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Communication skills are of vital importance in the world today.  With an increasingly reliance on technology, teachers sometimes fear that students are losing the art of face-to-face and formal written communication.  But instead of fearing technology’s impact on student communication, why can’t teachers leverage technology to help students hone their written communication skills?  Whether students are still struggling with basic to complex grammatical concepts, or they need help elaborating their thoughts in thoughtful, sensical written pieces, teachers can rest assured: there’s an app for that!

Grammar & Spelling Skills

Building students’ grammar and spelling skills is foundational for strong written communication.  The following apps are great tools for helping students master grammar and spelling.

1. Sentence Builder

Winner of the 2010 IEAR Language Arts App of the Year, Sentence Builder is an app geared toward elementary students.  It uses a game-like interface to teach students to form grammatically correct simple, compound, and complex sentences.  The app offers audio reinforcement, progress monitoring, and a “teen” module for older or struggling ELA students.

2. American Wordspeller

Spelling is a cornerstone of strong writing.  But how can students locate a new word in the dictionary if they don’t already know how to spell it?  American Wordspeller is an app that can solve this problem by helping students to “find a word by the way it sounds!”  Students can type the first two to three letters that they think the word starts with, and American Wordspeller will use a predictive function based on the letters’ sounds to generate a list of suggested words and help the student identify the word he or she is looking for!  This app builds agency and confidence in proper spelling.

3. The Interactive Grammar of English

Written by a team of linguists from the University College of London, the grammar in this app is based on the most current research and reflects real situations and real sentences, not just the repetition of archaic rules.  The app is progressive, spanning concepts from basic level understanding to complex, collegiate-level pieces of writing.

4. No Red Ink

Technically, No Red Ink is an interactive website, but it is so functional and easy to navigate, that it has earned its place on a list alongside self-contained apps!  No Red Ink is a personalized approach to drilling grammar skills.  The site uses the students’ self-reported interests to build sentences that pretest, practice, and evaluate students’ grammar knowledge and acquired learning.  Teachers can set the topic for a class, monitor student progress, and peruse the data provided by the site reflecting students’ achievement.  It’s an easy and effective grammar skill tool.

Writing Skills

1. Writing Challenge App

The Writing Challenge App allows students to enjoy writing in the guide of a fun, interactive game.  The app provides a prompt to get student writing started…then, every minute, the app supplies another prompt to add new ideas, words, characters, sentences, places or actions to the plot.  Students who have a hard time getting started with creative writing assignments will enjoy the fast-paced, game-like setup of this app.  And in the end, they’ll have been inspired to write an entire story!

2. Writing Prompts

This app generates fiction, and nonfiction writing prompts, helping students master the skill of the short write.  The app uses current events, scene elements, words, pictures, colors, and even random tidbits from fiction works to inspire students to write both short and long pieces.  The 600 creative writing prompts are available both on- and offline to encourage student writing wherever they may be.

3. Story Builder

Story Builder is an app from the same company that produces Sentence Builder.  Story Builder was Huffington Post’s 2011 winner of Best Reading App.  The app is designed to help students improve paragraph formation, integration of idea, inference, and abstract thinking and expression.  The app’s use of audio clips promotes access to writing skills, even for students with special needs.  The app offers a talk-to-text function, which allows students to narrate their thoughts and see them transformed into paragraphs; this is an essential scaffold for struggling writers.

4. Write About This

Write About This is an app that addresses all genres of writing throughout elementary school, engaging students and making them feel excited about writing!  Educators report that even struggling writers are engaged and motivated by the game-like feel of this writing app; by the end of its integration, many couldn’t get their students to turn it off!  This app is worth investigating for teachers of reluctant writers.

5. Storyrobe

Storyrobe allows writers to write, share their work, and receive feedback from others.  This is a great way to integrate student editing and revision as well as teaching how to incorporate positive feedback to writers.  With this app, you can easily save and upload your story to social media platforms as well!

6. Google Docs

For traditional essay writing in classrooms, there is no better app than Google Docs!  Google Docs has all the traditional functionality of Microsoft Word but allows for collaboration between students and for easy-to-give and easy-to-receive feedback from teachers through the commenting and suggesting functions.  When paired with Google Classroom, Google Docs makes the assigning, collecting, and grading of essays a breeze for teachers and students.

It’s time to harness technology’s strengths, instead of dwelling on their weaknesses.  While written communication can, at times, be undercut by social media, teachers can also use it to motivate students to write more and write better.  By tapping into these writing apps, teachers can get their students invested in improving their writing skills!

