The need to revamp the current educational system is becoming increasingly apparent in light of recent advances in science, technology, and sociology.
Online courses, interactive graphing calculators, and other forms of virtual communication with instructors are already available and provide significant benefits to students and pupils.
Never fall behind!
What, though, about the people who have not yet “caught up” with the rest of society and adapted to the ways in which new technologies are taught?
Maintaining a contemporary perspective is a must. Those who are currently falling behind will continue to do so unless they take immediate action.
First, you need to learn how to do something properly before you attempt it. All schools can benefit from the following advice.
1. Use Presentations and Slideshows
Because of the monotonous nature of the content they deliver, text-only slide shows are now considered to be outdated. Additionally, it is clear that slide show presentations are already a component of the content that you study in your educational program. Therefore, if you add a variety of different forms of multimedia to the performances, it may be possible to hold the attention of the students for an extended period of time.
Some examples of multimedia components that could be integrated into your classroom include the following:
- Colourful Images Gifs
- Several brief video clips
- Graphs\Animations
2. Podcasts are Great for Fun
Utilizing podcasts for all of your academic lessons can, in the long run, help you with the process of instructing others. Podcasts that encourage positive thinking, online learning platforms, interviews, and online courses are especially helpful. In a similar vein, numerous podcasts covering a wide range of fascinating subjects can be found on the internet.
Some examples of podcasts that you could use in your classroom are the following:
Research of a fundamental nature on a subject in academics
Podcasts of lectures given by other educators Blogs and websites
If you want to take it to the next level, you might consider having your students create their own podcasts under your direction.
3. Use Virtual Tours
Who doesn’t get excited about going on field trips? We all do. Because of advances in technology, educational institutions will no longer have to call off field trips because of problems with the organization of their itineraries. In addition, using Google Cardboard, you can experience something similar to a virtual excursion.
Discover more about the past by going to historical sites, reading about natural phenomena, travelling to other countries, and engaging in many other educational activities. First and foremost, you need to get your students involved and interested in the material being taught to them.
4. Use Other Institutes as an Example
Research the implementation history of other schools, especially those that are similar to yours on a number of dimensions. Which approaches work well and which should be avoided? Again, learning from the experiences of others almost never backfires.
5. Integrate Social Media
Because students already spend a significant amount of time on social media, incorporating its use into your classroom is one of the most innovative ways to use technology in the classroom. This helps connect students to the curriculum, resources found in the classroom, and one another. Make a Facebook group that’s just for your class, and use it to post topics for class discussion there. You can also develop personalized Twitter hashtags for your classroom that students can use to talk about the lessons or ask questions.
5. Generate Content for Digital Platforms
Students have a wonderful opportunity to display their individual creative talents as well as to showcase their learning when they create digital content related to the topics that they are currently studying. When students are able to express themselves in ways that highlight and accommodate their personal strengths and learning/communication styles, the process of creating content for any project is most effective. This is also true of the process of creating content for any other project. Give students the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of mediums, such as blogs, videos, podcasts, eBooks, flyers, and other forms of digital art, as well as through any other approach that allows them to feel the most comfortable. Students are able to flourish as learners when their individuality and their needs for opportunities for creative expression are respected.
6. Use a Digital Calendar in the Classroom
Create a shared online calendar for your classroom using Google Calendar or another program like it so that you can post important announcements and reminders on it. Both the teachers and the students should be able to easily access the location where the due dates for assignments and upcoming classroom events (such as field trips and guest speakers) have been posted. Take it a step further and share the calendar with the parents in order to maintain the connection and involvement of the parents in their child’s education.
7. Benefit from the Review and Critique Webpages
Although we are aware that you can find almost any information on the internet, we are also aware that a large portion of the information that you may find is not credible and does not come from credible sources. When I was doing research for papers in school, I distinctly remember being told on multiple occasions by teachers and professors that “Wikipedia is not a reliable source,” but I cannot recall a single teacher who ever explained why. Reviewing the websites together, developing and communicating standards for what constitutes a good source, and providing your students with the ability to analyze and distinguish reliable web pages and sources from unreliable ones will equip your students with the digital literacy necessary to do so.