Technology in Classrooms Of The Future : Technology is no more an alien factor in education today. There are multiple edtech startups in the industry such as Coursera who is taking education to a whole new dimension, solely with the help of technology. Technology in education has become a pivotal factor in designing curriculum for students.
Technology in Classrooms of The Future
The traditional classroom dynamics of learning is still relevant and will always be relevant in days to come. Because a teacher to student learning and the values it holds cannot be replaced by technology, but it in no way means that technology cannot enter classrooms.
It is not teacher vs. technology, but it is a teacher with technology.
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In this article, we are going to discuss
- The various reasons why technology should enter students lives
- Technologies that can be used in classrooms
- Traditional vs. Technology which is better?
The various reasons why technology should enter students’ lives:
- Customization–
Different students have different interest in different subjects. Also, the grasping power and learning curve vary from students to students. Not every student learns a subject with the same pace and not every student loves the same subject. And this is where technology comes in place to fill the gap. Technology can be used to curate courses and its structure according to the needs and aptitude of the particular student. The pace of learning and subjects of interest can all be curated to an individual level so that every student, irrespective of his or her aptitude, learn thoroughly the subjects that have been thought. - Quick and adaptable learning–
One of the biggest reasons why technology has taken over lives, not just in education, is because it reduces human work and helps save time and energy, which can otherwise be utilized elsewhere. And the same holds good for education as well. From taking tedious notes, to searching content through hundreds of pages in a library book, to writing exams on paper, the traditional paradigm of education is becoming increasingly redundant. Use of technology here can save time, both for student and teachers, and use that saved time for adaptable learning. Taking pictures of the notes and converting to texts, online examinations, searching information on the internet at the tip of your hand and much more not only helps save a considerable amount of time and resources but also increases accuracy and efficiency of work. - Improves learning process–
Improving the curiosity and attention span of students in the classroom is one of the biggest challenges that teacher face with the present education system. Students are easily bored and lose interest in the subject which are not of their interest or seem to be difficult to understand. To eliminate this problem, technology can be used within classrooms. Creative learning and pedagogy can be built using technology. From using story-telling methods to using audiovisuals and augmented and virtual reality gears, students interest in the subject can be increased. Live demonstrations and classroom simulations help students understand the concepts better. - Prepares them for real life–
Technology can be used to create real-life scenarios for role-plays to help improve decision-making skills for the students. Augmented realities and virtual reality gears can be used to create these situations and train students to improve their logical and critical thinking abilities. Mathematical equations, which are otherwise difficult to learn from textbooks, can be learnt through a real-life application by using simulations and demonstrations. On the other hand, the use of technology on an everyday basis makes students well-versed with it, which is exactly what the industry needs right now. The more tech-savvy your kid is, the more chances they have in adapting to the technologically abundant world out there.
Technologies that can be used in classrooms
- Augmented and virtual realities– Using AR-VR gears can be a usual sight in classrooms, in years to come, thanks to sci-fi movies. Simulating real-life scenarios right in the confines of the four walls of the classroom is something that traditional methods of teaching can never offer to its students. Imagination is one important aspect in effective learning, but seeing those imaginations right in front of your eyes as the teacher teaches the applications of it, is one the most effective way to learn a subject. Soon, students can go for virtual field trips to faraway places while sitting in their classrooms and get information about anything, thus expanding their knowledge about things.
- Virtual classrooms– Is your kid suffering from fever or have you been out of station for a while? These are no reasons for a student missing his or her classes. Health, location, traffic or any such trivial reasons will become redundant in the future for student’s classroom attendance. Using video calling and high-speed wifi, students can attend virtual classrooms within the confines of their house. This solves many problems both for the students as well as the teachers. Virtual classrooms can become the new norm to address various problems including space constraints and school infrastructure down comings
- Biometrics- The term is usually linked to security. Apart from that, there is an interesting eye-tracking feature. It can help you know how much each student has understood the content taught in classrooms. This can help teachers to make changes in their way of teaching or the content and help the students to understand things in a better way.
- Gamification– Some children usually pay little attention to what is taught in the classroom and their participation in class may be quite less. However, they may love games and similar activities. So, why not integrate games with learning? Lots of educational apps have already come into existence to spread knowledge in the form of games. The next step may be for the students to design the games themselves for learning subjects in depth. This training may also lay a foundation for those who would like to pursue a career in game design in the later stages of life.
- Flipped classroom– While not a technology per se, this teaching model is using technology to change the way instructors teach. Rather than spending the class time lecturing the students, the lectures are delivered to the student’s in video format for them to watch at home (or in study hall).
Then, the classroom time is set aside for 1 on 1 help, discussion, and interaction based on the lecture homework. With nearly every student carrying a mobile device or laptop, this model may give students and teachers more time to work on areas of difficulty rather than simple straight lecture. - Artificial intelligence– It can save the teacher time by doing the grading and giving feedback on their behalf. It provides greater insights into a student’s learning patterns. The wide variety of available apps which using artificial intelligence and machine learning offers the opportunity for students to engage in their own learning process. Educational apps using AI provide the opportunity to personalize learning to each student.
With these technologies in classrooms, the students will no longer see learning as a duty but as something that is very important and interesting in life, of which they have to be a part.
We have discussed enough advantages of technology centred classroom learning. It would not be fair to say that there will not be any disadvantages in doing away with the traditional education dynamics.
So here are few short-comings of using technology for education:
- Loss and maintenance-To fully implement, schools would need to provide a tablet and other required gadgets to every student and have a system in place for dealing with lost, damaged, or stolen assets.
- Standardization– It eliminates the option for students to dramatically chuck their math book across the room when they get frustrated with it. (I feel that loss on a personal level.) But on a serious note, the learning might become too standardized and formalized which can result in the loss of human touch in the child’s education
- Lack of social awareness– Students using virtual reality may develop a lack of spatial awareness in the real world. In other words, they could hit or run into something in the real world while immersed in the virtual one.
- Health issues– Motion sickness can develop in some students due to their eyes sensing movement while their body does not.
- Not every fun game is effective at teaching a given concept. Not every game that is effective at teaching the concept is fun, either.
- It takes time and training to learn how to effectively use games for learning. However, there are plenty of platforms that use gaming technology and offer help for those who want to learn how to better implement it in their classrooms.
- To fully adopt the cloud, schools would need to somehow ensure that every student has adequate access to the internet.
- Security. Although pretty much every network on the cloud has a security system in place to protect its information, hacking can be a concern.
- Teachers can learn a lot about a student’s learning patterns by doing the grading themselves.
- There’s a personal element of care when a teacher gives personalized feedback (rather than letting a machine generate one).
- Not every student possesses a mobile device, and not every parent is comfortable with their child having one.
- To really utilize this technology, schools would need to make sure that every parent is onboard and that every student has access to some sort of mobile device.