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CC Licensed Photo by Patrick Harrigan ((Harrigan, Patrick. “Koslanda Rural Knowledge Center.”Flickr. N.p., 25 Oct 2007. Web. 15 May 2010. <http://bit.ly/9QFQ50>.)) |
A recent study by BCS, a research firm in the UK, finds that on average people are happier with access to information technology (networked, digital, and abundant information). Reporting about the study in Mashable, Jennifer Van Gove wrote that’
..information technology (i.e. Internet access) increases their sense of freedom by 15% and improves their overall well-being. Altogether, our life satisfaction increases by 10% when we have IT access, the study concludes. ((Van grove, Jennifer. “The Web Makes the World Happier.” Mashable. 15 May 2010. Web. 15 May 2010.))
The study, The Information Divident: Can IT make you happier?, represents data collected from 35,000 respondents around the world. Van Grove mentions the fact the past studies have indicated that increased wealth does not correlate to greater happiness contrasting what many might see as a relationship between wealth and technology. BCS argues, according to the Mashable article, that increased happiness happens because “IT helps to promote and enable empowerment and autonomy.” This rings true to me, that empowerment trumps enrichment.
I think that this may be good news for schools that are trying to keep students enrolled and engaged in learning, and to retain good teachers. Empower them with information technologies, which are, for most of us, standard contemporary and assumed tools.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Carter Lake Dr,Omaha,United States
Great observation. In your last paragraph you stated that it may be good news for schools that are trying to keep students enrolled and engaged in learning, and to retain good teachers. What about parents in this equation? I would imagine that if we could provide a significant context of empowerment to parents of/and students, that empowerment may result in significant improvements in learning and in the learning environment. The same may hold true for community stakeholders. … standard, contemporary, and assumed tools… yet another extensive discussion!
Nice article. I’ve actually worked for the bsc. It’s a small world. 🙂
Interesting findings. This sounds encouraging.
Great post. I found a great non-profit that has been helping disadvantaged school districts and has had many success stories improving student achievement in Math, SAT and ACT including Collier County, FL and St. Landry Parish, LA. Their site is http://www.cyberlearning.org. CyberLearning also offers Technology courses that many schools could find useful.
Precisely. I don’t get it why people are so against the use of IT when the IT’s impact in our society even in the teaching industry is so vast, the academic advantagee had been apparent.