by Gabriella Martin

Created on: April 11, 2009   Last Updated: August 16, 2010

Schools have changed a lot since the days of paddleboard books and one-room schoolhouses. Digital technology has arrived and is here to stay. Very few school supply lists will not include some sort of required digital supply. Don't be surprised to see any of these items in a student's backpack this year.

Digital Book Readers

In the past two years, digital readers have gained mainstream popularity. It is only a matter of time before students are issued digital readers and provided their textbooks for the year on the reader. These readers will do more than lessen the load in a backpack. They will give students the opportunity to take notes and highlight in the book. This will enable students to better learn material in their own learning style. These readers will also read the book to students, allowing students with lower reading levels greater access to material.

Digital Music Players

There are few students out there without some sort of digital music player. These can be used in new and innovative ways in the classroom. Audio books can be downloaded to these players. Students can listen to the material, allowing auditory learners more success with each book. Teachers can create podcasts of lectures to reach more students. Or students with disabilities can have a test read into the player, allowing them to listen to the test at their own pace.

Flash Drives

Remember floppy disks? If a student wasn't careful, it was pretty easy to destroy one of those in a backpack. They also didn't hold a lot of information. Today's flash drives have enough memory for all of high school and part of college. It is easy to retrieve a paper started at home so a student can work on it in school. Easily portable, they slip into a pocket or hang from a lanyard.

iPads

This new technology is so popular that some colleges are giving them to incoming freshman. With the ability to look up information on the Internet, to the amazing number of applications that can be downloaded, iPads may soon be a requirement for college students. The number of learning applications will only be limited by developers imaginations.

Computers

Typing a report has changed drastically from twenty years ago. Many of us remember using a typewriter with the correction ribbon. If we needed to write a second draft, we were required to type the paper all over again. Today, students can create and recreate a paper as many times as needed on a computer. If a school is networked, students can save their work on a computer in one room, then work on it in a totally different room. Retyping an entire paper is a thing of the past as entire paragraphs can be copied and pasted into new areas.

Technology will continue to change the world and education. We will all have to work hard to continue to educate students in this digital age.

Learn more about this author, Gabriella Martin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.