Do you use technology to keep records?

Technology is all around us and there's no avoiding it even if we wanted to. But who wants to? The use of computers has made many of our mundane tasks quicker and easier, and in many cases more accurate. Record keeping is just one example. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of teachers use technology to keep records. Many teachers have a computer in their classroom not only for student use, but for their own convenience as well.

The option also exists to record student marks or report card grades from the comfort of your own home. Simply save to a memory stick and upload to the school computer later. Convenience at your fingertips. The use of ledgers and notebooks to keep a running tally of student grades and assignments is a thing of the past. Once all the information is entered, the computer (and your backup memory stick) will keep everything safe and sound, without the inconvenience of all those loose sheets of paper flying about.

In years gone by, there was a possibility of miscalculation of student grades. Well, don't think that computers and technology fix everything because they don't. The data you enter needs to be accurate for the end result to be correct. It's a lot easier to hit the wrong number on a computer keyboard than it is to physically write the wrong one down. So computers don't do the work for you and they are only as good as the data that's entered.

Despite their failings, computers are here to stay and teachers, along with the rest of society, should embrace them. If we never tried new things or learned to use the latest techniques, teachers would still be writing on a blackboard while their students copied lessons with their slates. Technology is here to make our lives easier and more convenient. As long as we keep in mind that more things go wrong with computers due to operator error than anything else, we should be okay. Let the computer store the records and do the calculations. A memory stick sure takes up a lot less room than a stack of ledgers.