Education and Learning News: How can teachers keep up with tech-savvy pupils?

Education and Learning News from 4imprint

As any teaching professional would vouch; teaching is a vocation and it demands many specific personal qualities as well as professional skills. It goes without saying, teachers need to be committed, organised, engaging and authoritative. However, it could be said, the digital revolution has changed the environment for teachers considerably. And, it could be the case, that today’s youngsters are far more adept at handling gadgets and using apps than the adults around them.There is currently a huge opportunity for teachers to use technology both within and outside lessons to communicate with kids in a way they value and understand. According to research by PBS Learning Media, nearly three-quarters of teachers believe educational technology is a student motivator. Check out these ideas to place tech at the heart of your school or college…Incorporate mobile devices into lessons
Pupils checking their devices in lesson time is troublesome. Could you sometimes satisfy this urge by turning phones into learning aids? For instance, students could use them to fill in online surveys or text responses to questions, or maybe try to find out a piece of information using their device. It helps to cement the idea that smartphones and tablets can support learning, rather than just for personal use. When devices are allowed in the classroom, you could provide mobile phone stands to make using devices more practical – this also has the added bonus of letting you see handsets at all times.

Create podcasts & videos
Teachers could send homework and attachments by email, or a step further may be to create podcasts or videos to play in lessons or support homework. By turning to this medium, you can share and convey facts, ideas and concepts in a new and compelling way. Lessons could even be recorded and saved to flashdrives and distributed or recordings could be posted online at a later date.

Connect via social media
Many schools have a presence on social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, both to disseminate information to students and parents and also to showcase success stories. Moreover, social media is proving to be a great way to reach out to future students as well as staying connected with alumni. In fact, past pupils are great people to promote your school, encourage them to share their successes and accomplishments – and consider rewarding them for boosting your profile with useful tech related gadgets such as printed stylus accessories or power banks.

Use PowerPoint, Prezi and other presentation software in the classroom
The brain is very receptive to visual stimuli and children in particular find image-based presentations particularly memorable. Teachers could use tools such as Prezi and PowerPoint on a regular basis to support their lessons and put across important points in an engaging and motivating way that can truly bring subjects to life.

Finally, it’s vital to show a desire to keep up with technology. It’s second nature for children to embrace the latest innovations, so endeavour to stay connected to benefit from the technology that surrounds us.

Source/Further Reading
Teachers embrace digital learning resources to propel learning, PBS Learning Media

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