The rise in computer technology has been steady with the developed countries largely having an earlier experience of its operations. In fact, the computer technology has been advancing from the first world countries sequentially to the second world and third world nations (Bell et al., 1). The benefits and disadvantages of computer were first experienced in the developed countries. The systematic development and feeling of the effects of the computer technology from one region to the other offer greater learning opportunities for every part of the world.
The computer system consists of two major parts, which include the hardware and software ones. The hardware part of the computer technology consists of the tangible or physically touchable things that make up the computer. They include the monitor, central processing unit (CPU), power cables, CPU and monitor connecting wires, keyboard, mouse, and storage devices such as hard disk (internal and external) and flash disk (Patterson, & John, 11). On the other hand, the software unit consists of the non-touchable things, which are generally referred to as the computer programs. They include such as the operating system, Microsoft office suite, antivirus, Internet access programs, Internet browsers, pdf readers, and literature management programs such as Mendeley and Zotero (Patterson, & John, 25). In most cases, human beings are striving to improve the computer technology, which has led to the development of about four types of computers known as desktop, laptop, mini-laptop, and tablet. The efficiency and effectiveness of each of them continue improving with the advancement of their specifications and resizing. For example, a Core7 laptop with a 3.0GhZ processing unit and 8GB random access memory (RAM) is more efficient in running numerous and heavier programs than a Corei3 laptop with 2.40GhZ and 2BG RAM. In the software part, the Windows operating system has developed tremendously to include Windows 2000, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 either with a 16, 32, or 64-bit system (Bell et al., 2). The advancements in both units of the computer system, hardware and software, have been very important in the delivery and access of the educational services. The educational services include a number of sections such as teaching, assessment, curriculum development, educational information management, learning institutions’ administration, and academic research and knowledge management. All the aspects of education have been influenced either positively or negatively by the advancement of the computer technology.
One of the positive ways in which the computer technology has significantly influenced the education system is in the management of the learner’s information. In the previous years, the academic records were managed manually. They were either written by hand or typed using a typewriter, then stored in paper format. As such, the educational records and information management section used to have difficulties in managing the records of the learners. Typed or handwritten papers could either miss some crucial information about the student, get misplaced during storage, or even become lost. Guessing over what information needed to be filled in the blank spaces placed the data manager in a position of falsifying information. On an ethical note, it would require the data officer to go look for the learner, which would interfere with learning during class time. The misplacement or loss of the file that contained the learner’s information caused the consumption of time that could have been spent doing other things. In addition, the manual method of the academic data management was exposed to a breach of confidentiality and insufficient security (Laudon, & Laudon, 28). For example, an unauthorized person could acquire highly confidential information about a given learner and his or her parents. A third party having access to information about someone remains one of the breaches in data management. Secondly, the person can use the information for personal gain or the manipulation of its owner. Thirdly, the third party can easily sue the person whom he or she gave the information.
However, with the advent of the computing system, significant improvements have been observed in the educational data management system. Firstly, it is hard to have missing or erroneous data in the computerized information management system. Well-developed databases have prompting mechanisms that require the person filling in the information to put in data in any blank spaces that need filling. The systems also have certain types of data, whether letters or figures, and the number of characters accommodated. As such, it becomes hard to save the information in the database if it has any errors. The computerized system guards against information before moving on to the next part or even saving the data in the database. The retrieval of the information is also easy in a computerized information management system because the computer system centralizes the educational records management to a given database used by the facility. As such, a school can have as many databases as it wishes to effectively manage its information. Such organization makes it easy for the person who wants to acquire some information. This saves his or her time because he or she knows where to check which data. There is also a search mechanism in the database, which saves the person looking for information the time to look one after the other through on the system (Laudon, & Laudon, 35). Instead, he or she will just need to key in a few words or figures to get the information retrieved. The search mechanism also saves the person from cramming the information about the people stored in the system. He or she will just need a few words to key in and get a number of search items from which he or she will sieve the information needed.
