A technological tool is any device, process or system used to achieve some practical goal. It includes both tangible tools like utensils and machines, as well as intangible systems such as software and knowledge. Modern technologies are often complex, requiring sophisticated general and specific training to design, build, maintain and use. They contribute to human welfare through economic development, improved comfort and quality of life, medical progress, and social progress. However, they can also have negative effects such as pollution or technological unemployment resulting from automation.
Unlike science, which focuses on necessity and universality, technology must necessarily prioritize some routes and endpoints and neglect others. It is not neutral, but rather endorses some moral slant or system and helps perpetuate it. As an example, as digital cameras proliferated, they deprioritized the pathway of analog photography, with its inefficient but gratifying workflows and painstaking culture of physically retouching photographs for hours.
The benefits of using technology in the classroom include increasing student engagement, providing access to resources at a twenty-four hour rate and making assignments more fun. For instance, a tikbot animation assignment can be more engaging for students than a standard lab report on the finer points of creating boric acid slime. Additionally, it can save time for teachers, who are less likely to misplace or forget an online assignment than a physical one. It can even help students with disabilities because they can use voice recording apps to complete tests and assignments, or computers that can read their writing for them.
