In the past, education was all about reading piles of books. However, in the last few years, we have seen various technological advancements that have changed the way students are taught at school. Nowadays, teachers are adopting the use of technology in education. Instructors are now using the web, PowerPoint presentations, and even YouTube videos to help students grasp some core principles. According to a leading online newspaper, there are still many technologies that can be used to enhance learning. Here are few of the techniques that can help students to focus on learning.
Smartphones
No matter the policy of your school on cell phones, the fact is that most students still carry them to school. This is why it may be more reasonable to just allow the students to use these gadgets for good deal, rather than for bad. There are many ways in which the smartphone can help students to focus better on learning. These include:
- Recording lectures. Many instructors are now using the technique that is named “The Flipped classroom.” The teachers are now recording lectures to enable the students to listen to the video or audio versions of them outside the classroom. Students can now watch videos of the lectures on YouTube.
- Great teaching apps. There are several apps that can enhance the teaching experience. One of them is Dropbox, an app that allows different phones and computers to interact. Another app that teacher can use in their teaching experience is Evernote. This app will allow you to type a text-note or even clip some web-page.
This is another educational technology tool that has received a lot of criticism and accolade in equal measures. Some people accuse Google of making students less educated as it provides instant answers to the themes of their papers. The critics suggest that it complicates students’ process of understanding how to do research as all they need to do is to enter a few keywords into the internet search engine. However, according to the leading legit essay writing services, the search engine is always a good start. With Google scholars, students can narrow their search to the scholarly books and papers and concentrate on the legitimate sources. There is also a wide range of educational technology tools on Google that are suitable for school projects. Google Drive allows learners to create spreadsheets, slide-shows, MS Word documents and file folders that can be shared with teachers and classmates. Instructors can even use Google to create free websites that they can use to disseminate information relating to the classroom.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is another free teaching technology that can assist teachers and students in their research. You will find articles on nearly everything from the historical figures to the current gospel musicians. The good thing about this site is that the information is regularly updated. However, the downside of the site is that anyone can edit the information posted there and this affects the authority and quality of articles on Wikipedia. However, just like with Google, students can get an overview of a subject by making research on the site. There are also many articles that refer to books, web-pages and scholarly papers that you can cite in your research. This web resource should not be a substitute for the traditional research and study method but can be used as a supplement to other learning methods.
Computers
There are several ways in which computers can be used in the classroom. According to a top university blog, they can be used for presentations, word processing, internet, educational games, music development and many more.
In a class setting where each student has a computer that is connected to the internet, they can be more actively involved in a studying process as compared to the lecture setting where the instructor is the center of attention. The role of the instructor in a class where computers are used changes and they become more of a facilitator. The instructor asks individual students questions while engaging them in some deeper conversations.
There are also studies that show that students are ready to ask for help and even offer to assist their peers in a classroom set-up where computers are used. This means that there is more interaction between students as well as in-depth learning. Students feel more confident when they master this education technology tools. The good thing about computers is that they enable students to learn by doing instead of just absorbing information from the textbooks. Students also get an opportunity to learn by trial and errors. This enables them to see things as they work instead of them just trusting their teachers. Thus, they achieve much more. It is therefore clear that technology and education now go hand in hand.
