The growing importance of technology in education
The importance of technology in education is undoubtedly the ability to reach more students more efficiently. After all, technology is all around us and it only continues to expand in its many uses! Although many people like to rely on traditional teaching methods, the possibilities that…
The importance of technology in education is undoubtedly the ability to reach more students more efficiently. After all, technology is all around us and it only continues to expand in its many uses!
Although many people like to rely on traditional teaching methods, the possibilities that open up when technology is brought into the classroom are endless. On the one hand, access to education has expanded significantly as a result, including a wide range of learning styles and degree options. Even if you are not a student or education professional, it is crucial to realize the importance of technology in education.
To really use these tools, teachers need to ask why students want technology in the classroom, not just why they need it. It can definitely help education professionals in tracking individual development and planning innovative lessons. But students who learn through technology can build a skill set that will help them throughout their own future careers.
Why do students need technology in the classroom?
Table of Contents
1. Simplify access to educational resources
2. Enhance the learning experience
3. Students can learn at their own pace
4. Help students prepare for their future careers
5. Students demand it
6. What is educational technology?
How technology is already breaking down barriers in education
Why is it important to use technology in education?
1. Simplify access to educational resources
Since students already rely on technology in their everyday lives, why not integrate it into the classroom? Today’s children frequently use their smartphones and tablets outside of school hours, and they should be entrusted with responsibility during school as well. Many believe that it actually helps students stay engaged during class by using a familiar tool for academic learning.
2. Enhance the learning experience
By incorporating modern technology like artificial intelligence, for example, teachers can develop more creative and innovative lesson plans to keep their classes engaged. Not to mention, as new teaching methods develop, so does the need for specialized professionals both within and outside the field of education.
3. Students can learn at their own pace
Many believe that technology can enhance individual learning, removing the educational limits that teachers may face. It enables online education, distance learning, and access to up-to-date information. Because each student interprets this information differently, technology can allow for more investigation into topics that are more difficult to learn.
4. Help students prepare for their future careers
As we all know, the technology is widely used by professionals from a wide range of fields and industries. Their inclusion in the classroom can help students feel more comfortable and familiar as they approach the beginning of their career. It can also improve class interaction by encouraging the collaboration of different learning styles.
5. Students demand it
Many children today are comfortable using technology from a young age. When we introduce new ideas or topics using tools they have already mastered, students will feel confident in their ability to learn the new material and may even feel empowered to help their peers learn.
6. What is educational technology?
A systematic approach to teaching processes and resources, educational technology, or EdTech, uses technology to improve student achievement. Identifies the needs of individuals, adapting technology to classroom instruction and monitoring student development.
It requires teachers to accurately reveal student needs in order to determine the relevant technology to apply to the curriculum and to track the results to determine the effectiveness of the measures. Educational technology is a fairly new field in the education sector, and not all teachers are ready to start implementing such technology-driven plans.
How technology is already breaking down barriers in education
The cost of education has dropped significantly, with options like online degrees and eliminating the need to buy physical textbooks. By accessing academic articles from your university’s database, for example, you can easily choose to continue your studies from another country or without leaving home.
Students don’t even need to enroll in a full degree program to learn from the best universities in the world. Typically free to students, most academic journals will offer full digital versions of books originally produced in print. Even if you are not studying or involved in the educational community, various articles, videos, etc., can be downloaded directly to your phone, making the learning process easy to access and also mobile.
Thanks to technology, education is becoming more flexible and accessible. We’ve seen the growing popularity of online degrees and mobile learning, physical boundaries have been eliminated, and many executives have embraced technology to supplement their employees’ higher education. As teachers, we use a wide range of tools to enhance the classroom experience and motivate student engagement, such as:
Kahoot!
Students or teachers can create an interactive quiz in minutes, using a series of multiple choice questions. The best way to play Kahoot! it is in a group, as players answer questions on their individual devices and the results are displayed on a shared screen to unify the game or lesson.
Trello
This project management tool is a great way for educators to teach students early on how to stay organized and streamline their assignments. Students can use Trello themselves to create workflow charts, teachers can use it to track student progress, or it can be used by both students and teachers to collaborate on the same project.
near pod
Teachers can easily upload existing lessons, quizzes, surveys, etc. and access student responses in real time. Lessons are easy to download and customize, choosing from thousands to suit your students’ needs.
Prezi
Prezi’s unique open canvas lets you organize and customize your presentation, or you can choose from millions of templates for business, marketing, sales, education, and more.
ClassDojo
Some of the features of the all-inclusive ClassDojo app include class music, a class timer, a random group generator, a morning meeting app, and a random student picker. The Group Creator is a very useful tool for interactive classroom activities, automatically organizing students into pairs or groups for you.
Why is it important to use technology in education?
Students interact with technology off campus, so integrating the tools into the classroom can help make the learning process much easier. Technology simplifies the way teachers do their jobs, providing effective ways to build a relationship between teacher and student. With the increasing use of tablets in the classroom, students can ask questions and get immediate answers from their teachers. They will also become familiar with technological tools, an impressive skill for their future employers.
Free educational tools available online have increased the accessibility of education around the world. You can even earn a fully accredited bachelor’s or master’s degree online and without paying any tuition. Many students choose to earn their degrees online, through the University of the People, for example, due to the flexibility of their schedules and study environments. For those who cannot commit to full-time academic requirements but want to further their education, online learning could be a great solution!
In addition to access to information, new technology can really excite and empower students. Because many children are already familiar with tablets and smartphones, learning through technology lessons will likely be more exciting than daunting. Teachers who use these tools may even see increased engagement and participation in their classes.
