Technology has had a significant impact on how educators teach, communicate with parents, and how students learn. It has bridged the gap of communication inside and outside the classroom. Tablets, smartphones, and laptops have entirely changed education in the classroom. The task of keeping students engaged in the learning process has become much easier for teachers and manageable for parents. As technology continues to evolve and become the norm in the classroom, new resources and tools will become available, and both the teachers, parents, and students will benefit.
Evolution of Technology in the Classroom
Development of technology in the classroom is not a primitive concept. Education has always evolved based on advances in the world. Over the past two hundred years or so, personal education has gone through multiple technological advances. From wooden paddles to tablets. As teachers find new ways to teach and students hunger for new ways to learn technological advances will be there to provide those needs.
Technological Tools and Resources Used in the Classroom
Technology in the classroom inspires creativity for the student and takes learning to another level. Tablets are the new notebooks. Laptops and PCs are dominant in the classroom and used daily. For teachers, there are new educational tools that give them the capability of organizing and keeping all classroom information in one place. It’s like being in a virtual classroom. There are in-app programs that regulate noise control, group selection, classroom timers, parent sharing, and more. Then other tools are useful for collecting data using quizzes and questionnaires, good for multitasking, organizing and streamlining assignments, tools that make the creation of presentations more fun and engaging and tools used to prohibit certain websites. Combining these essentials allow teachers the ability to build communities and relationships with their students and parents.
Benefits of Technology in the classroom
Over half percent of educators believe that technology has a positive impact on learning. Students prefer to use technology because it is more fun and engaging. In the classroom, it is now the standard, from virtual lessons to videos. Technology has made it possible for teachers to prepare lesson plans and keep parents updated on their child’s progress. For example, a classworks student can have their learning path prescribed based on data collected and analyzed. Because of this, the student’s instruction is personalized, and it enriches their learning experience. Integrating technology with traditional classroom methods helps students retain information better, and as mentioned, it is fun. More importantly, it allows teachers the ability to communicate better with students and parents. Overall technology prepares students for the evolving workforce where it is becoming an essential skill for most jobs.
Technology has changed the way we learn and how we learn. Everyone from the teacher to the parent is involved in the educational process when learning is digitized. As long as there is access to a smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC and Wi-Fi the learning experience is limitless. The technological advances of the 21st century have afforded endless classroom opportunity.