It’s no surprise that technology has changed the way we live in the world. It’s transformed everything from the way we form relationships, shop, do business and think about education. Whether we like it or not, technology and EdTech are altering the way teachers teach, and students learn. Whether it be the implementation of the latest devices into a classroom or the use of the internet for valuable learning tools, EdTech is here to stay.

Many students today may not see this transformation because they have grown up with rapidly evolving technology and the ability to have access to information at their fingertips. Teachers and parents, on the other hand, have gotten the chance to see the evolution of technology and education first hand. In just the past decade alone, the use of technology and mobile devices in the classroom has rapidly increased. No longer are the days of highlighting passages in textbooks and taking notes with a pencil. Read below for ways that EdTech is transforming education for the better.

Communication

It’s now easier than ever for teachers to communicate with parents and students, and vice versa. With the mobility of email and text messaging on smartphones, teachers can remind students and parents about homework, progress reports, and upcoming assignments in a matter of seconds. Parents can now stay more informed about their children’s progress in school and what they are learning. They don’t have to make the hike up to school for parent-teacher conferences that only happen once a quarter anymore. Technology has even transformed the way students can communicate with each other. It’s easier for them to collaborate and discuss assignments outside of the classroom.

Inclusion

Through the power of technology, more and more students with disabilities are now able to be included into the mainstream classroom. Technology like videos and games specifically designed with these students’ needs in mind can incorporate students into lessons and allow them to feel included with the rest of their peers. If a student has trouble writing on their own, technology can help them easily take notes or record lessons. Both teachers and students benefit from technology’s inclusive features that make learning accessible to everyone.

Interactive Lessons

Students these days get bored easily, they crave the immediate gratification that social media and video games give them. This is why outdated teaching tools like textbooks and lectures aren’t enough to keep students engaged anymore. With the help of technology, teachers are able to create interactive and engaging lessons for a wide variety of subjects. Technology like tablets, laptops, and computers are being incorporated into classrooms to make learning fun and creative. Some higher education classrooms are even beginning to use technology like robotics, 3D printing, and virtual reality to engage students and prepare them for the future.

Digital Media

Going back to the idea that students are easily bored in the classroom, digital media is bringing exciting new tools for teachers to engage them with. Things like videos, pictures, slideshows and gifs use a variety of media to capture students’ attention and make learning fun again. Any teacher can easily tell a student about a historic event, but having them watch it happen on video brings a sense of immersion to the learning process. With free tools like Youtube and TED Talks, along with countless other online resources, teachers have access to an infinite wealth of information and digital media to enhance students’ understanding of topics.

Resources for All

Textbooks and database subscriptions can be expensive, and many public-school districts do not have the funding to purchase these tools for students. With the internet, learning has become accessible and free to every student. With the introduction of electronic textbooks, mobile applications and other electronic resources, schools are able to purchase valuable tools at lower costs. They can also afford to purchase the latest tools and updates, as it’s much more cost-efficient to download the new version of a book than to order hundreds of new physical textbooks. Thanks to technology, students of all economic backgrounds now have access to the same information and opportunities.

Collaboration

Just like with communication, technology has changed the way both students and teachers can collaborate. With helpful applications and online tools, teachers can work together from the comfort of their own homes to share lesson plans, worksheets, and ideas with one another. This lightens the loads for teachers who are constantly having to come up new ideas and content for lesson plans, especially with the plethora of resources available on the internet and from teachers across the globe.

Bottom Line

There’s no doubt that EdTech is transforming education before our eyes. From the way teachers communicate with parents, to the way students are engaged in the classroom, EdTech has a large impact on the modern world of education.

Screen time has become the enemy of parents and educators alike. We’ve heard countless experts tell us that too much screen time is bad for children. It makes them less smart, less creative—the list goes on and on. But is this really true? Is screen time always a bad thing, or are there different types of screen time?

Experts who preach about the evils of screen time have a point. Especially for young children, screen time has been linked to sleep problems, behavior issues, and obesity. When screen time replaces time that could be spent participating in sports, creative endeavors, or family time, it can be extremely harmful. It has become far too easy for parents to sit their children in front of a television or iPad instead of finding meaningful activities for them to participate in.

The content on the screen matters

Not all screen time is created equal. There’s a big difference between watching cartoons on an iPad and reading a book on a Kindle. Even though both involve looking at a screen, one is a mindless activity that requires no critical thinking and the other can help with reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and more.

There are tons of educational apps available for children, too. Kids can practice math skills, learn a new language, create music, and more—all while looking at a screen. It would be naïve to suggest that time spend on one of these educational apps is just as bad as any other kind of screen time. Therefore, when analyzing the effects of screen time, it’s important to consider the content on the screen.