The computerized data management system also has increased the safety and confidentiality of the learners’ information because it allows for the generation of unique passwords for the person permitted to access the information (Willcocks, 7). When the database is made online, the management, access, and security of the information are heightened. For example, the security system might need a scanned fingerprint, which is unique to everyone. On the same note, an authority can get the data anywhere using any device so long as he or she has the correct format of secured access. Through the online system, it is also easier to observe the use of the database because a person can see who is online in the database and what they are doing. As such, anyone feeding in false information may be seen as well as the one who lets a third party have some information from the database. In some instances, the security of the information is improved to the extent that the system automatically logs itself out after some time or blocks after a number of attempts to access it with the wrong password. Additionally, the management can use the online systems to back up the information or use things such as external hard disks or flash disks for the activity. Backing up information saves the data in multiple copies in different places so that if it gets lost within the computer, another copy can be accessed (Willcocks, 42).
The computerized information management system also saves finances, time and increases the privacy of the information when the original or actual owner of the information is the one filling in the data (Laudon, & Laudon, 61). The academic data management will only need to generate first login passwords for the users. After logging in, every user will be prompted to reset the password to combinations only known to himself or herself. He or she will then be able to fill in the relevant information and update his or her records as time goes by. This development is helpful because it also facilitates anonymity in cases where the school secretary has little information about the staff. In this case, the data base will provide necessary information.
The second advantage of the computer technology in education is that it has facilitated learning. In the olden days, learning only took place in the physical classrooms where the students and their instructor had to be physically present in order for learning to take place. As such, distant learning met significant challenges while online learning was unimaginable. However, through the application of computer technology, learning can take place online where students and their teachers attend virtual classes (Shalev-Shwartz, 108). Online learning has tremendously reduced the cost of education saving the students the travel finances. It has also improved the management of learning time. Not everyone must be online at the same time to attend the classes. Everyone enjoys the freedom of getting to class at their conveniences so long as they are within the program schedule. The students can take their assessment tests online and access their results through the system (Shalev-Shwartz, 159). The commonest methods of computerized or online learning include Moodle and canvas. Only a password is needed in order to access the class materials and communicate with the instructor or other students. As such, it has made learning cheaper, more convenient and interesting unlike if the learner was required to attend the classes physically in person.
The third benefit of the computer technology in education is that it has introduced a new study area in the schools. In the previous days, hardly anyone was directly pursuing a program or taking a course that was computer-related. However, in the modern days, there are classes specifically designed for teaching and learning computer units. Students have graduated with certifications of various levels in computer engineering, computer software, business management with IT (information technology), and computerized information studies among others due to the innovation of the computer technology (Fink, 19). In the modern education, the computer technology is applicable to every learning program in education, medicine, public health, business, finance, administration, and international relations to mention but a few. The learning has been a great opportunity for the world because it is one of the reasons why the computer industry continues advancing. Computer-related studies have been crucial to the development of the globe in information access, management, and transmission.
Still in learning, the computer technology advancement has facilitated the delivery of instructional materials. The education sector started with the use of chalk and chalkboards. The teacher would write on board, then wipe it when done or when it is filled up. The era was followed by the white boards and the use of marker pens, which made learning a little modernized. With the advent of the computer technology and its application in learning, the instructor can now develop slides using either offline technologies such as PowerPoint or online methods such as slide-share to deliver the learning content. The use of computer technology in learning is convenient because the instructor is allowed to project his or her education materials on a white board by the use of a VGA cable connected to a projector (Fink, 33). The instructor can also share the notes with the learners for their studies later in the day.
