Teaching as a whole is changing due to the ways in which technology is changing. Automation of all kinds has changed the way technology is moved around, meaning that more and more people can use the technology, with little to no effort. Technology in the classroom has been proven to help students learn and improve in the way they see the world, not to mention the benefits it has when it comes to actual education. Technology in the classroom has widened the range of teaching abilities – it is now easier to find ways to engage your class and students than it ever was before, as there are more ways to do so than there were.
The ubiquity of technology in modern times means that children will already be accustomed to seeing it, if not using it, at home, so it makes even more sense to then use it in schools. From motion systems to controlling hubs, children are now becoming used to technology being an everyday part of life – using these in schools means that children become accustomed to them, and it makes the transition from education to everyday life easier, as the same technology is present in both places.
It Encourages Individual Learning
Technology in the classroom can encourage individual learning because it is itself a lot more individualised. Most rooms only have one blackboard and one teacher, so the amount that they can help each individual student is limited, particularly when taking into consideration the subject matter that has to be taught to everyone.
Using technology is already more individualised because there is likely to be more than one piece of technology available. Additionally, not everyone will approach the subject the same way, so that some people might end up using one form of technology, one might use another, all to suit their own particular takes on the subject matter.
You can Track Student Progress
Technology allows teachers and educators to more easily track the progress their students are making throughout the year. Aside from the more easily implemented ideas such as having an online site where people come and check off that they have handed their homework in, and where they can sit small tests and quizzes and have their answers recorded, technology also allows for the teacher to oversee people’s work by other means.
Some sites allow for their analytics to be searched, in such a way that people could check whether or not their students have used the site recently. This could be used on certain research sites such as JSTOR, although it would fall flat on others, such as YouTube. YouTube, however, could be discussed by immediately having students talk about what they saw and understood from the video, so that they could prove that they had watched it.
Other methods of tracking progress is to specifically set technology up so that it plays or displays certain pieces of information at certain times, and make sure that everyone in the classroom has a shot at using that technology. This could work by either physically showing each student that piece of technology, or by having them sign the technology in and out at your desk.
Students can Learn at their own Pace
In a normal classroom with one teacher, there is only so much time for each subject to be taught, and only so much time for individual attention for each student. This naturally means that more attention is paid to students who are having problems, with the other left to their own devices if they can figure out how to do the work.
Not only does technology free the teacher up to some extent, giving them time to devote to all their students equally, using technology can mean that students can learn at their own pace. While technology can be useful in group efforts, it can also be used by one person, and that person can re-watch the video, or re-play the podcast, or do something else to focus themselves on learning something if they did not manage to learn it properly the first time around. Technology means that learning can be more individualised, which means that people can work to their own pace and level, without worrying about holding any other people up too much.
Conclusion
Technology has come a long way, from people needing a guide on TV lifts to where we are now, with centralised hubs and more and more voice commands for our home automation. Education is one particular sphere where technology has made huge changes, both to teaching and to learning as a whole, since it has brought a lot of changes to people, from how they can learn, to where they can learn it. Teachers and students can both benefit from the changes which technology has brought to the classroom, and will continue to bring in the future.