Technology is being used more and more in education. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.

It is argued that

technology

is playing an ever-increasing role in schools and universities. Increased

access

to

information

and student freedom are the main advantages, whereas dependency on

technology

and decreasing levels of face-to-face contact

is

Change the verb form

are

show examples

the main disadvantages. Having

access

to more

information

and student autonomy are the principal advantages of an increase in the

use

of electronic devices in education. With the internet,

students

can

access

all the

information

available about any topic, regardless of what books and other resources are available in the school.

Furthermore

,

students

have the freedom to focus on whatever topic or subject they want and study it in depth. A prime example of

this

is the number of online university courses available to

students

, covering a myriad of subjects, that up until recently were unavailable to most learners.

This

has resulted in more people studying

third

level degrees than ever before, at a pace and schedule that suits them. The main disadvantages associated with the increasing

use

of

technology

in education is the dependency on

this

technology

and the decrease in face-to-face interaction between

students

. With many

students

now using the internet as their primary source of

information

, they often struggle to

use

other academic resources to find what they’re looking for. As well as

this

,

students

spend more time looking at computer screens by themselves than interacting with each other, and

this

is thought to lead to lower levels of emotional intelligence.

For instance

, the recent explosion in smartphone

use

has been at the expense of genuine human interaction.

This

results in soft skills,

such

as verbal communication and empathy, being affected. In conclusion, the benefits

technology

brings to education,

such

as unrestricted

access

to

information

and student autonomy, must be weighed against the drawbacks,

such

as dependency on

this

technology

and the negative effects on human interaction.