Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom

Virtually every aspect of our lives, communities, and homes are impacted by technology. But when it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom, many institutions fall far behind. The possibilities that technology offers for instruction and learning are still being widely explored. When used properly, technology can help students develop the skills necessary to succeed in the complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy in which we currently live.

More than just teaching pupils the fundamentals of computers and software in a separate computer class is involved in integrating technology into classroom learning. Additionally, it entails more than simply allowing pupils to engage with everything at once. Effective technology integration essentially occurs across the curriculum in areas where, according to research, the learning process is deepened and enhanced. Active involvement, group participation, frequent contact and feedback, and connections to real-world experts are the four essential elements that it must provide. Technology can be effectively integrated into a lesson plan when it is used regularly, is transparent, and supports curricular objectives.

In addition to everything else in the new curriculum, an Information and Communications Technology (“ICT”) plan for Australian schools was being established, according to Barry McGaw, Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). While he acknowledged that in the beginning, technology would not be considered as a separate subject and that its integration was required.

According to research, technology-enabled project learning offers the best advantages since it challenges students’ minds while giving them a realistic view of how real-world problems are encountered. Students develop and hone their analytical and problem-solving abilities through projects as they work independently and collaboratively to gather, analyze, and synthesize internet information. The countless resources available online also give every classroom access to more engaging, varied, and up-to-date teaching materials. The Internet offers a wealth of options for students to communicate with professionals in the real world and to convey their learning using images, sounds, texts, apps, and manipulatives.

Students can experiment, observe phenomena, and view outcomes in graphic ways to help them comprehend using new technology tools for visualizing and modeling. As an extra bonus, kids are more likely to remain focused and on task when using digital tools and a project-based learning method, which lowers behavioral issues in the classroom.

Additionally, technology is changing the way teachers deliver their lessons by giving them efficient ways to connect with various learner types and provide several avenues for gauging their students’ comprehension. Additionally, it strengthens the bond between teachers and students. Teachers develop become advisors, subject matter experts, and coaches when technology is successfully incorporated into their subject areas. Technology makes studying and teaching more entertaining and meaningful.

Technology in education used to be a contentious issue in society. There are many different perspectives on how to modernize education and make it technology aided. Both advantages and disadvantages of education technology were numerous. As more and more schools adopted technology, the value of technology in education became clear. Its advantages outweighed its disadvantages, and now that technology has given education a whole new meaning, there is no question that our educational system has changed as a result of the rapidly evolving technology. If used in conjunction with the proper motivation and vision, technology and education make an excellent pairing.

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Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom

1. It can improve communication and raise student interest

As smartphones and apps are where today’s kids live their lives, experts claim that integrating technology in teaching and learning can enhance children’s engagement in class more than using a traditional school textbook.

Apps are advantageous for all students since they accommodate all skill levels and employ a variety of teaching strategies to assist learning. Through games and virtual field trips, apps can also help teachers come up with novel ways to teach the same material.

The National Math and Science Initiative discovered that the adoption of blended learning styles can boost engagement, especially for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses, and help students stay engaged for longer periods of time.

Additionally, mobile learning can be customized to meet the needs of a specific child because it allows for more personalization than the majority of paper or physical resources.

Learning is now an active process with applications rather than a passive one. For instance, level-based apps, like video games, can encourage a desire to advance to the next level. When learning and fun are combined, pupils may forget they are learning—boom, ninja learning!

2. Personalized Education Experiences

Technology not only increases student access to learning but also enables teachers to adjust classes and homework to meet each student’s particular learning preferences and maximize learning outcomes. Students who prefer the visual medium can watch video presentations, while those who prefer the spoken word can listen to podcasts about the course. The more advanced students have access to different assignments or projects than those who might be having difficulty with a certain subject, the more accurately student progress can be monitored.

Nearpod is a piece of technology that Mr. Schlecht, a math and theology instructor here, enjoys using.

