Community College Students Are Now Able to Term Paper

Using the World Wide Web for research and guided instruction is also beneficial. Students can use computers to create multimedia presentations for their assignments. Teachers need to study the technology that is available and reasonably guide the students into using it. Teachers must also be prepared to change their teaching methods and accept the new ways of utilizing information in the classroom.

Calderon-Young is very correct in her statement that there is wonderful technology available to schools and that it should be utilized. She is also correct in her evaluation of what benefits can be reaped from using computers and technology within the learning process. It is extremely surprising to me that readers today might find this article to be new or innovative, and in fact I found it to be almost humorous and absurd how these everyday technologies were being treated like alien concepts -- it almost read like satire. By 1999 when this article was written, use of computers and the Internet in an education setting should have already been the standard. Even in the 1980's, many classrooms found it to be standard to have access to at least one computer for student use. By the 1990's, The Internet was well established and part of mainstream culture. Today, it is considered to be the norm to have access to e-mail, Instant Messenger, and the Web -- many people don't even know their own phone number because they only communicate online. It is pathetic when, to this day, teachers will tell students not to use Internet sources, even when most journals and newspapers can now be found archived online, and these sources are just as "real" as ones printed on paper. It is also ridiculous that some teachers still tell students not to turn in typed papers because they may have cheated and used spell-check. Computers, The Internet, and technology are here to stay, and they should be integrated in every way with the educational experience immediately and fully.

Personally, as an instructor, I would make full use of any technology the school fit deem to provide. I would also constantly be petitioning the school to provide more funds for technology. While administrators may be spending money on paper, pens, postage, phone bills, text books, and other vital classroom supplies, all of these can be replaced by use of technology, which will save money in the long run after the initial investment. I would hope that every student would leave my class having full knowledge of how to use The Internet, E-mail, Word Processors, and Multimedia presentation software, and that their learning experience would be greatly heightened and made more enjoyable by use of these tools. Students are more than ready for technology, and it is only fair that the teachers and administrators catch up.