Technology in the Educational and Medical Field: The Benefits of Technology for Education and Medicine

Zachary Sylvester ENGL2116-002 Professor D. Bosley November 28, 2011

ABSTRACT :
This report covers the benefits of technology in the medical field and in the education field. The research conducted shows that the use of technology is helping our society develop in many positive ways and allows us to push beyond barriers that we would have never dreamed of providing solutions to health problems and solutions to problems dealing with education.

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Table of Contents

Introduction:

Page 3

Methodology:

Page 4

Results:

Page 4

Discussion:

Page 6

Conclusion:

Page 6

Appendix:

Page 7

Annotated Bibliography:

Page 8

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INTRODUCTION:
Health Technology and medical technology is being used on a daily basis to provide better health and improving our lives. Scientists and doctors are achieving medical breakthroughs everyday with the help and availability of technology in the medical field. New inventions are being created and being tested with control units to ensure not only the safety of the patients but also to provide the best possible result from the technology applied. Definitions involving technology that are in the medical field: Health Technologyany intervention that may be used to promote health, to prevent, diagnose or treat disease or for rehabilitation or long-term care. Medical Technologyextends and improves life. Medicalof or relating to the study or practice of medicine. Hapticsis the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. Controlany means of promoting positive outcomes, reducing negative outcomes, managing risk or otherwise achieving some other organizational objective, including policies, procedures, guidelines, practices, organizational structures, and software/hardware functionality.

Educational technology and instructional technology is creating a better way of educating students of all ages. New technology is being created to provide ease of use and provide better ways of learning in the educational field that will greatly benefit our society for the greater good. With educational technology students are able to learn at a faster pace and are able to enjoy learning which produces the outcome of the students learning and opening the doors for them to achieve many goals such as receiving a college degree. Definitions involving technology that are in the educational field: Interneta vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide. The internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols. Educational technologyis the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. Instructional technologyis the theory and practice or design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. E-booksa digital textbook that is merely a PDF on a tablet.

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METHODOLOGY:
The problem in question that needs to be assessed is what technology is doing to benefit the medical and educational field. To being assessing the problem it is important to come up with procedures to solve the problem. Procedures for solving how technology benefits the medical field: Determine technology being used now in the medical field. Determine what the current technology does. Determine whether the technology is necessary. Assess whether technology is benefiting the medical field.

Procedures for solving how technology benefits the educational field: Determine the types of technology being used in the educational field. Determine what the current technology does. Determine if the technology is necessary to succeed. Assess whether technology is benefiting the educational field.

After determining the procedures that are needed to see whether technology is beneficial in the educational and medical field it is important to collect the results and then determine the final solution on whether or not technology is beneficial in the medical field.

RESULTS:
Medical Field: While researching technology that is being used in the medical field I found many examples of technology that is benefiting the medical field. There are many forms of technology that are being used in the medical field such as devices that can discover medical disorders, technology such as artificial limbs, and even technology that allows operations such as laser eye surgery. The current technology that is being used is beneficial to the medical field whether it is improving someones health or saving lives. Some examples of current technology would be an x-ray device that allows a doctor to see the exoskeleton of someones body. This could determine whether a persons bone is broken or to determine something such as if there is an object located in a persons body. X-rays are also being used in the dental field to help solve problems such as fixing teeth or finding out what is causing pain in the mouth. Artificial limbs are an important technology in the medical field. Artificial limbs allow people such as veterans who lost limbs in combat to walk again or even use their hand again. Technology is currently being used for personal operations such as laser eye surgery or even laser hair removal. Current technology is improving everyday allowing more medical breakthroughs to take place. The technology that is being used in the medical field is necessary for most part to provide better health options and to help cure or prevent health disorders. It would be hard to imagine what the medical field would be like without the technology being used today and it may even be hard to get by without using it.