3. Gamification

With the aid of technology, it is simple to include games or situations like games into class plans to increase engagement and productivity. These scenarios also foster among the students a sense of constructive competitiveness and accomplishment, which has a favorable effect on their learning, engagement, and memory retention.

Given the explosive growth of gamification in education, it is understandable why TEDx Talks like The Power of Gamification in Education and How Games Make Kids Smarter promote the use of games to excite, engage, and encourage learners. Most teachers heed this call. As a result, there has been an increase in the creation of online learning games.

For instance, Quizlet gives teachers the ability to design their own tests, digital flashcards, and online study resources. Enuma, on the other hand, turns math lessons into video games and awards pupils with “cyber stars” when they understand key ideas. Students role-play historical personalities and make claims or ask inquiries on their behalf. The list goes on and on.

4. Mobile Apps Help in Systematic Learning

Classroom apps can be set up so that they encourage a desire for learning as well as achievement as the child can track their progress and try to move up the levels.

According to a 2013 PBS LearningMedia research, 74% of instructors concur that technology helps them to reinforce learning in their lessons. In addition, “78% of Kindergarten through Middle School teachers think that technology has had a beneficial impact on their classroom,” according to research by The Huffington Post.

5. Wider and Deeper Knowledge Access

Teachers can employ tech tools to allow students to conduct more in-depth research and receive a wider variety of perspectives on a topic that is the focus of current courses, rather than relying just on one or two textbooks to cover the curriculum. Internet use must be controlled to prevent kids from accessing inappropriate or dangerous content, but it also provides access to a greater range of media formats, such podcasts and YouTube videos, that are pertinent to students.

6. Enrich collaboration

Collaboration has a positive effect on the growth of higher-level thinking, communication abilities, and topic retention, from peer discussions to official group projects. Additionally, collaborative learning improves comprehension and acceptance of many viewpoints, better preparing students for interpersonal relationships and work. Students can collaborate on a variety of files and projects asynchronously or in real time using cloud-based tools. Quick progress checks, inquiry notifications, and prompt feedback are all possible for teachers. Students can connect more easily inside and outside of the classroom without disturbing other students thanks to online chat and social media platforms.

Additionally, a lot of online games have cooperative modes that offer wonderful opportunity to collaborate on projects while learning curriculum-relevant ideas. The majority of these technologies are also easily adaptable to in-person or online learning settings, which is the best part.

7. Anywhere, Anytime Access to Mobile Learning

This implies that teachers can use it at any time during the school day to engage a learner. But maybe more importantly than this, educational applications enable kids to go on with these activities outside of the classroom, at home. Indeed, a classroom can be located anyplace. App learning is not only available during school hours because it can be done anywhere. In fact, millions of educational apps have been downloaded; kids use them outside of the classroom. Mobile apps can improve engagement and lower disruptive behavior in the classroom and at home. Both wins!

Additionally, several applications provide videos that explain concepts in greater detail than textbooks (the same textbook they will forget, lose or not be bothered to carry around). Additionally, using less paper is better for the environment. (See number 8).

The ability for students to use these devices as research tools for assignments and group projects may also lead to an increase in collaboration. (I have personally witnessed this in my classes; students today communicate by collaborating on apps, which essentially places learning in their own environment.) Students can also access a variety of eBooks, PDFs, and other online resources using mobile applications.

8. Learning Outside of School

A student’s educational process can become a 24/7 process when they have access to lessons and study materials from home or via mobile devices. When schools are closed due to bad weather, teachers can still oversee student progress and grade homework from home, keeping sick students on track or assisting the class in staying up to date with curriculum developments. Canvas serves as the learning management system for LuHi.

9. Experiences with Personalized Learning

Each student has a unique learning style and preferred way to learn in order to retain information in their short- and long-term memories. Thus, there is no one method of instruction that works for everyone. To make teachings relevant to every student, regardless of educational background, language proficiency, or learning style, teachers must differentiate their instructions.

