By Technology plays a vital role in our lives in most cases nowadays. The classroom is no exception. Children who grew up from kindergarten through high school have encountered a world dependent on technology. It is impossible for them to buy dissertation online without mobile phones, computers, televisions, and other common gadgets.
Despite their familiarity with technology, we have not seen technology playing any significant role in educational environments. Analog tools, like books, blackboards, whiteboards, and posters, are still used heavily in many schools. But we have seen certain schools investing in instructional technology for the classroom. They are trying to secure donations or grant funding from the community and government. These schools are trying to replace conventional educational tools with smart boards, iPads, or Chromebooks.
The educational world has understood that technology has the potential to make education more comprehendible and more accessible in many ways. They are –
- Engagement
Students tend to be more engaged in classes when they are using technology. When schools can provide one device for every student, they get benefits because we can now integrate technology smoothly into the curriculum.
Many teachers use interactive programs and software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams to communicate with the students. These technologies are enabling the students to respond to questions and attend lectures digitally. In addition, there has been a resurgence of many gamified learning apps that makes education fun and engaging.
- Collaboration
With technology, students find it easier to collaborate with their classmates and save time while doing their projects. Traditionally, when students used to collaborate earlier, they created their study notes by working together.
Students can now meet virtually and work on research and ideas with advanced technology. In addition, they can write and draw simultaneously in the same program. That helps them to create documents and projects being fully collaborative.
- Inclusion
Technology allows students to be a part of the classroom in ways they have never imagined. Many students who require special education benefit from technology. They can write, read, spell, perform mathematical calculations with the help of software. Word processing apps can single out spelling mistakes.
- Differentiation
Technology exposes students to a host of programs at the simple click of a button. Teachers can allow students to choose their preferred research topics. They can search their topics more efficiently with technology than by going to the library.
- Productivity
Using technology allows students to get access to whatever they need as soon as they want it. Students can mark their calendars online. Their teachers can set reminders in the school’s learning management system (LMS). Word processors can work independently and do not need to be updated. You can never lose or tear an online book like physical ones. With technology, students get instant access to all the study materials, thus saving time, effort, and space.
- Creativity
You can get unlimited content about a subject online. So, the possibilities of creating different things are endless. Students can be interested in learning about music, arts, videos, etc. Whatever the area of interest is, you can find tons of resources online.
Any creative endeavor that a student wants to pursue can be supported by technology. For example, budding artists can use Tablets to draw and paint their imagination. Photo retouching and editing software let students bring photos to life, even manipulate them in endlessly creative ways. So, we can use technology to enhance creativity.
- Automation
Automation is a huge benefit of educational technology, especially for teachers. They can upload class lessons into the LMS, saving a lot of their time. All the students can access those lessons on their own time.
Teachers can grade the students easily with online assessments. Parents are automatically messaged if their children get bad grades. Teachers always seem to run out of time. So, with technological automation, they can find more time in the day.
- Future Focus
The future is never certain. No one can correctly predict which jobs will become obsolete in the future. But with the current trend, we can assume that the era of manual labor is coming to an end. So, the technological skills will help the students get familiarised and prepare for the future.
Whatever career they will choose in the future, they will have no issue transitioning since they have already embraced technology from a tender age.
Parting thoughts
There is no point denying that technology is the future. You cannot step into the future without ignoring technological advancement. The dynamic invention in technology is crossing all kinds of barriers. Schools and colleges are much late to join this bandwagon but have finally realized technology’s potential. The numerous options students are getting like Tablets, computers, online, and holographic mediums are proving to be game-changers to the education industry.
