Technology has become more and more integrated into education. It lets teachers and students communicate with each other better than ever before. Utilizing this technology is vital to making education more engaging and efficient. It allows for students to have a voice in the classroom and empower them to learn. Today, let’s talk about how teachers can use technology to reap its educational benefits.

Learning With Games

If there’s one thing every kid likes, it’s video games. A lot of old-fashioned types see video games as a distraction from learning, but it’s just another extension of media. In the same way, cartoons can also be used to teach kids, so can video games. Gaming lets students associate learning with fun, and making lessons fun is one of the best ways to make students engage with your teaching.

Online math games, for example, mix up your math lessons in a fun way. Typing games are also great ways to teach students things like computer typing and basic literacy. Gaming is a great way to engage children as it makes learning goal-oriented without being dry. It provides students with positive visual feedback of their progress and lets them know where they made errors. This back and forth style of learning is something only learning games can do so well and so fun.

Virtual Tours

Virtual tours are a wonderful way to teach children about topics that take place in historical locations. For example, if you want to discuss the history of the Grand Canyon, you could go on Google StreetView or other street view apps, some provided by educational sites themselves.

If a lesson is discussing Ancient Egypt, there are virtual tour games that let you walk around the pyramids yourself, both inside and out. Upon approaching an important landmark, the student could be greeted with a detailed background of the location.

Online teaching can still take advantage of the benefits of place-based learning thanks to this technology. Immersion in learning is an effective teaching tool, as it lets students see the topics they learn about as more than just words in a book.

Digital Multimedia

Digital content related to your subject is a fantastic way to connect with your students. Educational content creators on YouTube prove that there is an interest in this method of teaching. Let your students bring presentations to life with creative visual effects, unique photography, and their favorite music.

Simple programs like Microsoft PowerPoint are great starting points as they offer templates for you and your students to use in a user-friendly way. With time, they could even start using more complex video editing programs such as Adobe Premiere and AfterEffects. They could even have guest speakers via social media to enhance their presentations.

By having your students create their projects online, you let their natural talents flourish. Content creation lets students have their own voice without being limited by the usual constraints of most projects. Self-expression is an important aspect of learning, and digital mediums like blogging, videos, and audio podcasts let students do just that. Respecting your student’s abilities elevates their capacity to learn.

Social Media

Students use social media in every aspect of their life nowadays, so why not integrate learning into it as well? Instead of relying on technologies like e-mail, which are rarely used by students, use social media as your virtual classroom. There are a lot more options for teaching available to you on both platforms.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has introduced several teachers to the wonders of video conference apps such as Zoom and Skype. While there is no replacement for physical teaching in a classroom, video conference apps have allowed teachers and students to keep a sense of community even when stuck in their homes. Other social media also offer some unique benefits that video conference calls don’t have, however.

For example, Facebook’s groups feature lets you have a hub to share lessons and educational posts with your students. Discord takes this one step further, as a dedicated classroom server lets you have voice chat and specific channels for group work or different subjects. Important messages can be pinned for easy reference, and all conversations occur in real-time, making communication much faster.

Source Citation

The worldwide web is the world’s largest library. There are millions upon millions of resources for your students to learn from, and it’s important to utilize all that convenient information when teaching your class.

Teach your students how to find the right resources for your topics, as being the world’s largest library also means there are a lot of potentially unreliable sources. Rely on sources that come from respected scholars and institutions. There are hundreds of legitimate websites to choose from, so teach your students to separate fake news and clickbait articles from genuine sources.

How do you integrate technology in your classroom to engage students? I bet you’ve become a pro already.

About the Author: Kat is a Molecular Biology Scientist turned Growth Marketing Scientist. During her free time, she loves to write articles that will bring delight, empower women, and spark the business mind. She loves to bake but unfortunately, baking doesn’t love her back. She has many things in her arsenal and writing is one of her passion projects.

Thanks for reading!

If you like it, then pin it!