In other words, it would be better for a teacher to deliver the material utilizing a number of platforms, such as a PowerPoint Presentation, Microsoft Excel sheet, and Video, to illustrate a comparison of the COVID-19 impact between two states. Thankfully, there are a lot of technological solutions available to improve and optimize varied learning experiences.

As an illustration, consider a learning management system. Teachers can log in to track students’ progress, remind students to complete tasks, and generally help to keep them on course. In order to reduce distractions, they can also use the platform to modify the classes and learning environments. Even better, these systems can track progress and act as digital databases to keep information on students’ grades and routines. Teachers can use the information gained from this to adapt lessons to the needs and preferences of specific pupils.

On their end, students can use these tools to pace their learning, go over subjects that are deemed difficult, or move on as necessary. This can be especially beneficial for pupils who have special needs or are having difficulty.

10. Embraces a Variety of Learning Styles

Since every student in your class is unique, it might be difficult to modify your lesson plan to suit each one of them. Fortunately, educational technology can assist you in changing your classes. For instance, Ryan Greene, a Walden University alumnus with an MS in Instructional Design and Technology, selected online learning to complete his degree. He now uses his understanding of integrating technology to enhance his classroom.

Kids who would choose to draw throughout the entire lesson can now produce an infographic to exhibit their skills and comprehension of the subject matter, which Greene may not have previously observed or evaluated. His degree in instructional design helped him refine his teaching methods and provide pupils with a more personalized learning environment that will serve them well in the long run.

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11. Technology Provides New Methods of Learning

By offering a variety of learning methods, engagement can be boosted. Thanks to the ever-growing number of educational mobile apps available to students, you can easily implement this strategy without incurring significant costs. Games and puzzles, which are a common feature of applications, may be able to enhance brain activity, according to research into learning theories. This may be an opportunity for students who have “hit a wall” in their learning to approach the problem from a different angle.

12. Tools for the Digital Classroom are Continually Changing

The fact that technology is constantly evolving and improving is fantastic. The number of amazing classroom-focused applications being developed by developers keeps growing. Large corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Apple are spending a lot of money producing not just apps but entire learning environments. The classrooms we teach in now and in the future will be very different from the ones we grew up in. This means that educators should be on the lookout for fresh chances to employ technology to enhance their teaching methods. Students will become disengaged and make less progress if teachers don’t adapt to their surroundings.

13. Everyone learns differently

Students are capable of a variety of things. Innovative prospects for improving the effectiveness of education are provided by digital applications. For instance, technology enables students to learn at their own pace, either by going slowly or by delving deeper into a subject. The technological resources at our disposal make differentiation much simpler.

Similar to this, students with disabilities who would typically be prevented from advancing through conventional teaching techniques might use apps specially created to meet their requirements.

Technology can help teachers get around obstacles and present the same lesson in several ways. Show movies, for instance, or ask students to participate in instructive games.

14. Brings You Closer to Your Students

Teachers and their students can improve their relationships with the use of technology. For instance, 84% of instructors say they use the internet at least once a week to discover engaging content for their pupils. * Incorporating technology into your lesson planning and using it to increase your own subject-matter knowledge can have a big impact on the classroom.

Undoubtedly, technology will continue to advance, thus it’s critical to modify your teaching methods to reflect these changes. Greene advises other educators to “take the chance. Try a novel approach. Up until you give a method or tool a try, you can never really tell how effective it will be. Using technology in the classroom promotes critical thinking abilities as well. Just jump in.

15. Using Technology in Teaching and Learning Can Improve Knowledge Retention

As educational technology increases engagement in the classroom it stands to reason that knowledge retention is also increased. There have been studies that have shown this increase in retention is directly correlated to the use of technology, in fact, one study showed that from a group of eighteen second grade students, sixteen of them remembered more facts about a studied animal when producing a presentation featuring it.

In addition, the content presented in the mobile platform is often bite-sized and concise meaning children are not overwhelmed by too much information in one go and can, therefore, retain more of what they are learning.