Guidelines are important

Instead of simply advising that parents dramatically reduce or completely eliminate screen time, it may be wiser to suggest guidelines. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests limiting screen time for young children. They now recommend no screen time for children under 18 months and one hour a day for children ages two to five.

For children over six and teenagers, however, the guidelines are looser. Instead of focusing on the amount of time spent (or not spent) in front of a screen, the AAP guidelines recommend focusing on how much time is spent on other activities. Kids between six and eighteen should be spending seven or eight hours a day at school. They should also be completing homework, enjoying some social time, getting an hour a day of physical activity, and getting enough sleep. As long as screen time doesn’t take away from these other activities, there’s no reason to cut it out.

This new approach to screen time is more flexible. For modern families, this is also more realistic. Given that screens are used for so many purposes now, it’s hard to cut them out or reduce screen time to just an hour or two.

It can also be helpful to set aside time where kids put the screens away. Using screens for any purpose right before bed, for example, can interrupt sleep. So creating a no technology before bed rule can be healthy and help limit unnecessary screen time.

Some screen time has benefits

New studies suggest that certain types of screen time can even have benefits. And those studies showing that there are downsides to screen time? Some of those show only minor differences between children who spend more time looking at screens and those who spend less time looking at screens.

The debate over screen time and its possible effects is ongoing. While too much of the wrong kind of screen time can be bad, not all screen time is a bad thing.

How much screen time do you let your children have? Do you think some types of screen time are better than others?

There’s a big push in education right now to teach kids how to code. Coding is undoubtedly an important skill that will help students in the job marketplace. It’s an in-demand skill and a useful one. But can coding help students in other areas? Some are now suggesting that coding can help improve students’ writing skills.

Telling a story through code

In many ways, coding is like writing a story. Programmers must go in a sequential order, just like storytellers. Just like writers, programmers first sit down and plan out the story they will tell. What will happen in the beginning, middle, and end?  This is just as important for programmers to know as it is for writers.

Kids can also use coding to create stories. While we may not think of coding as a creative pursuit, it certainly can be. Some of the best video games tell stories. Through coding, students can create their own stories. The best part? These stories are interactive. Just like an old “choose your own adventure” book, the reader (or player) can decide what the character will do next and change the outcome of the story.

Programmers and writers must use words wisely

Good writers use their words wisely. They know how to say something in as few words as possible. This helps keep writing concise, readable, and to the point.

When writing code, good programmers know how to do a lot with just a few lines of code. Excess code can make a program confusing if other programmers need to make changes. Too much unnecessary code can also confuse the computer and lead to unexpected and unwanted outcomes.

When kids practice coding, they get into the habit of eliminating excess. This will make them better communicators and writers. They’ll know how to say a lot in just a few words—an increasingly important skill in a world where attention spans are shrinking.

Coding forces kids to plan ahead

Both writers and programmers have to learn to plan ahead. Most teachers are familiar with the struggle of trying to get students to complete graphic organizers and plan ahead before they start writing. This kind of big-picture organizational thinking is a challenge for kids.

When writing code, students have to know where they’re going. Otherwise, their code will end up a garbled mess that’s hard to make sense of. Programming allows students to practice planning ahead and thinking about the big picture, a skill they’ll definitely need in writing.

In writing and code, there are rules

Another similarity between writing and coding? Both have rules that must be followed. If kids ignore the rules when coding, they’ll end up with a program that doesn’t work. Certain functions must go in a particular order, and programmers have to understand the proper use of each bit of code.

In writing, there are rules, too. While you won’t get an error message if you break the rules of grammar, writers who eschew conventions may find that their work is hard to read. Knowing the parts of speech and understanding sentence structure is a lot like knowing how to write code.

By practicing their coding skills, students can get a sense of how to piece these different parts together. This skill will translate into their writing, making them better writers.

Coding and writing aren’t that different

In many ways, coding and writing and alike. Both require an understanding of the basics as well as the ability to plan ahead and see the big picture. And both coding and writing allow kids to get creative and tell a story in their own unique way.

Have your kids learned to code? If so, what changes have you seen in their writing?

In today’s technological world, there is no escaping the smartphone phenomenon. The average person uses their smartphone anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day. Most people are even checking their phones every 15 to 20 minutes while they’re awake. The ways in which smartphones have become such an essential part of modern life is staggering, and something to be aware of when teaching in a classroom.

Smartphones can be both a great educational tool and a great distraction in the classroom. It should come as no surprise that almost every child in the US owns or has access to a smartphone. Statistics show that 56 percent of children age 8 to 12 have a smartphone. That number jumps up to 88 percent of teenagers ages 13 to 17 have or have access to a smartphone. And a whopping 91 percent of middle and high school aged students primarily access the internet via their smartphones.

