Tips for New Ed Tech in a Post-Pandemic Classroom
It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 affected everything and everyone across the world. What we used to know as regular working days changed to entirely working from home. All schools across the world had to be closed immediately to avoid spreading the virus. Teachers had to find new ways educational technology can enhance school curriculum without physically meeting the students. Online teaching came into existence, and at first, it was difficult because of various challenges since some parents don’t have smartphones while others don’t have electricity. Educational technology planning guide helps the teacher plan and identify areas that need more clarification for young students since it is difficult for young students to focus.
What was impossible last year has become our reality for many as education continued smoothly. Software tools allowed students and teachers to communicate and learn easily. Systems such as Google, Canvas, and virtual reality have helped teachers direct their students better. Virtual teaching came as a result of the pandemic. There are various ways education technology can enhance better methods of learning and teaching in a better way. The following are various ways education technology can help in normalizing teaching in the classroom after the pandemic.
Give Students Regular Feedback
Have a weekly or daily performance chart with daily check-ins for every student’s progress on every topic covered. Use online surveys and polls to get the student’s opinion on every topic covered, identify the areas that students have issues with, and handle their questions. Regular feedbacks give the students the courage to approach the teacher for support and help. It also helps the teacher to identify teaching gaps that need further expiation for students to understand better. It builds confidence for learners, which helps them improve in their academic and emotional. Regular feedback will allow the teacher to intervene on time and solve the issues without struggling.
Utilize Tech and Learning Resources in The School
Having the availability of various resources in the school is an advantage in teaching for the teachers. Identify the resources available and plan how you will use each of them in teaching and learning in your classroom. The students must be guided on using various tools in order without misplacing them or breaking them.
Implement One Tool at Time
There must be some temptation to try all the learning and teaching tools available at once. The students can easily use the digital learning materials without much instruction. One digital material is enough for the lesson to avoid wasting a lot of time. The students should have enough time to master the tools as education lessons go on as well. One type of tool is enough for a while for the students to understand the content involved.
Foster Collaboration
Group work helps engage the students in and out of the classroom. The school curriculum should be flexible for students and teachers to work as a team. Most students might not agree with it, but it helps build a friendship with various classmates while associating. The most important thing is that the teacher should assign roles, and the students must be comfortable with each other. The activity should involve all the students participating, not some doing the work while others wait for answers. The students should submit their work at the end of the activity to categorize which students did better and identify those who have problems.
Consider Alternatives Channels
The teacher should normalize various back channels for immediate feedback from the students and chat or live discussion to freely make the students more comfortable. The use of education technology in teaching helps the students be more confident and have the courage to ask questions and explanations when they don’t understand. After the lesson, consider posting the transcript to the backchannel so that the students can go through it in their free time and make corrections, if any.
Conclusion
Use of educational technology in teaching is the best solution to education during this post-pandemic period. Learn how to is it in the classroom and enjoy learning during these tough pandemic times.