When I was a child, I remember taking walks with my mother to the library to pick out a book or two. If I was lucky, and I was on good behavior, the librarian sometimes allowed me to take out three books from the library. As I grew older in school, I learned about the Dewy Decimal System, and how to find a book by using a library catalog. When I began college about ten years ago, there were floors and floors of somewhat outdated books on the shelves, and although I did not quickly find what I needed, there were books everywhere.

What I did not know then was that even ten years ago, the future of libraries had begun to change. I completed the majority of my research online, and I found myself meeting in the library with classmates to research needed information for group projects. Shortly after I graduated, my university announced it would be completely renovating the library in order to create a more technology-centered library with an increase in spaces for group work.

What I did not know then was that even ten years ago, the future of libraries had begun to change. I completed the majority of my research online, and I found myself meeting in the library with classmates to research needed information for group projects. Shortly after I graduated, my university announced it would be completely renovating the library in order to create a more technology-centered library with an increase in spaces for group work.

What Has Changed in Just the last Five to Ten Years?

All over the globe libraries have become, and are continuing to become places where learners meet, gather, and collaborate. Gone are the times when learners sat individually at tables and were told “be quiet” because they are being too loud. Although there may be space reserved for individual study, now the majority of new and renovated libraries are featuring collaboration spaces for students. Some libraries have even begun to include juice bars or mini cafes to encourage student collaboration. Group workstations are developing, and large open spaces with wide tables and laptops are becoming the norm, rather than the exception.

What Does the Future of Libraries Look Like?

Although printed books still play a critical role in the learning process and in libraries, libraries are becoming spaces that are more focused on the availability of technology, access to online libraries and resources, as well as e-books. Instead of ordering a book from your university library, and waiting for it come from another university, students can request materials online from enormous online university databases. Libraries are becoming furnished with armchairs and iPads. While students are studying in the library, iPads can be “checked out” for individual student use and research. iPads may have numbers or codes on them, just like books.

The Makerspace Movement

In addition to libraries transforming into technology centers with readily accessible iPads and laptops, modern libraries are including what are called “Makerspaces.” Makerspaces are learning centers, that can be as simple as a station with Legos for young learners to creative, invent, and build, or can even be as complex as workshops and stations for various crafts and tradespersons. Makerspaces can even be full and complete labs equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, and or power and hand tools.

Makerspaces can contain work stations equipped with tools for any trade such as artists, seamstresses, engineers, computer programmers, computer hackers, painters, woodworkers, graphic designers, and more. These stations are becoming popular in new and modern libraries, as libraries become places of cooperation and teamwork, and are falling away from the traditional idea that libraries are quiet places for individual silent work only. Libraries are becoming learning commons for all ages, for artisans, for students, for families, and for all who wish to access the new world of Makerspaces and online learning.

What Is the Future Environment of Libraries?

Due to a shift in pedagogy and new education methods, as well the steady and fast increase in accessibility to modern-day technology, even the environment of the future library is being altered. The present and future of libraries not only include laptops and high-speed internet, but also rooms with whiteboard paint and chalkboard paint and large glass windows to allow sunlight to stream into studies spaces. As we march through the 21^st Century, the century of technology, MOOCs, numbered iPads, and SmartBoards are quickly becoming standard in many libraries. Some libraries are including even Apple TV’s and other devices that we would never have found in a library, just 15 years ago.

What Are Some Concerns Regarding the Future of Libraries and Learning?

Some altruistic librarians are clutching their hardback books, and Dewy Decimal System in their hands, as books are becoming less popular in modern libraries. Physical books are being replaced by study spaces, Makerspaces, and computer labs. Although many if not all libraries still hold books on their shelves, the future of libraries is unknown. Will there always be physical books on the shelves of libraries in the year 2050? Maybe. Maybe not.  Although there is a danger in books disappearing from libraries altogether, advances in technology are making it more possible to spread information and knowledge at an ever-increasing pace.

Increasingly, education is heading toward personalized learning for all students. In the past, gifted students and those students with special needs were the only ones to receive some personalized learning plan of some kind. Now, these programs are being expanded to reach out to all students. Research states many things about personalized learning, and it can make or break the future of education for many students.

Technology seems to be the most conventional method in which personalized learning is being achieved. Students will spend more time interacting with technology in this kind of situation, which will be a great avenue to open up one-on-one instruction time. However, research has indicated a concern with the lack of student-to-student interaction that will be lost during this one-on-one time being increased. Collaboration has proven to be a cornerstone of education in many countries that have successful students so it cannot be ignored or replaced without first being considered for its value.