This change in the way we interact with technology and integrate it into our lives has come dramatically and fast. It’s sometimes hard for teachers, many of whom grew up in an era with no mobile phones or even the internet, to adapt to this fast-paced technological generation. While smartphones can easily be the downfall of your students’ attention spans and performance, they don’t have to be. More and more educators these days are incorporating modern technology and students’ own smartphones into their classroom to engage and excite students about learning. Below you will find useful tips on how to manage cell phone use in your classroom, and use it for your teaching benefit.

Establish Expectations

At the beginning of the school year or semester, it’s a good idea to be blunt with your students about what you expect of them when it comes to using their smartphones in class. This is also the time to tell them about any plans to incorporate technology into the classroom. The best way to create a set of rules when it comes to cell phone usage is to do it together with the students.

Set aside a class period at the beginning of the year where you and your students talk about the best way to keep their attention focused on classwork.

Include a clear list of times that it is and isn’t appropriate to be using your phone in class. It’s also important to agree on and clearly lay out the consequences of breaking the rules. You can even write up a contract or agreement laying out all of the expectations and effects you agreed upon as a class, and have them read it over and sign it. This way students know what to expect, and there are no surprises when they’re caught using their smartphones.

Engage Your Students with the Technology

The best way to manage cell phones and other technology isn’t to ignore it, but to use it as an educational tool. There are several different apps such as Socrative and many others that you can easily incorporate into your classroom and use for fun activities. These apps engage students by allowing them to use their own smartphones or mobile devices in an educational setting. Using these apps for activities like exit tickets—activities students have to do before leaving the class, or bell ringers—activities that students do at the beginning of each class period, can bring diversity to your curriculum and keep the interest of even your most distraction-prone students.

Take the Time to Walk Around the Classroom

It’s hard to tell whether or not your students are staying on task when you can’t see their screens. You can easily fix this by re-arranging the desks into a semi-circle or small group design, making their screens more visible to you. Another solution is to increase the time you dedicate to walking around the classroom. If students know that you’re likely to come their way with little to no warning, they’re more likely to stay on task. You can also tell who is busy with other distractions on their phone or mobile devices, by those that exit out of tabs quickly or double tap their home screen when they realize you’re walking by.

Don’t Be Afraid to Take Them Away

It’s just as important to engage your students with technology as it is to give them a break from it. They’re on their phone all day every day, at school and at home. While they may not be fans of the idea, it may be beneficial to both their attention spans and mental health to designate a technology-free period of time. A sure-fire way to enforce this technology-free time in the classroom and rid your students of any temptation to check their phone while you’re not looking is to have students put their phones in a basket or on your desk. By eliminating all temptation and ability to check their phone for a portion of the class, the can focus better on the task at hand. This strategy works great for group discussions, tests, and quizzes when students have the hardest time focusing.

Give Your Students a Tech Break

Every 20 to 30 or so minutes, give your students a chance to check their phones and have some free time. Most students claim to experience anxiety when they’re unable to check their phone for more than 20 minutes. Giving your students three minutes to respond to text messages, look at their notifications, and check social media gives them a chance to get some anxiety out so it’s not distracting them when they should be focusing on learning.

Can you think of any additional ways that teachers can manage cell phone use in their classrooms?

Blended learning is more than just a hot new trend in education—it’s the way classrooms of the future will work. The concept behind blended learning is to take the best elements of in-person classroom instruction and online instruction and combine them. In a blended classroom, students attend classes in person and watch lecture videos or complete online activities.

Why use the blended approach?

Blended learning is the best of both worlds. Online courses, especially in higher education, have become extremely popular. Online courses allow students to watch lectures and complete classwork when and where it’s convenient for them. The rise of online classes has allowed adults who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend college to earn their degrees while continuing to work or raise a family.

However, there are some drawbacks to online learning. Many students feel that it is impersonal. Students can feel isolated without the in-person support of classmates. It can also be difficult to get help from professors or ask questions in an online course.

By combining online and in-person elements, educators today are creating the best learning environment possible through blended learning.

Blended learning in the K-12 classroom

First and foremost, educators need to know their students. Teachers at the K-12 level must be aware of the level of access to technology their students have at home. Blended learning will look very different in a school where the majority of students don’t have access to high-speed internet at home versus a school where every student can log in at home.

For classrooms where most students can’t get online from home, blended learning is still an option. Teachers can set up a schedule where students alternate between digital and traditional learning modes in the classroom. Two or three days a week could be devoted to completing online activities, while the remaining days might look like a more traditional classroom.

Teachers should also consider which elements of their classroom lend themselves best to a digital approach. Interactive activities, like class discussion, might be best in person, where students can talk face-to-face. Hands-on activities, such as science labs, obviously won’t translate well into a digital format either.

