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How To Keep Edtech Pushing You Forward in 2021

It’s essential to keep incorporating technology into the classroom and not get complacent with the tech implemented in 2020. Here are some reasons why you should start looking into deep tech for education, implementing the right applications and tools can have a huge impact.

Technology can help with the rigor and complexities of the curriculum, we already know this because of the pandemic.

- It can increase student engagement.
- It can allow for independent learning.
- It can help with student and work assessment.
- It can help with differentiation.

But we can’t stop there, educational institutions and ed-tech providers that understand that there is a possibility to build upon this will reap the rewards. Edtech can do so much more with the implementation of more disruptive technologies, in search of never-before-seen results in student engagement and learning inside and outside the classroom.

Improving Our Education System

As anyone that chooses to devote their lives to education, you’ve probably always wanted to see improvement in our education system. Technology and software solutions are a piece that could bring about a huge revolution in the education system, for both students and teachers.

With the advancements in technology, teachers can give more thorough lessons, allowing for longer learning periods and studies show that students can learn skills faster. Even better, teachers can work together in teams, to share knowledge and know more about their students in realtime with analytics tools that are being incorporated into the classroom. Imagine a teacher learning about a student before the student even knows it.

Why Technology Is Being Integrated Into The Classroom

Improves engagement

When technology is integrated into lessons, classwork, and homework, students show a tendency to be more interested in the subjects they are studying. Tech provides different opportunities to make the learning experience more fun and enjoyable by helping to teach the same things in new ways and with newer formats. For instance, delivering lessons through gamification, taking students on virtual field trips with AR, and using other online learning resources to make the learning experience more enjoyable. Technology can encourage more active participation in the learning process which has been proven harder to achieve in a more traditional lecture environment.

Improves knowledge retention

Students who are more engaged in the things they are studying will have better knowledge retention. Technology encourages active participation in the classroom which is one of the biggest and most important factor for increased knowledge retention and understanding new concepts and ideas. Different forms of technology can be implemented and used to experiment and decide what works best for students in terms of retaining knowledge and learning better and more efficiently.

Encourages individual learning

No student learns in the exact same way as another. This is due to different learning styles and different abilities. Tech provides great opportunities and possibilities for making learning more effective for students that have different learning needs. Technology allows students to learn at their own speed, review difficult concepts in a more interactive and personal way or skip ahead if they need to. Also, technology can provide better opportunities for students that are struggling or have different abilities and need more tools to help them succeed.

Encourages collaboration

Students can practice collaboration and teamwork skills by getting involved actively in different online activities that are provided by teachers or learning institutions. For instance, working on different projects by teaming up with peers to collaborate on forums or by sharing schoolwork, projects, and documents in their virtual learning environments and platforms. Technology can encourage collaboration with students in the same classroom, same grade, same school, and even with other classrooms around the world, making it more accessible than ever to learn about other cultures and ways to understand ideas and concepts in a broader way than was possible with just in classroom learning.

Students can learn useful life skills through technology

By using technology inside and outside the classroom, both teachers and students can develop skills essential for success in 2021 and beyond. Modern learning is about collaborating with others, solving complex problems, critical thinking, developing different forms of communication and leadership skills, and improving motivation and productivity. To this end, technology can help develop many practical skills, including creating interactive presentations, learning to differentiate reliable from unreliable sources of information on the Internet, maintaining proper online etiquette, and writing emails to better communicate with teammates. These are very important skills that can be developed in the classroom and will be imperative in their future success in their professional careers and beyond.

Benefits for teachers

With countless online resources, technology can help to improve teaching. Teachers can use different applications or trusted online resources to enhance the traditional ways of teaching and to keep students more engaged and interested. Virtual tools and software for lesson plans, grading software, and online assessments can help teachers save a lot of time and to have more energy for the parts of the teacher-student relationship that makes to most difference. The valuable time saved can be used for working with students who are struggling or need more personal one-on-one attention. Having virtual learning environments in schools enhances collaboration and knowledge sharing between teachers.

How to Integrate and Use Technology Effectively In The Classroom

Obviously, you can’t just put an iPad in the hands of every child in a class and hope that alone will make the difference. Institutions need to incorporate the appropriate tech for the specific classroom needs of students.

When integrating technology into the classroom, we have to remember not to make it the only thing in our teaching toolbox. This can lead to some teacher burnout. When technology is being used in isolation, it tends to get overwhelming. Here is a shortlist of tech-based tools that can be used in the classroom:

-Gamification for lessons
-Machine Learning for Lesson Plans
-Metrics for better decision making at county, city, and state levels
-AR for virtual field trips
-Internal tools for empirical analysis of performance
-Full course availability through media platforms
-Achievements and prizes for good performance through software and AI
-AI for faster and more efficient grading
-Video tools for real-time project collaboration
-Segmented chats for students and teachers
-Onboarding via school platform
-Apps for parent/teacher interaction for better and more fluid communication
-AI for more inclusive and fair acceptance processes

Conclusion

Every institution has seen the need to implement technology in the classroom. But it does not stop at videoconferencing and virtual lesson plans, Technology (AR, AI, and so on) can completely change the way teachers teach and students learn. The pandemic has accelerated technology adoption, but it’s the tip of the iceberg, the institutions that understand just how far technology can take them will see lasting results.