How To Make Your Classroom Tech-Friendly With Minimal Effort
Long gone are the days of paper books and blackboards with a white chalk. Nowadays, when a teacher uses a photocopy of the president’s portrait instead of its digital version, they are considered a nerd. Yes, the teacher’s materials got upgraded along with the student’s tools for grasping the material. Wi-Fi access at school, smartphones, tablets, and smartboards – they all make studying easy.
If you haven’t upgraded your classroom yet, check the tips below on how to add tech effectiveness to modern teaching.
Technology and Its Effectiveness in Education
A student without a smartphone is a handless learner. Why so? Smartphones open the realm of the Internet and social media. With them come online educational platforms and tutorials. For instance, one can find a reliable paper writing service to write their college essay in a few clicks. In the end, technology saves students’ time for studying and teachers’ time for preparing a class.
Why Add Technology to the Studying Process?
● Hardware tools are a part of the student’s future job. For instance, both designers and illustrators use graphic tablets to create visual products. The same goes for architects specializing in 3D modeling. When a student graduates from a college with tech knowledge, they have higher chances to nail a job in the industry;
● Individualized approach. Obviously, students learn at a different pace and experience different problems when studying. Meanwhile, technology can accommodate all learners with a visual or hands-on approach;
● Access and creativity. Modern software and digital learning spaces provide students with better access to sources. At the same time, tools like Edmodo and Feedly spark students’ creativity.
Idea #1: Use Smartphone Apps to Gather Students’ Feedback
How often did you wonder whether your students have a good grasp of the topic or not? Most of them will never tell you their honest opinion. Without students’ feedback, you’ll never know which areas to change. In the end, the whole studying process will be ineffective and messy.
How to gather sincere feedback?
● Make the questionnaire anonymous. The chances that a student with a masked identity will answer a question honestly are higher;
● Create polls with PollEverywhere or Socrative. Once the students fill in the poll, you’ll know the areas they struggle with. Here, formative assessment will help you improve the entire learning strategy;
● Twitter hashtags. Create a hashtag and ask students who are more confident to post their opinion on the matter online.
Idea #2: Spark Students’ Creativity with a Proper Software
How to battle student apathy and engage the learners’ creativity skills? Use technology! Software for creativity boosts students’ autonomy, control, and motivation to work on the project. If a topic implies that students should build a poster, ask them to use Canva or Pixelied. Both software examples include free samples and elements for poster construction.
Another option is asking students to record their essays in an app that transforms one’s voice into text. Later, you may ask them to add visuals and design the project as an e-book. It’s cooler than composing an average essay, right?
Idea #3: Build a Virtual Face-to-Face Classroom
Most schools and colleges have adopted quarantine measures by going remote. A part of the e-learning industry, virtual classrooms provide connection and collaboration. Apps like Skype or Viber suggest virtual conferences and text chatting. The users can also share audio files and images, among other elements.
