surgical technologists are advised to learn as much as they could about the education programs they plan to take, as this would have an impact later on when they start looking for employment.

A certificate or diploma course is perhaps the easiest route towards education in surgical technology. This lasts anywhere 9 to 15 months, including the required clinical experience. The advantage of a certificate or diploma course is its short duration and lower cost and expense. Diploma-holders can also start looking for jobs right away in as little as 9 months after graduating from high school. The major disadvantage of this is that hospitals have a preference for graduates with advanced education such as associate degrees and bachelor degrees in surgical technology.

An associate degree in surgical technology lasts for 24 months and is the next best option for would-be surgical techs. They have higher chances of employment and better clinical training and experience than their diploma course counterparts, although the costs of education are higher.

Better still is the bachelor's degree in surgical technology, at least in terms of the knowledge base and training it provides to students. The cost of college education is, of course, a major drawback, but this can be compensated for by better employment opportunities and career advancement.

A new program available to those interested in surgical technology is the online surgical tech program. Online programs generally cost the same as classroom education, but its cost-effectiveness lies in savings that can be had from the usual expenses of college education (transportation, lodging, allowances, etc). However, surgical technology requires clinical experience; other options are therefore preferable, unless there are online programs that offer clinical training as well. There is also the matter of accreditation (which will be mentioned further); there are no accredited online surgical tech programs at present.