Impact of Digital technology on Education

Abstract

Traditionally education is centred on sources such as schools, teachers and print media. The learners reached the information sources by enrolling with schools, teachers and libraries. Prior to the digital era, information was not accessible by the majority of people, and even those accessed were unable to obtain current information with respect to today’s context. The modern society wants to know the information as it happens and when it happens, and the world is moving from an information society to a knowledge society. Thus education is given the highest priority and brainpower is becoming the most valuable asset of an organisation. Advances in digital technology have opened up many avenues of learning. Technology has made information accessible / transmittable from anywhere and by / to all groups of people. Education has reached most parts of the world and ICT has become an integral part of human life. This paper describes the process of generation, creation and acquisition of knowledge through the technology. The use of ICT to manage and organise explicit knowledge is highlighted. The paper also describes how technology is used to access and apply such knowledge. The paper relates how these technologies have been used in education and its impact in general. Using examples the paper highlights some of the changes that has taken placed in the Sri Lankan education sector.