As far as technology goes, some programs have proven to stand out among others in the arena of available tools for personalized learning. For example, some math programs are integrative and adaptive to the needs of each child using the program. These programs promote learning engagement and student motivation in ways that other models have failed to do so in previous years.

Some studies have spent lots of time focusing on research for these various types of technology and techniques regarding personalized learning. Schools that participated in the study have experienced positive effects as a result of using these technologies and techniques. Math, science, and reading scores have improved over the two years these schools took place in the study, too. Most of these scores are at or above national averages as well.

Unfortunately, there is not yet enough research to completely stand behind personalized learning. More research needs to be done to see if the funding costs will be worth the price for students to reap the benefits of personalized learning in a holistic way. Some of the concerns with this research being done are that it follows the standard model of research and development for typical classroom techniques to be investigated. The problem is that the processes being used in personalized learning follow modules and techniques that are not standard, so the research methods being used might not be the best ones to test what is happening in schools that are piloting many of these programs. In short, an improvement on test scores can only tell researchers so much information.

There are many upsides to personalized learning, though. Students are engaged and motivated to learn more, as stated previously. This situation occurs because learning situations are tailored to what students enjoy the most. Teachers can be more involved in making this process a reality, so long as too much technology is not involved. Projects can be made to pique student interest, making collaborative learning efforts all the more enhanced.

Another reason why personalized learning techniques might work over traditional teaching methods is the fact that the teacher-student role is somewhat reversed. Historically, teachers have been seen as leaders in the classroom, and students are meant to follow that lead completely. However, there is more autonomy given to students in a classroom that focus on personalized learning. Students no longer become a passive recipient of information because they are actively engaged and motivated, as stated previously, in the process all the more.

Though more research needs to be completed on the topic of personalized learning, it does not seem to be vanishing in the forefront of educational techniques any time soon. It should be considered as a viable method to be included in every classroom right alongside collaborative and other traditional learning methods.

How is digital technology changing education? An easier question to answer perhaps is: How is digital technology not changing education. Read more to learn about how digital technology is revolutionizing the face of schools and education on a global scale.

1. Availability of Online Classes and Programs: One of the first easy observations regarding digital technology and education is that online schools and classes are becoming widely available. Even free online classes called “MOOC’s” otherwise known as Massive Open Online Courses are becoming widely popular. Online courses and full online programs are making it possible for learners young and old to unite from all over the world at any given moment, and to have easy access to a course or program from home.

2. Learnings Texts Are Now Digitalized: Check the backpack of many high school and college students, and you will find that physicals textbooks are slowly being replaced with iPads and various forms of devices connected to online media. With the fast-paced development of online media, e-books, e-readers, and learning programs developed for iPads, iPhones, and smartphones, the textbook is becoming “extinct” in some areas. You can forget the time when your backpack was loaded down with a stack of textbooks, because learning is going online.

3. Mobile Learning: A combination of the result of the sharp and sudden increase in the availability of online courses and programs, and the wide availability of online resources and books, you can now study from your phone. MOOC’s such as the well-known “Future Learn” MOOC allow you to access your course(s) from your smartphone. Just open the course, plug in your headphones, and follow the content and the classroom discussions! Whether you are riding the subway or taking a bus or a train you can instantly connect to the world full of learners and learning.

4. Personalized Teaching and Learning: Due to the increase in the presence of technology in the classroom, teachers now have more ability to personalize lessons, instructions, and projects for each group or child. By using devices and programs to distribute classwork and assignments, teachers can personalize lessons and focus on the work of each student. Individualized lessons can be provided to each student, and learning tools enable students to work, perform, and excel at their own pace. Teachers can also now provide feedback, grades, and reports directly to students through online platforms, and online school portals and log-ins.

5. Guidance and Instruction from Diverse Teachers: The increase of digital technology has also affected the availability and access to diverse teachers and instructors for students worldwide. One student can be present in a multi-cultural online classroom with teachers with origins from South Africa, England, Brazil, Spain, Russia, and Poland all at the same time. Teachers from different backgrounds and countries all bring their own unique perspectives, cultures, and languages to the table of learning.

