Technology has been introduced in education to change how people are taught. With the advancement of technology, there have been new ways of how one processes information inside of the classroom.

During a survey done by National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, ninety-seven percent of public schools had access to a computer in the classroom.

Oxnard High School Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology and World Civilization Teacher, Mr. Matthew Creech said, “If we can be successful and integrate this technology in a way that benefits our students, benefits our teachers, and benefits our society, then [the benefits] could be countless for a great change for not only our education but for our society.”

OHS freshman Verania Valdez, who agreed that the technology will benefit our educational system said, “There should be more educational apps that will help students with their homework and classwork…I think we should use it more because not many people use it for educational purposes anymore, but use it for things like Twitter.”

Teachers expect their students to have already obtained knowledge with technology. However, some students are having trouble obtaining proficient skills they need to use these devices correctly.

Technology in the classrooms is making it harder for students to succeed. “Our teachers expect us to look up work online, and if we don’t know [the material], they say ‘there is no excuse’ because we have it on the internet,” said OHS sophomore Veronica Ventura.

OHS Math teacher, Mr. Andrew Mostowa said “there are many programs that are not properly taught…Every piece of technology has a learning curve. It takes time for us to learn how to properly use these things…We are constantly jumping from program to program. There is not much time available for us to actually learn from the task at hand because we are trying to figure out how to work the program.”

Instructors persist that every program needs to be taught to each teacher in order to increase efficiency of the lesson plans and the understanding of the students.

Mr. Mostowa said, “Using multiple programs would probably take away from education rather than add to it, since we will be struggling to learn the program rather than what the assignment was designed to teach.”

However, technology in the educational system has provided students to be able to obtain the same material no matter what their accessibility to technology is.

Oxnard School District Board member Mr. Denis O’Leary, who helped promote the use of iPads to OSD students, said, “I want the poor to have the same opportunities as the rich. Technology has been available to affluent families and schools for more than a generation. It has shown us one thing: the education of one’s parents and the income of the family influences success and failure in a child’s education. I want to do what I can to equal the playing field. Technology is only one factor that can influence success.”