A New Way to Teach and Learn: 5 Technology Trends in Education
Technology is teaming up with education, and the partnership is making life easier for both teachers and students. Thanks to technological trends in education, students can kiss their 10-pound geometry and history textbooks goodbye and teachers can plan a semester’s worth of coursework from the comfort of their own tablets. Here are five of the top technology trends in education for 2014 – pay attention because there might just be a pop quiz later.
Video Killed the Chalk Board
Image via Flickr by Lee Nachtigal
No need to worry, teachers! Although video is opening new digital doors in terms of class work and teaching styles, it’s not taking the place of actual instructors. Whether teachers want to prerecord their lectures or choose from thousands of video lessons online, video in the classroom is really adding to the teaching and learning process.
Likewise, video in the classroom makes way for video outside of the classroom in the form of homework. Instead of handing out textbook style assignments, teachers can send homework assignments via email or through the school’s learning management system with a video tutorial attached.
Gaming is the New Learning
Games make learning easier, which is exactly why ABC building blocks and color-coded shape games are so crucial for early development. The very same idea of gaming as a way to teach extends to higher education. Whether you call it academic game play or educational entertainment, gaming in the classroom is quickly becoming a major teaching trend.
Forget Super Mario Brothers, because classroom gaming uses completely different goal setting techniques. Instead of fighting a villain or conquering an empire, students can solve complex math problems or learn about historical moments with the same high stakes excitement as Mario saving Princess Toadstool. The best part is, with classroom gaming, students can actually compete against one another, which makes game learning even more interactive.
Bad News for Backpacks: Textbooks are Going Digital
Backpacks are going the way of the newspapers because digital textbooks are becoming the new norm in hallways and classrooms all across the world. With the proliferation of the almighty eBook, it’s only a matter of time until students equipped with T-Mobile tablets ditch their textbooks altogether and put the power of digital learning in the palm of their hands.
Laptops are still considered the digital domain of eLearning, but tablets are only getting smaller and more capable, which makes them the next trend in tech learning. The idea of digital textbooks only scratches the surface of tablet inspired learning – think tablet-ready homework and web-based coursework on the go.
The Cloud Classroom
The tech world is buzzing about the cloud’s anywhere capabilities and educators are catching on by using cloud computing and its many benefits both inside and outside of the classroom. For teachers, the cloud is great for managing and accessing student data like test scores and files from anywhere.
As for students, the cloud represents access to information on coursework, class schedules, and upcoming school-wide events. Additionally, the cloud brings parent/teacher conferences to a whole new level. With the cloud, parents can have the same access to their child’s in-school performance as teachers do, which bridges the communication gap between parents, students, and teachers.
Education Analytics are Putting Report Cards to Shame
With all-things educational turning digital, it’s no surprise the technology and science behind web analytics is entering the classroom as well. Where education analytics and web analytics differ is in the research subject. Instead of tracking website hits and traffic, analytics for the classroom can track how assignments, teaching styles, and coursework loads affect individual students.
Instead of standardized testing, education analytics can help teachers and instructors pinpoint specific weaknesses in the learning process of each student. In other words, it’s SEO: Student Education Optimization and it leads to improved teaching styles and streamlined learning. Education analytics are possible due to the technology trends in education that make learning a scalable, traceable, digital process.
As technology continues to find its seat in the classroom, more and more educators are realizing the tech-ed partnership deserves an A+.
READ MORE:
Using Technology to Engage Your Students
Integrating Technology into the Common Core Classroom
Getting Kids to be Active: How Technology and Physical Education are Working Together