Student Cyborgs

 

This series of graphs is a good representation of technology in education because it depicts how not only students utilize technology in classrooms, but how faculty members use technology as well. The bright, bold colors of the graphs compliment the white background well, making them easy to read. The title of the visualization was appealing because there included a word that I had never seen before. The author uses the term, "cyborg". Cyborg is an alien term to me, but it means, "a person whose functioning is aided by or dependent  upon a mechanical or electronic device." Technology in today's society has gotten to the point where it is almost impossible for many students to have classes, even function, without technology. Through the data in this visualization, I thought saw that much more technology was used in schools for an extensive variety of purposes than I thought. It doesn't surprise me that over time, there are more and more students who use technology, but the number of students enrolling in online classes surprised me. There was over 2 million students who enrolled in online courses in the span of 7 years. The technology used in classrooms have advanced greatly within the past 10 years, also. It's rare that I have walked into a classroom without a projector. This article from The Journal outlines 10 major trends in technology in education and I, as a student, am part of most of these trends. I'm very reliant on technology myself, but how much more will future generations rely on technology? With the rapid growth of development of technology, increased use in online resources, and ease of use, it is inevitable that technology in education will be more prevalent in the upcoming years.