The impact of technology on various fields



Technology has made such a significant contribution to today's world that we can't imagine our lives without it. Although people continue to debate whether technology has a positive or negative influence on our lives, areas such as education, the environment, and medicine continue to progress with the help of technology.

Education

Modern technologies have increased access to education. Nowadays, various online courses, platforms, and YouTube videos allow people to expand their expertise or perhaps start a new career. Despite the quarantine, individuals continued to obtain knowledge in schools, colleges, and other educational centers. Moreover, technology benefits people, who are frequently overlooked.

Teachers have one of the most overburdened professions: they don't only educate students but also prepare material for the lesson, evaluate students' work, communicate with parents, and additionally spend time filling out various forms, which often leads to burnout and lack of interest in their work. According to The Guardian, 87 % of teachers say that the heavy workload is one of the most demotivating factors.

Learning Management System (LMS) collects all teaching materials for students in one system and contains a variety of features to facilitate the work of teachers. Technology aids educators in developing study materials in different forms, which greatly benefits students in understanding concepts of subjects. Teachers are offered various assessment options, including quizzes, multiple-choice tests, and the completion of academic content, making evaluation of students' performance easier. Personal feedback from a teacher can be sent to the parents' page, reducing the need for educators to speak with parents about the learner's performance. The LMS helps teachers to focus more on teaching students and simplifies their regular tasks.

According to the LSE Business Review, children with disabilities are significantly less likely to complete their primary education, and people with disabilities are 50 % less likely to find jobs.

Technology benefits kids with disabilities by removing the need to go to school and allowing them to study at home, where their family members can also take care of them. Grand Canyon University notes, «Many students who receive special education can benefit from technology that helps them write, spell, read and do mathematical computation. Word processors can point out spelling mistakes to students. Adaptive readers highlight text or read aloud to students so they can research and use websites like their peers using technology». Thus, modern technology creates conditions for people with disabilities and helps them get an education.

Environment

Taking care of the environment is everyone's responsibility because the state of the environment has a direct impact on human health and the world around us. The ecosystem is imbalanced due to increasing temperatures, water levels, and emissions.

Climate change is one of the most urgent problems of the modern world since it can lead to more natural disasters, rising temperatures, droughts, and so on. For example, the average global temperature has risen by approximately 1.8°F (1.0°C) since the late 19th century. Understanding the climate is becoming more challenging as a result of these substantial changes, but technology can help to understand and even predict climate changes in the future.

Climate models help us today in modeling climate change and foreseeing potential changes. Since the 1980s, scientists have used algorithms to collect vast quantities of data to predict increasing global temperatures. Climate models use data from previous climate changes and feasible greenhouse gas trajectories to predict the changes that may occur on Earth. Thus, models can assist us in determining the causes of climate change, if it is driven by the impact of people or naturally occurs, and provide insight into how humans' actions or natural conditions affect the climate now and will in the future.

Different climate changes, such as rising temperatures and lack of precipitation, cause droughts. Drought damages farmers' production and, most importantly, the environment due to inefficient land management.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a technology that can store data and utilize information to aid farmers in making smart production decisions. Different tools, such as drones, aircraft, and satellites, gather information about the land by capturing photos, which are then merged with a map and other data. Before planting a crop, farmers examine a variety of factors: soil and slope characteristics, drainage, topography, nutrient status, crop position, and so on. Using GIS, farmers can cultivate only specified areas, monitor the state of crops, and avoid infestation, which results in minimizing the negative impact on the environment, cutting expenses, and increasing land productivity.

Medicine

According to the ILO, 56 % of people living in rural areas don't have access to necessary healthcare services. One of the reasons for these figures is the shortage of doctors in these regions: only 23 % of the world's health workforce operates in rural areas.

Telemedicine allows people to consult with a doctor from a distance using a phone, laptop, or other communication devices. This technology is advantageous because it eliminates the need for people to spend money and time traveling to hospitals for medical care or consultation, which may be especially beneficial for people who live in rural areas or, for example, those who have family members who require care. Furthermore, telemedicine prevents individuals from being in waiting rooms. Overall, consulting with doctors online leads to better health because access to doctors is enhanced and people can get care regularly.

Medical professionals study for years to serve people; however, their dedication to improving people's lives can be extinguished abruptly by workplace burnout. In addition to working multiple shifts, they don't have comfortable work conditions, which explains why one of the primary issues in healthcare is a shortage of nurses and physicians. Consequently, doctors’ burnout can reduce the quality of care.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) performs intelligent and thinking functions similar to humans, which helps doctors make more accurate diagnoses and provide more effective treatments. AI has a high capacity and ability to analyze information; it gathers many different images, such as CT scans, MRIs, and skin and eye images, and when new information is received, it compares it to other sample images to determine patterns faster and more accurately than doctors. Consequently, AI diagnoses the patient and develops a treatment plan. Artificial Intelligence can significantly decrease the stress and dissatisfaction of health workers and, most importantly, help improve patients' quality of life.

In conclusion, technology in collaboration with other fields is broadening access to education, creating conditions for many people, helping in understanding climate change, improving land productivity, and providing better care for people, which is why the development of technology and the implementation of it in different fields is significant.

References:

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