6. Collaboration and Peer-to-Peer Learning in the Classroom: With an increase in access to online learning, whether part or full instruction is provided online, increased opportunities for students to collaborate together from a variety of places becomes possible. Student bodies, in turn, can be made up of students from all over the globe, with every continent represented. Diverse student bodies also increase diversity in ways of thinking and contributions to class discussions and projects. Inside and outside the classroom students can work together through online platforms and portals to exchange ideas. Students can express ideas and communicate through programs provided by their schools, and also informally through social media programs such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Peer-to-Peer learning has become increasingly popular as students share their ideas with each other through online discussions and share documents through programs such as Google Docs. Teachers are encouraging and setting up classrooms that inspire and sometimes require peer-to-peer discussions

7. Data Driven Instructions and Results: Another change that is occurring due to the rise of digital technology is the increase in data-driven instruction and results. Although some teachers are being forced to use online grading tools and devices, analysis tools are also becoming more precise. These devices and grading tools can provide more accurate results regarding student performance, but can also result in a teacher’s limited ability to judge a student’s performance based on the content of their writing, classroom performance, and other contributions.

What Does the Increase in Digital Technology Mean for the Future?

The increase in digital technology corresponds with the increase in the use of technology in both virtual and real-life classrooms. Although many advantages come with digitalized learning, there are also disadvantages that you should be aware of, including and not limited to minimal to zero face-to-face interaction in the classroom, and the lack of ability to work in person with your study partners and your teacher. Despite these disadvantages, overall digital technology has enhanced the future of learning and has enabled students and educators alike from all over the world to work together, spread knowledge, and increase learning opportunities for everyone.

Virtual reality sounds like a far-off futuristic concept. When we hear the words “virtual reality” we may think of people wearing big helmets that transport them to another location from the comfort of their home (or classroom). However, virtual reality is slowly becoming a reality in the classroom. It doesn’t look quite like what you might imagine, but it is improving all the time.

The potential benefits of virtual reality in the classroom are endless. Students from schools all over the world could have access to the same resources and experiences through virtual reality, creating an even playing field like we’ve never seen before in education. Students could use virtual reality to travel back in time and see history come to life, or to take field trips to far-off locations that would cost hundreds to travel to in real life.

There are a handful of companies already working to make virtual reality accessible to classrooms around the world. These programs are still in the early stages, but they are promising, and they hint at what we might see in the future once virtual reality in the classroom takes off.

Google Expeditions

Google is well-known for technology innovation in many areas. From search engines to self-driving cars, Google is on the cutting edge. So it’s no surprise that Google is jumping into the realm of virtual reality in education.

Google’s Expeditions app allows students to take virtual reality field trips. It’s designed to be an affordable entry into the world of virtual reality for educators. The app can run on just about any smartphone. Students just need Google’s Cardboard, a virtual reality viewer made of cardboard and available through Google for about $15 each. Schools can also choose to buy kits that come with phones, Cardboard viewers, and a tablet for teachers to lead expeditions.

Considering that Google Expeditions is fairly new, there are a surprising number of virtual trips available. Students can take a trip through a virtual underwater shipwreck or coral reef. They can walk through the Coliseum in Rome, or look around Pearl Harbor to learn about World War II.

Students aren’t limited to real places, either. They can travel back in time to see history unfold before their eyes, or take a virtual trip through the human body. Trips like this would never be possible without virtual reality.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many interactive elements to the Google Expeditions experience yet. Students can visit places, but they can’t interact with their environment like they might on a real field trip. In this way, virtual reality is still catching up to the real world.

Nearpod

Nearpod is a platform for teachers to create interactive online lessons for students. It’s a bit like PowerPoint, if PowerPoint allowed students to move at their own pace and included interactive elements. The folks at Nearpod are also working on incorporating virtual reality into the platform with Nearpod VR.

Nearpod VR allows teachers to create lessons that contain virtual reality content. Students might read an article about ocean ecosystems, then put on their virtual reality headset and take a trip to the bottom of the sea. It’s a good balance between the pure fun of virtual reality and more traditional educational activities, and it’s certain to appeal to teachers and students alike.

However, Nearpod is not a free service, and the Nearpod VR service comes at an additional cost. If you want to get in on the cutting edge of virtual reality in the classroom, you’ll have to be willing to pay.

For now, virtual reality in the classroom might not be a reality for all schools. It can be costly and limited in its uses. But educators should take note—virtual reality is becoming more sophisticated and accessible, and it may soon be as common as computers in classrooms.

How do you envision virtual reality in the classrooms of the future? Let us know how you think virtual reality could be used in the classroom in the future, or tell us how you’re using it today.