Technology has improved the resource base of the modern classroom and has provided tools that students engage in building their skill sets. The technology upgrade has boosted education in a way that delivers benefits to both teachers and the students. Consider the brilliant ways that technology has been used in classrooms to improve learning skills.
Technology Makes Learning Math Fun for a New Generation
Math has gained notoriety for being a tedious and cumbersome exercise, but calculators broke the monotony. Teachers and students alike are happy to engage calculators to crunch dizzying fractions. Consider freeing up one day in the week exclusively for the use of calculators. You’re in for an adventure if you use online calculators like the mixed fraction calculator at mirocalc.net which makes it easier and enjoyable to learn myriad fractional functions.
The mixed fraction calculator is fast and accurate, and you can present a complex series of problems to solve and get the students to cross check their answers online. If students get stuck, they can always retrace their steps online to know where they went wrong. The online calculator is a fabulous validation tool that raises students’ confidence levels and improves their ability to comprehend and solve math problems.
Live-Video Streams Expertise Directly to the Classroom
Pre-recorded videos are making way for conferencing technology which is driving the new learning revolution. Teachers weighed down by excessive workloads can now relax as experts live-stream videos presentations for the benefit of students.
Video conferencing is exposing students to new ideas and encouraging even the most reticent learner to speak out and be heard. Topics covering a wide area of the curriculum can be discussed threadbare by students and teachers, and problems can be listed for unraveling solutions in a fun-filled environment.
Multimedia Presentations Improve Student Cognitive Skills
The paradigm shift from a heavily text-based curriculum to multimedia presentations has been a long yet eventful journey. Child psychologists have always maintained that the visual cue is processed much faster by the human brain than the printed word. Students are now trained to combine various skills in making their own presentations. Some of these skill sets involve:
- Images: They speak more than words and convey the gist of any topic meaningfully.
- Graphs: They give a statistical overview that helps students analyze growth and progress.
- Pictographs: They enrich the textual content and bring depth to the topic.
- Podcast clips: You can listen to what experts say regarding burning issues.
- Sound effects: These add punch to any presentation and heighten interest.
- Short video lessons: Create a vivid learning experience that registers easily compared to pouring through solid textual matter.
Biteslide is a popular student-friendly online tool that encourages students and teachers to collaborate in researching and creating multimedia presentation slides.
Customizing the Learning Experience to Suit the Needs of Struggling Students
Every classroom has the struggler trying hard to adapt to the daily learning routine but failing miserably. Fortunately for such students, the smartphone delivered a practical solution. Imagine a student getting 24/7 smartphone access to qualified tutors, always on call, ready to solve any problem.
Such a solution is already in place, and it’s called “adaptive learning,” and it uses algorithms to deliver resources matching the learning capacity of the student. The software simultaneously monitors the student’s progress.
Tying Lesson Plans to Interactive Learning Stations to Engage Students
Ask any teacher, and you’ll hear the refrain that children come with differing abilities and learning styles and it’s a huge challenge keeping them engaged. The learning station is a technology marvel that compliments the lesson plan of the teacher. Each learning station offers a complete multimedia experience to the student who’ll be prompted to perform multiple tasks.
- Using VR headsets to describe a virtual world experience.
- Solving problems (with differing difficulty levels) through a computer game.
- Eliciting responses regarding classroom experiences, and recording the reactions as a podcast.
- Students and the teacher collaborating to design a simple web page and having the process explained in depth.
Even if there are fewer learning stations than there are students, each interaction can be planned as a group activity.
Conclusion
Technology has become an integral part of our ecosystem influencing the way we live, love, work, play, and entertain ourselves, and it’s natural that we’ll use every tool that technology provides to educate the new generation thronging our classrooms.
The technological innovations we’ve discussed are just the tip of the iceberg. The advent of Cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is ringing in a decisive change in the education sector. Technology, skillfully utilized, will help students become digital citizens ready to unlock a world of challenging career opportunities.
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