Marshall (2000) thinks that Implementation of paperless education will be a positive move by professors in improving learning in institutions of higher learning. An institution should not go paperless if its productivity will be insignificant. In as much as paperless education is a development, implementing it needs a lot of caution. Researchers found out that each dollar invested, in IT departments of organizations, gives a significant output of about ten times. Productivity research in IT in the 90’s has disapproved the productivity paradox. This is how Headrick (2000) perceives the productivity paradox in technology. He observed that this advancement in technology had little effect on the economy. An information economist known as Morgan Stanley noted that, despite the advancements in technology in America around the 80s, productivity has not changed much. While other firms have invested much in IT and have nothing much to show of it, others have benefited tremendously in this investment. Research show that there are variations of productivity results as far as investment in IT is concerned. Invention of the Internet was a boost to the productivity of computers. This is because these inventions gave rise to positive productivity results. Productivity in technology started to be taken seriously, when the steam engine and electricity came into existence. It is ironical, that with the overwhelming availability of raw materials for input, productivity is still difficult to measure. Input includes work force, equipment, capital and other consumed resources. Productivity is the quantity of output per unit input. Pidd (2009) argues that a time will come when advancement in information technology will take over the whole world. For example, if the work of managers is information processing, then computer processors will replace them. All information and most services will be available at their fingertips. This is because information will be so readily available that the society will not need these things. There is a prediction that advancement of new technology will see the end of politics, universities, mass media, newspapers, cities and states. This implies that a computer bought today will cost half its price eighteen months from now. A gentle man called Gordon Moore came up with a law that the power of computers doubles after a period of eighteen months. Then there was the invention of the telegraph, the telephone, the Morse code, computers and now the Internet.Ī major breakthrough in history is the invention of computers. People used smoke and fire to relay information across long distances. Relay of information has come a long way. Duguid and Brown (2000) noted that there is too much information available today, and a serious concern of the society is controlling it. What the inventors did not anticipate is the fact that this information will become so much available that controlling it will be a problem. There was a need for information availability in all disciplines of study and work environments. Getting information from one source to another or from a source to a student was not that easy a process. Time was when lack of information was the main concern of the society. This paper aims to illustrate some of the pros and cons of moving to a paperless system of education. Embracing this technology and implementing it in colleges and universities is, however, not as easy as it seems. The Internet and the World Wide Web have created an online store in which information is accessible just by the click of a button. Shaw (2001) is sure that the invention of the Internet is one factor that has facilitated the move to paperless education. Some of these accessories are laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s), ipads and projectors. The advancement of technology over the years has seen the invention of accessories that can eliminate writing and reading on paper. The use of technology rules out use of pen and paper to pass knowledge from lecturers to students.Įducation World (2000) has found out that some institutions in the United States are at an advanced stage in implementing paperless education. Paperless education simply refers to the full embrace of technology to administer and receive education.
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