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Such technology that is necessary in todays time would be the shots preventing illnesses such as small pox or even the simplest of technologies such as meters for diabetics that check the sugar level. Educational Field: While researching technology that is being used in the educational field I found many examples of technology that is benefiting the educational field. There are many forms of technology that are being used in the educational field such as laptops/computers, tablets, software that allow you to learn faster, and even the simple things such as projectors used in a class room. The current technology being used for the educational field is beneficial for all age groups. The simplest of technologies are beneficial such as the leap frogs for the young children. The leap frogs allow kids to do simple mathematical operations, chooses between colors, or even learn to count. Apple is also changing the way children learn at young ages by using apps on the Ipad. Apps could teach a child to speak different languages, learn to count, do math, and even learn to read. The Ipad and leapfrog provide a fun and interesting way for children to learn in a safe environment. Schools are even incorporating the Ipads learning capabilities by providing class room sets for all age groups and grade levels. Laptops are being used every day by students especially in college. Laptops allow students to take notes, record a lecture, or even complete group projects. The simplest of things such as projectors provide ease of learning and teaching in the classroom. Projectors allow teachers to provide a teaching style that allows students to learn faster by allowing the lectures to incorporate pictures or even graphs to represent data. This allows the students to comprehend the lecture more and allows the knowledge to be easier retainable. Even technologies such as e-books are beneficial because it allows students to have their textbooks on the go whether it is on their laptop or on their pc tablet. Most of the technology that is used in the educational field is necessary but it would depend on the grade level or the teacher. Most kids who are in third grade are not going to class with laptops to take notes, but at the higher grade levels one is sure to have to have access to technology to be able to complete some of their schoolwork. The amount of technology classes being taught at grade level schools is increasing due to the requirement for technology not only in the outside world but for school as well. Technology is very important for those who attend college because some form of technology is going to be used in almost every class whether it is writing a paper or completing a programming assignment. It is safe to say that technology is a requirement for the educational field. Medical and Educational Field: Technology is benefiting the educational and medical field, but it is important to understand how the technologies in both fields benefit one another. The technology in the educational field allows students to learn the material for the medical field faster and easier so that they are better prepared for their job in the medical field. Such technology could be used for surgeons to allow them to operate on a virtual human or technology to learn the makeup of the human body without actually having to look in someones body. Technology in the medical field can also benefit the educational field in ways such as providing hearing aids for students. Technology from the medical field can allow students with disabilities to learn as well and to receive an education.

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DISCUSSION:
The overall results of the project lean towards technology being beneficial for the educational and medical field. Technology allows us to do things that we would of never dreamed possible in these fields and we are increasing what we can do with technology every day. With technology in the medical field we are saving lives and increasing the duration of life by improving our overall health. In the educational field we are creating an opportunity to receive a better education and to allow kids to learn at an earlier age quicker than ever before. Technologies in both fields cooperate with one another to achieve better results and to learn from one another to improve the technology.

CONCLUSION:
In conclusion technologies in both the educational and medical fields are beneficial in many ways. Our society continues to grow and develop with the help of these technologies and it would be difficult to get by without them. Technology in the medical field is increasing our life duration due to the fact that we are able to cure or treat medical conditions that we were not able in the past. Technology in the educational field is allowing us to learn quicker at a younger age and is helping us develop the tools necessary to develop other technology such as in the medical field. The technologies in both fields continue to grow and it will be astounding at what we are going to be able to accomplish in the future.

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APPENDIX
Graph 1

http://www.healthcare-schools-online.com/Images/charts/clt-ProjectedGrowth.jpg

Graph 2 Shows the use of the internet for instruction through time

http://www.edweek.org/media/2005/05/05/35tracking-c5.gif

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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Purpose: The purpose of the annotated bibliography is to summarize the article and to obtain and record information that I could use in my paper. "Health Care Technology Today." PT in Motion 3.2 (2011): 36-40. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. Summary: The article Health Care Technology Today expresses ideas of technology that have been in development or have already developed that positively impact health care. The article expresses ideas of technology such as reading brain waves to answer simply questions such as yes and no that would be beneficial to those who have had a stroke or are paralyzed. The article also gave detail to simple things such as apps that can be used on a users phone that can help improve ones health. How I can use this article: This article would be beneficial to my research topic because it focuses on technology that is being developed that can have a positive impact on health care. The information about the technology that can read brain waves to answer questions would be great in my paper to explain how technology is allowing those with disorders to still interact with someone with basic questions. Also the information on the applications for the phone would be beneficial because it shows how applications from technology can help improve ones health whether its pushing on the user to run more or provides them with a great workout ethic. This article shows the importance of the need to continue the growth of medical technology.