Technology Through the Schooling Years

              It is difficult to pinpoint a specific moment in my life that computers and technology have impacted my education. Every moment of my schooling has been impacted by a computer program, grading system, or an app. It is however, more clear to decipher how technology has changed throughout the years as I have gone to school. From kindergarten to my sophomore year of college many advancements have occurred. 
              My first experiences in elementary school dealing with technology started in the computer lab: keyboarding. Cardboard boxes were placed over our little hands (so we couldn't peek) as we typed the letters that appeared on the screen. Granted, the programs used were quite underdeveloped, but to inexperienced minds such as ours, it was the most exciting hour of the whole day! Little did I know the hours spent learning the keyboard would benefit my education, and later career, for years to come. 
              My next major experience dealing with computers came a few years later in middle school when I began writing my first few papers for English class. It seems like such a simple concept to anyone who has grown up knowing the process of printing a document. However, to create something on a computer and then to hold it physically in your hands moments later is a remarkable invention! This is the process I went through for every English assignment I was given from then on. Later in high school this became a much more common practice. Due to the ability to save documents to the computer I could take my draft to AP English class, have a fellow classmate scribble over it so I could take it home, make corrections to it, and turn it in the next day. 
              Now that I am in college, advanced research projects are the norm and using the Internet is not only the most effective method, but it the ONLY method to research topics and create a final project.  My first semester of college I faced a new challenge: memorizing vast amounts of information in a single week, consecutively, for nearly fifteen weeks. I knew it was possible, but only with the correct resources. Soon after the semester began I found an app that allowed me to make electronic flash cards. Whenever I had a moment I could take my phone out, which is constantly attached to our sides today, and study the flash cards for my upcoming test.  Not only were the cards saved to my iPhone, but   I have also found it helpful and efficient to record in-class lectures and re listen to them at convenient times throughout the day. 
              To be a college student means you either become competent in computer usage or... well there is no other option! For example, in order for me to turn in this assignment on time I used my iPhone to type up the document and post it to a blog. Every step of this assignment involves technology. 
              It is difficult to comprehend how a single individual was educated 30 years ago. It involved library books, scratch paper, pencils, and typewriters. Without technology, I feel my form of education would be very limited and a slow process. Today there is no excuse for students who need to learn about life in Zimbabwe, or how to determine the amount of calcium in blood. The resources are unlimited and can be found nearly everywhere we go.