The educational technology, EdTech, is the implementation of essential tools, processes, and techniques that facilitate the application of memory, senses, and cognition to improve the teaching practices and, most significantly, enhance the learning outcomes.
When selecting an EdTech platform for your online classes, the process doesn’t have to be complex. The same affirmative traits of technological devices can be reimagined for education. Ensure that you consider the following keys during the decision making process.
It Should Be Easily Accessible
Educational technology has increasingly become standard, from primary to higher education. Schools provide students with laptops, tablets, and a connection to a wireless network.
Logging into courses online is fast and easy. Catching up or completing assignments can be done on the go. Such functionality matches today’s learners’ lifestyle, which is significant to student success.
Easy to Use
Once the learners log into their online course, how easily can they access the resources? The dashboard should be spontaneous once the users have logged in. They should flawlessly move between course materials, grade book hubs, and assignments. If the online platform is cluttered, the learners will become discouraged and log off.
The most frequently used hubs should be easily identified from the beginning. This speeds up the process of learning for the students. Straight-forward assignment details should appear whenever a reading assignment, quiz, or homework is accessed. The learners will adequately plan their time once they identify their point value, due date, and study topic for the assignments.
Provide Data Feedback
Data feedback allows users to adjust in real-time. It is significant for students’ success to keep the feedback loop open, whether outside or inside the classroom.
Setting multiple attempts and problems links to the text, hints, and wrong or right indicators can be manipulated by the instructor. The student time spent on any homework problem, access date for the assignment, and the number of attempts, are all valuable metrics.
The feedback to the learners verifies the level of understanding. Besides, it redirects them to the ideal path as they walk through an assignment. The struggling learners especially appreciate such features and have access to the solutions at the teacher’s discretion.
Easily Customisable
The education technology should be easily customised by the instructor. The instructors can then utilise the platform to suit the students’ requirements, given their courses’ specifics.
The instructor requires anatomy to guide decision-making. Which sections in the textbook require to be covered in detail and the parts which need a quick run-through? Should certain points be deducted across the board for the overdue items? How are late policies treated? Its section has specific demands that are required to be addressed by the instructor. Customisation is the key.
It Should Provide a Consistent Look and Feel
The look and feel of the acquired platform should be consistent across the board in all the devices. With the reliable technology solution, students can easily access more than just pages for the text.
The student experience is dynamic when study guides, homework assignments, essay writing service reviews, reading quizzes, concept summaries, and video tutorials are easy to find.
Saves Time for Instructor
Creating an assignment should be quick and easy. Can you filter by classes and assignment type with just a few clicks? The learners need to access course materials with the fewest number of clicks.
Can you rapidly distribute items to your class? Can mind-numbing tasks such as grading be performed by the technology you select? These simple changes can certainly lighten your workload.
Improves the Learning Outcomes
If there are no learning outcomes made with the adoption of the new platform, there is no need to utilise any technology except for the basic required to get that unchanging level of learning. Therefore, to justify the continued use of education technology, there must be positive impacts on technology use.
It Should Save Money
The adopted online platform should contribute to cost reductions and improve productivity. The richer the education technology adopted, the more positive the impacts.
You Should Use Technology That Works, Not a Trendy One
Often most educators adopt new programs because they may feel under pressure to copy others or follow the most current trends. However, it is significant to select tech that has proven benefits, not by its shiny dashboard. The moment the tech is implemented, it is continuously monitored for its impact.
The ideal platform should always keep the instructors informed if they are working. This can include data on the number of times students are using the platform, how much progress has been made, and the outcome of various groups in the school.
Final Thoughts
Learners can benefit from EdTech as long as leaders focus on the needs first, with the implementation that considers instructors, parents, and students’ requirements. By focusing on enhancing students’ education as individuals, the institutions can make significant strides in personalising learning, reducing the teachers’ workload, and enhancing the outcomes.