New Information Technologies as a Means of Increasing the Efficiency of Students’ Cognitive Activity

When it comes to studying, your entire success depends on your conscious intellectual activity, which is also often referred to as cognitive ability.

Students of all ages rely on their cognitive ability a lot while being at school, college or university. This ability is engaged throughout every step of your academic path to help you receive and retain knowledge, as well as handle a variety of everyday academic tasks.

In the modern world, technologies have long become a big part of our lives. Now, there is a theory that new information technologies might harm people’s and especially teens’ cognitive ability. But is it really so? In fact, new information technologies have the potential to be used for increasing the efficiency of students’ cognitive activity. In this article, we are going to look at this matter closely. Let’s dive in!

What Is Cognitive Activity?

Before we move on and discuss how the new information technologies can affect the efficiency of students’ cognitive activity, let’s quickly define the term itself.

In a nutshell, the word “cognitive” is used when talking about something related to intellectual activity. Respectively, the term “cognitive activity” can refer to any high-level intellectual activity, such as learning, decision making, comprehension, problem-solving, reasoning, etc.

With that being said, it is needless to explain why developing one’s cognitive ability is vital.

Let’s look at an example here. When you are writing a standard essay, you are using your cognitive activity to its fullest. This ability is utilized at every stage of the process, from researching and analyzing resources to providing arguments in your paper. Thus, if your cognitive ability is weak, handling the assignment will be way too tough. Of course, you could entrust this task to a professional cheap essay writing service and get a guaranteed high grade with minimum effort. Still, you will need this ability further on, which is why developing it is a must.

The Role of Information Technologies in Students’ Cognitive Activity

So, can new information technologies actually improve students’ cognitive activity? Or do they do more harm than good?

Ever since the Internet and technology have rooted into all different spheres of our lives (including education), there have been a lot of disputes concerning their effect on young minds and their academic performance. And while there are still many people who are against the use of technology for education, some benefits can’t be doubted.

First and foremost, information technologies provide plenty of opportunities for gaining new information, which is the most important part of cognition. The Internet and various technologies have provided students with free access to millions of informational resources, thus, making their cognitive activity more efficient.

Also, new information technologies are proven to stimulate critical thinking. This is especially true if we are talking about the Internet. While we all know that the biggest part of the web is full of false information, this actually serves as the great ground for helping students develop their cognition. When conducting research on the Internet, students are forced to critically assess and analyze every source of information that comes along their way. Thus, they stimulate critical thinking and enhance the efficiency of their cognitive ability.

Apart from this, technology is also proven to help students develop a whole range of valuable skills, including research, analytical, creative, and reflective skills. These are not all the skills that can be developed with the help of information technologies. However, each of these plays an imperative role in one’s cognitive activity, which is another way how technologies can be used for its enhancement.

All these factors indicate that new informational technologies really have the potential to boost students’ cognitive abilities and help them learn faster, better, and easier. Of course, only if used right.

However, that’s not all. Apart from helping students increase the efficiency of their cognitive activity, the use of new information technologies in education also has many other perks. Namely, some of the biggest advantages include:

• The use of technology in the classroom excites students, thus, boosting their engagement in various learning activities;
• Learning to use technology for various tasks, students become better prepared for the future;
• Information technologies provide plenty of opportunities for spontaneous learning, enabling students to learn something new on the go.

The Bottom Line

So, now you should have a better idea of how technologies affect students’ cognitive activity, as well as their overall engagement and performance in schools.

Of course, apart from the benefits, there are still some drawbacks that are hard to ignore. To name a few, many people believe that information technologies can distract students and rid them of the opportunities for socialization.

Nevertheless, all the benefits of using new information technologies for education make us believe that this is the future of education. All we need to do is to learn how to use it right!

Author’s Bio: Tutor John W. is an expert academic helper from EssayService. Having a degree in psychology, John has always been interested in discovering human cognitive activity and the effects that various factors have on it. In this post, he shares his thoughts on the use of new information technologies for increasing cognitive activity in students.