16. Collaboration between students is made possible by educational apps technology

Students can continue to collaborate outside of the classroom thanks to features that allow them to annotate each other’s work and make ideas. Google also provides Hangouts, which is a fantastic additional tool for student collaboration. With the help of this app, group work may continue even when all participants are at home because it supports group audio and video conversations.

Technology fosters student collaboration in the classroom, in their city, and even around the world.

Teachers and students can collaborate virtually; they can exchange advice and comments using applications rather than carrying heavy bookshalves home (sounds wonderful, right?). I complete all of my home learning using Google Classroom. Instead of waiting until they next meet you, it enables students to seek guidance while they work. It might imply that you can use downtime to provide immediate guidance (such as while waiting in line at the grocery store).

The fact that Google apps—which include everything from Google Search, Images, Maps, and YouTube—are compatible with almost any device is the main reason they are the ones that are highlighted in this post. They design their goods to be simple to use and immensely compatible with everyone’s technology, which is obviously crucial when you have a complete class of kids or more.

17. The Use of Classroom Apps to Teach New Life Skills

Technology may teach children new life skills that they might not learn in other traditional lessons, which is another excellent benefit of employing it in the classroom. skills like productivity, leadership, and communication in the digital sphere. Technology can also be used to improve a variety of practical skills, such as presenting and research abilities.

18. Classroom Apps Let Teachers Differentiate Their Instruction Even More

It is quite challenging for the teacher to interact with every student in a class of 20 to 30 students, each with their own unique needs. Naturally, this leads to some pupils getting lost in a session or finding it difficult to understand new concepts after failing to master the prior one. However, a student’s time interacting with educational technology is all their own when they use it outside of or during class. Since that session is solely for them and not for other students, they can learn at their own pace.

19. Enhanced Information Access

The days of teachers handing out notes that were ten years old or older or relying on a small number of textbooks to cover the curriculum are long gone. Access to information has greatly improved in recent years. Students can research materials on particular subjects and come to class ready.

Additionally, students have access to academic papers and articles that can be used to supplement or clarify difficult lectures as well as explore educational databases and websites to learn more about a subject that interests them.

Students can self-learn extracurricular activities for that whole educational experience in addition to course materials. Consider music, the arts, and just about anything else. (After all, technology supports the majority of creative activities.) As an illustration, students can utilize tablets to record their doodles and editing software to creatively transform the same, bringing the photographs to life. Overall, more knowledge is available, ensuring that teachers never run out of material to provide pupils. It makes sure that students are equipped to locate pertinent material on their own in a number of media types, including podcasts, films, and scholarly journals.

Furthermore, such individual study might assist pupils in determining their preferred informational delivery method. The student can explore and interact with the media that best suits their learning style, whether that be forums, movies, TV shows, podcasts, websites, or something else.

20. Considering Learning Styles

Students vary in how they learn. For instance, some people learn best visually, while others learn best orally. Technology can assist in meeting a student’s demands, depending on their preferences. Presentations and video lectures will help some students learn more effectively, while others may prefer to listen to recordings and wear headphones.

Additionally, because technology is developing so quickly, classrooms and teachers will soon be able to modify teachings for each student based on physiological and psychological feedback. Biometrics, a technological advancement that can react to a person’s behavior, will be able to identify a student’s disposition in a classroom. Using such information, lesson plans may be created that are specific to the needs of each student and deliver the material in a way that will make them most receptive to it.

FAQS on Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom

Conclusion

It is inevitable that the educational environment will change to accommodate more technology in the classroom as technology becomes more widespread in our lives, from wearable fitness trackers to virtual reality entertainment systems to kids who can text before they can walk or talk. Some parents might be wary of allowing tech devices in the classroom because they see them as distractions or because they are concerned about the range of media that pupils might access while not being watched.

However, if school staff is equipped to manage the intake and utilization of devices during class periods, technology in the classroom offers many advantages that outweigh possible drawbacks. It is possible to embrace increasing digital usage among younger generations as a potent teaching tool that prepares kids for occupations involving tech rather than fighting it.

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