The fifth advantage of the computer technology is in the administration of the education facilities and the sector at large. Academic management includes a number of things such as ensuring that the instructors and learners attend their class sessions as required, placing the learner in the most appropriate class, checking on the assessment of the learners, and employing the right people to serve in the learning institutions in the most appropriate dockets. When the management of an academic institution is done manually, there tend to be lapses in reporting (Fatile 122). Some lazy workers or students cannot get to school for their various duties; yet, they claim to have attended their sessions. Some of them may report having attended earlier and left late while in truth, the exact opposite happened. As such, it becomes hard in managing the human resources and learners. However, when the management uses a computerized system, it is hard to manipulate the reporting and leaving times without the assistance of a computer expert (Liu, & Qianli 144). As such, it makes the human resources and students truthful, which helps in reducing the attendance lapses. Through the computerized management of the learning institutions, the learners can communicate with the administration online, access their grades using the Internet, and make complaints in good time. The computerized technology also allows for the performance of the psychological testing and measuring online or offline but with the use of a computer technology. Psychometric tests help in placing the learner in the right class and effectively addressing his or her needs. Inasmuch as the assessments can be done manually by the use of printed tests, the computer-based tests are more effective. At some point, the results are instant, which expedites the process of placing the learner in the best fitting class. When the tests are available online, the school, parents, and student can discuss the scores without even having to meet physically, which cuts further the costs associated with the assessments (Fatile, 122). The computerized management of the schools can also involve the recruitment of personnel, where advertisements are made online, applications are done on the school website, and the recruitment processes follow up to a point when the school administration and the prospective employee have to meet physically. Such an organization saves the time and resources for every involved party.
Lastly, academic research is one area that has benefited significantly due to the advancement of the computerized system and its application in the education sector (Faltermeier, Proescholdt, & Brawanski 35). The development of the study topic can be done using the computer programs such as mind-maps and argument maps. Freemind and argumentative are two programs that are useful in developing the study topic. The literature search and management can also be made using the computer technology. The online computerized academic libraries are speedily replacing the physical facilities. One can nowadays get a peer reviewed material online, download it into his or her computer, and refer to it in developing his or her study. Programs such as Mendeley and Zotero help in organizing and reviewing the downloaded or online literature. In data collection, computerized programs such as the open data kit, REDCap, survey monkey, tangerine, and Google Form have taken over the paper-based questionnaires. Faltermeier, Proescholdt, and Brawanski (37) show that data analysis can nowadays be done more conveniently by using the computer technologies such as the statistical package for social scientists, NViVO, and atlast i.
However, the advancement of the computer technology has also come with a number of disadvantages to the education sector. In the information management area within the education sector, the computerization of the data system has opened room for advanced breach of confidentiality. Cybercrime and the trading on information or intelligence have become rampant where the computer gurus hack into the systems of various institutions as steal information for personal gains (Willcocks, 48). The computer experts even access the information stored in the cloud, which is an online storage system in computerized information technology. Still in the data management, the development of the computerized databases needs the expertise of the computer gurus. As such, it is an expensive thing that can cost the school so much money in creating and managing. Thirdly, the computerized or virtual learning is not as effective as the face-to-face real-time interactions between the instructor and the student that occur in the class sessions that involve physically meeting. There are certain learning activities that are easier instructed and learned in the face-to-face interactions: for example, the learning of technical topics such as the building an open data kit, developing a Microsoft Excel database, and learning a complex mathematical operation among others (Rutten, Wouter & Jan, 150). As such, the use of computer technology to teach the technical subjects is disadvantageous to the student, particularly if he or she is not a fast learner. Lastly, someone can use the computerized school administration system for personal gains if he or she hacks into it or is an authority with the password to access the website (Liu, & Qianli, 149). For example, he or she may produce doctored results for some learners or have certificates produced for people who never attended the classes. There have been cases of fake certificates over where people got awards for the programs they never enrolled for or pursued.
Conclusion
Deducing from both the works-cited and works-consulted, it is worth concluding that inasmuch as there are some serious crimes and inadequacies associated with the advancement and application of the computer technology in the education sector, the benefits derived from it quite extensively outdo the disadvantages. The computer technology is a powerful development, which is highly important in the education sector. It has made the access and provision of the education services easier, more convenient, and cheaper. It has also made the records and data management section more organized
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 3, column 1, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...unities for every part of the world. The computer system consists of two major p...
^^^
Line 3, column 96, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...include the hardware and software ones. The hardware part of the computer technolog...
^^^
Line 7, column 878, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'records'' or 'record's'?