Other elements, like lectures, readings, or assessments, can go online. With activities like readings or lectures, students may prefer an online approach that allows them to move at their own pace, stopping when they don’t understand something.

Blended learning in higher education

Blended learning has become extremely popular in higher education settings. Blended classrooms allow greater flexibility for students and can encourage non-traditional students to pursue higher education. This approach also saves professors time, as they can record a lecture one time and use it indefinitely, rather than delivering the same lecture to multiple classes each semester.

One common approach to blended learning in the college classroom is to use a flipped classroom method. In the flipped classroom, students watch lecture videos or complete readings on their own. During class, students discuss what they learned or complete supplemental activities to enhance their understanding.

With this approach, classes can meet in-person less frequently. Instead of meeting twice a week, professors might assign lecture videos and readings for students to watch on their own time. Class can then meet once a week to discuss, ask questions, and work with the information they’ve learned.

Just like K-12 educators, college professors must think carefully about which elements of their classroom will work best online. Difficult topics that students typically have lots of questions about may not work well in a digital format. Professors must also make sure that they are available online to help students, just as they would be in person.

How have you incorporated blended learning into your classroom? What works well, and what struggles have you encountered?

Artificial Intelligence may seem like something from the future, with its inclusion in sci-fi thrillers and movies. While AI has yet to take over the world with destructive prone robots, it is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives. Whether we know it or not, most of us probably use AI every day for simple tasks like taking a picture, parking our car, asking our phones what the weather looks like, or using our personal home assistants to turn on the lights.

Our technology has yet to reach the level of self-awareness, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t being used in creative and innovative ways every day including the classroom. Artificial Intelligence in the classroom is still a relatively new concept, but one that is being explored by many researchers and educators alike. Read below for some ways that artificial education can be used in your classroom and how it’s becoming the future of education.

Automating Menial Tasks & Saving Teachers Time

Teachers are some of the hardest working professionals in our society. This has a lot to do with all the work they take home with them long after the bell rings. Things like grading tests and homework can take up a lot of a teacher’s day, leaving them with less time to focus on lesson planning and engaging their students. With the help of artificial education, menial tasks like grading can be automated saving teachers loads of time.

Today, the technology exists to automate grading for multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank assignments. Software that can grade writing and essays is being developed as we speak and is improving automatic grading for the better. Think of artificial technology that grades students work as a TA, but one that costs significantly less than a yearly salary and doesn’t require sleep. With less work for teachers, artificial education can give them more time to create engaging and creative classroom activities, and work on their own professional development.

Using Software to Adapt to Students’ Needs

There’s no doubt that every student has their own unique style of learning. That’s why one-size-fits-all teaching methods are often so criticized. With artificial intelligence, it is now easier for teachers to accommodate the individual students’ learning needs. There exists a variety of learning programs, software, and games that are adaptive to different levels and learning styles. Artificial education like this responds to students’ specific learning needs and puts emphasis on topics that students are struggling with. Artificial education also allows students to work at their own pace, instead of trying to keep up with the classroom.

Teachers can use AI software and games in the classroom to make sure every student is learning what they need to succeed at their own comfort level. Some teachers may be concerned that this level of artificial education could be used in the classroom as a way of pushing out the need for human teachers. In the ideal situation, teachers and artificial education would work seamlessly in a classroom to assist students with topics they are struggling with. The teacher is still a main facilitator and educator in the classroom. Artificial education gives teachers more time to work individually with students and help them reach their full potential.

Artificial Education as Tutors

In the busy lives of working parents and exhausted teachers, it can often be difficult for struggling students to find quality and affordable help outside of the classroom. As of today, artificial tutors haven’t completely wiped out the tutor job field, but advancing technology could soon make that possibility into a reality. Artificial intelligence run tutors can make it easier for students to access the help they need. Students won’t have to spend time traveling to a tutoring facility and parents won’t have to shell out big bucks for a private tutor.

With the help of AI tutors, students can get help essentially 24/7 in subjects like math, writing, and language.

Making Education Global

Thanks to artificial education, students now have the ability to learn anywhere, anytime. This means that if a student has to miss school for personal or medical reasons, they can easily stay caught up with the school work via artificial education software. Students also have the ability to learn from anywhere in the world, making higher quality education for rural students and those in low economic areas accessible and affordable.

With the help of AI, students can learn more from home and come to the classroom with a set of core competencies that teachers can then build on. Artificial education is leveling the playing field of education for students across the globe and giving those without access to quality education equal opportunities.

Bottom Line

While artificial intelligence and education may seem like a futuristic invention, it’s present in our lives and education systems today. With the help of artificial education, we can make both students’ and teachers’ lives easier. Artificial education gives every student the opportunity to receive a quality education, takes the load off teachers, and individualizes learning.