Since the dawn of civilization, technology has been making huge leaps and bounds. In the blink of an eye, humans went from rubbing two sticks together to create fire to creating fully functioning electric cars. The classroom is no different. But is it for better or for worse?

The average classroom hasn’t been exempt from the rapid growth of technology. From pencils to styluses, chalkboards to smart-boards and tablets. These are just some examples of how technology has changed in the classroom. However, they all come as a double-edged sword.

Modern day college students have the entirety of humanity’s knowledge at their fingertips. Within a couple of key clicks, students could be gathering knowledge in mere minutes, saving what would have taken others in the past days or weeks.

Along with the plethora of knowledge, there are also new collaborative opportunities that previously did not exist. For example, a group paper. Previously, students would have to either all meet together to write the paper, or, keep handing off unfinished copies, one person adding onto the next. Now, a team member can set up a Google Doc, and within minutes, everyone can be writing on the same document, hassle free.

But that’s all just about the students. What about the teachers? Teachers can now (almost) seamlessly integrate software into their classrooms. If a teacher wants to get a quick poll of the class or give a pop quiz, all they have to do is put out a TopHat question. Along with this, students now have access to educational licenses of powerful softwares that allow teachers to create lesson plans that tailor more to hands-on learning. It’s one thing to learn about coding, but it’s another to be able to do it outside of the classroom.

Obviously, those are just a few of the great benefits technology can bring to the classroom for both teachers and students.

However, there is also a dark side.

One of the most common downsides to the increase in technology in the classroom is distractions. For example, how often have you been trying to pay attention in a lecture, just to see that the student in front of you is playing a game on their computer? Now that’s all you can concentrate on.

And that is just your stereotypical distraction. What about ones that aren’t meant to be distractions at all? Say you’re trying to take notes on your tablet and you get a notification. Before you know it, you’re on Facebook and didn’t listen to a word of lecture.

Another negative is that not every student has access to technology. Some students spend hours upon hours in a computer lab trying to do the work others might have completed during class on their laptop.

In the end, it’s easy to see the massive benefits bringing technology into the classroom has as well as its potential downsides. Just like in life, everything is beneficial in moderation, even with the benefits and pitfalls that could arise while using it.