Suggestion: records'; record's
...uter system centralizes the educational records management to a given database used by ...
^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 762, Rule ID: HE_VERB_AGR[1]
Message: The pronoun 'anyone' must be used with a third-person verb: 'feeds'.
Suggestion: feeds
...nd what they are doing. As such, anyone feeding in false information may be seen as wel...
^^^^^^^
Line 14, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...ill provide necessary information. The second advantage of the computer tec...
^^^
Line 15, column 687, Rule ID: AFFORD_VB[1]
Message: This verb is used with the infinitive: 'to time'
Suggestion: to time
...lso improved the management of learning time. Not everyone must be online at the sam...
^^^^
Line 15, column 1054, Rule ID: AFFORD_VB[1]
Message: This verb is used with the infinitive: 'to include'
Suggestion: to include
...hods of computerized or online learning include Moodle and canvas. Only a password is n...
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Line 19, column 1, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Still,
...ccess, management, and transmission. Still in learning, the computer technology ad...
^^^^^
Line 19, column 263, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...e it when done or when it is filled up. The era was followed by the white boards an...
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Line 22, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...or their studies later in the day. The fifth advantage of the computer tech...
^^^
Line 23, column 1, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...their studies later in the day. The fifth advantage of the computer technol...
^^^
Line 27, column 630, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Still,
...in computerized information technology. Still in the data management, the development...
^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, firstly, however, if, lastly, look, may, second, secondly, so, still, then, third, thirdly, well, while, for example, in addition, in fact, such as, as well as, in most cases, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 80.0 13.1623246493 608% => Less to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 45.0 7.85571142285 573% => Less auxiliary verb wanted.
Conjunction : 128.0 10.4138276553 1229% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 54.0 7.30460921844 739% => Less relative clauses wanted (maybe 'which' is over used).
Pronoun: 115.0 24.0651302605 478% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 325.0 41.998997996 774% => Less preposition wanted.
Nominalization: 136.0 8.3376753507 1631% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 14993.0 1615.20841683 928% => Less number of characters wanted.
No of words: 2797.0 315.596192385 886% => Less content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.36038612799 5.12529762239 105% => OK
Fourth root words length: 7.27232227619 4.20363070211 173% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.0804788841 2.80592935109 110% => OK
Unique words: 929.0 176.041082164 528% => Less unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.332141580265 0.561755894193 59% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 4753.8 506.74238477 938% => syllable counts are too long.
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.60771543086 106% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 23.0 5.43587174349 423% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 67.0 2.52805611222 2650% => Less articles wanted as sentence beginning.
Subordination: 16.0 2.10420841683 760% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 22.0 0.809619238477 2717% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 23.0 4.76152304609 483% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 125.0 16.0721442886 778% => Too many sentences.
Sentence length: 22.0 20.2975951904 108% => OK
Sentence length SD: 55.9110356191 49.4020404114 113% => OK
Chars per sentence: 119.944 106.682146367 112% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.376 20.7667163134 108% => OK
Discourse Markers: 1.688 7.06120827912 24% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 13.0 4.38176352705 297% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 12.0 5.01903807615 239% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 58.0 8.67935871743 668% => Less positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 20.0 3.9879759519 502% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 47.0 3.4128256513 1377% => Less facts, knowledge or examples wanted.
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.134815248649 0.244688304435 55% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0298832044441 0.084324248473 35% => Sentence topic similarity is low.
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0358624768124 0.0667982634062 54% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0746651108556 0.151304729494 49% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0412779279402 0.056905535591 73% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.0 13.0946893788 115% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 40.69 50.2224549098 81% => OK
smog_index: 11.2 7.44779559118 150% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.1 11.3001002004 116% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.1 12.4159519038 114% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.98 8.58950901804 93% => OK
difficult_words: 576.0 78.4519038076 734% => Less difficult words wanted.
linsear_write_formula: 12.5 9.78957915832 128% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.8 10.1190380762 107% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 10.7795591182 102% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Maximum five paragraphs wanted.
Rates: 56.1797752809 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 5.0 Out of 9
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.