Technology is the advancement of methods and tools that are used to achieve a particular goal. In a classroom, the advancement can be anything past a pencil, paper or chalkboard. The use of technology in teaching enables a student to deepen the learning experience. The tools of IT used in education are such as tablets, presentation software, conferencing tools and others (Bach, Shirley, Haynes and Jennifer 13).
The IT tools used more is the internet. The Internet is used to both manage and motivate the classroom. It pushes students by making the process of expedite of information easier. It also accelerates information delivery and the assimilation process. The Internet adds value to the information learnt in the classroom through receiving additional content from other people. The use of IT also enhances communication. It goes through negative factors such as geographical barriers to still promote effective communication in the learning phase. Students can have live conferences or do online forums. It also assists learning to take place anywhere, enhancing the learning situation through the use of different settings (Davidson, Cathy, and Goldberg 23).
Other tools used in learning are such as online collaboration tools which are applications such as Dropbox, Gmail and the like. The tools enable students and teacher to share documents online, edit and project them on a screen. It assists in creating a collaborative platform where ideas can be brainstormed and documented (Bach, Shirley, Haynes and Jennifer 27). The tool will be used in my learning of Adobe Photoshop as it will help to enhance communication with my lecturer on the progress I am making. Presentation tools that are used help to embed information in the form of photographs, diagram, videos and sound. The presentations are simple outlines notes that enable one to get the general overview of a certain topic. Most of the secondary data are in PPT form. The information will be used to enhance my intelligence on the subject. The secondary data are notes from class and researched records.
My learning period will also incorporate streaming devices involving application such as Youtube, Daily Motion and the like. It enables one to look at videos presented by other lecturers and professors on the topic. It will allow me to be able to go through the step by step procedure of using the Photoshop application, and it will also provide me with already done examples that I can follow to enhance my use of the application. Online Video Conferencing which are tools like Skype which will enable me to have access to a wide range of other students, lecturers and professional who can assist me to learn the application and solve issues regarding the application. The communication will be useful as it similar to face to face discussion only with technology in between.
ICT in learning have very many benefits that have enhanced the level education for both the lecturer and the student. The benefits of using IT in learning as such as it is a Motivational Factor as it used by educators to enhance interest, excitement and enthusiasm for the purpose of improving the learning process. It is because most young people tend to be up to date with what is going around them including technological advancement. Young people are fascinated by technology, and it will guarantee focus in the class and the learning process is made easy (Davidson, Cathy, and Goldberg 51).
It enables effective communication among students. It assists them to join on collaborative projects without the regard for geographical barriers. It creates a unique learning experience where through IT the whole world feels like one big community. It is used to implement cooperative learning. Cooperative learning improves the social structure among students and lectures. It promotes an opportunity where there is the initiation of dialogs without the pressure of self-esteem, shyness and the like. It enables the creation of an engaging class where views and opinion may be shared and discussed.
It has allowed locating research material easy and enhancing access of information to be simple as there is more information accessible than that present in a typical library. It is like the information about what happens in the world is in one big library. Today, information is only a click away as storage of data is in online archives that enhance retrieval of data for research and experimentation. The materials are used to improve knowledge on a subject matter or do assignments (Davidson, Cathy, and Goldberg 54). IT has enabled Acquiring skills to exist by reducing restriction of students in a particular area. It allows people to experience the world. Through IT, one can travel to other destinations by receiving information about it. It can also enhance skills that are not present in the social community present. One can acquire skills such as language enhancement where you can learn various languages of different regions or even hypertext skills. The Hypertext skills tend to improve one's language and writing capabilities.
During my learning experience I encountered problems such as plagiarism which is the act of claiming others work as your own (Bach, Shirley, Haynes and Jennifer 40). The problem occurs during my experimentation phase where I review other experiments on the Adobe Application and redoing it step by step. The work was used to show the progress I am making in understanding the application, but it is considered as plagiarism as the work is not originally mine. Expense was another problem as the equipment that I downloaded the application on is costly to acquire, so is the application as windows require a fee for one to be able to download the application on a personal computer. It halted the learning process while in search of the application.
Another problem was the compatibility issue as some versions especially latest had installation problems. The one installed had issues of their own. It halted the learning process as I had to enquire on online forums which version is best and troubleshooting solutions. The version downloaded did not have some necessary plug-ins needed in my learning which lead to further enquiries to the lecturer, other students and in the online forum for solutions on how to perform certain tasks in the older versions of Adobe Photoshop. Most of the information required for my learning of the Adobe Photoshop required robust and accessible internet access. The problem was that I had to perform my learning activities within the school premises because I required the internet for my research. I fully depended on the school for the internet resource. Another problem was that when the premises faced trouble concerning the internet, it affected my research as I was unable to stream and do online conferencing.
The other problem was my lack of experience; it was my first time to learn Adobe Photoshop. The lack of knowledge on the subject made it difficult especially when it come to research as I was not particularly sure what to research on. Also, the application was new to me, and it required some time for me to get used to the plug-ins and work my way through it. My lack of experience prolonged the preparation time on my learning schedule. The problem that could also not be ignored was security. IT faces a lot of safety issues especially when it comes to using online resources for research and experimentation. The download of files can lead to the download of viruses that contaminate the equipment and also affect its performance (Bach, Shirley, Haynes and Jennifer 41). The issue is be taken care of especially while doing self-learning using IT as it can occur and when it does, it can halt or slow down the learning process. Also, one had to look at the type of Adobe Photoshop application for installation as there are counterfeits present, and that misguide a student. It can also affect the privacy of the PC as some people may access your equipment, tamper with it and steal your work.
Work Cited
Bach, Shirley, Philip Haynes, and Jennifer L. Smith. Online Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: Open University Press, 2007. Internet resource.
Davidson, Cathy N, and David T. Goldberg. The Future of Thinking: Learning Institutions in a Digital Age. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2010. Internet resource.
