Picture a bored student—maybe they are gazing out the window or drumming their fingers on the desk. These are cliches for a reason: apathy in the classroom is real and dangerous to students’ academic success.
Luckily, technology tools are helping turn lessons into engaging learning experiences.
Interactive Whiteboards
A whiteboard with a flat panel interactive display as a classroom technology tool can transform your classroom into a hands-on learning environment. These computer-based displays are loaded with powerful tools designed specifically for teaching.
Teachers can highlight and write on top of any media displayed on the screen, including videos, apps, websites, documents, and images. Several other features make your lessons more engaging, such as the Floating Tool, which allows educators to add information on what’s currently on screen, handwriting recognition, brush mode, and more.
Additionally, most interactive whiteboards have built-in screen recording capabilities. When combined with online screen recording tools, this functionality allows instructors to create a multimedia presentation from the whiteboard’s content. This enables them to incorporate different learning styles, catering to auditory and visual learners and providing a more comprehensive lesson. Many interactive whiteboards also feature anti-glare coatings, ensuring all students can see the screen and participate in the study without distraction. This is essential, especially in classrooms with large windows or other glaring light sources.
Video Presentations
Video presentations are a great way to convey complex or abstract concepts more effectively than written text. They also provide an element of personalization and allow the viewer to get a feel for the speaker.
A good presentation begins with a captivating anecdote or short story that helps to break the ice and make the speaker more relatable. Sharing startling statistics or exciting data is essential to keep the audience engaged.
Finally, a compelling presentation will include interpolated questions between segments of the video that are relevant to the topic being presented. This type of questioning has been shown to improve student learning. Szpunar et al. compared the test scores of students who were asked to answer interpolated questions with those who did unrelated arithmetic problems between video lectures. The students who answered the interpolated questions showed improved test performance and reported less mind wandering.
Creating engaging videos requires planning and creativity. However, a simple library of video presentations can help teachers step back from the role of “sage on stage” and into one of “facilitators.” Teachers can ensure students learn as efficiently as possible by providing access to these tools whenever needed.
Learning Management Systems
A learning management system (LMS) is software that allows teachers and students to administer educational and training courses remotely. These programs offer a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to person-to-person training. LMS systems eliminate the need for companies to invest in classroom facilities, human instructors, and travel expenses.
A good LMS provides a single place for administrators to manage users and enrollments, catalog content, track course completion, and more. They also enable users to take courses from any device — including their phone or tablet — with access to a web browser.
Many systems also allow learners to take quizzes and tests with immediate feedback. This type of automated grading saves time for both students and teachers. Plenty of free LMS platforms are available, such as Thinkific, which allows for up to 100 users and offers flexible pricing. Others, like the LCMS platform edX, offer more advanced features and functionality but at an additional cost. These tools can help administrators make informed decisions on how to amplify the most effective courses and cut or rework less successful ones.
Chatbots
Chatbots are software programs that interact with human users via text and voice. They use artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand context, answer questions, and engage in meaningful dialogue. This technology is becoming increasingly valuable for education. It can help teachers improve student engagement by answering students’ questions and facilitating discussion while making educational resources more accessible.
Students can get instant answers to their questions, helping them stay engaged and on track with coursework. They can also use chatbots to manage tuition fees and other financial obligations, ensuring they remain on top of their payments and reducing the risk of late payments.
Furthermore, chatbots can automate assessment and testing processes, allowing instructors to spend more time on teaching and less time on administration. In addition, they can be used to conduct surveys and collect feedback from students on the quality of courses and lectures.
Virtual Field Trips
Whether a virtual tour of the White House or a trip to explore the inside of an organ, these experiences provide students with learning opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to access. These VR trips allow students to experience history, art, and science in a whole new way, and students can even get a bird’s eye view of outer space!
Research has shown that a virtual field trip experience through an HMD is superior to the same field trip presented as a 2D video on the dependent variables of presence, enjoyment, and interest. However, this study had a small sample size and only evaluated short interventions (approximately 9 min and 46 s). Future studies should use larger samples and investigate the long-term impact of immersive lessons.
Digital field trips allow students to visit locations and interact with people they might not be able to experience in person. Still, teachers must take the time to help children find ways to engage with technology. This can include encouraging them to take notes on the virtual field trip, creating their digital field notebook to compare with their real-life experience, and even bringing their headsets home to continue learning.
