We live in a mobile-centric society, with smart devices constantly connected to the internet and school environments that keep students updated with the latest changes using apps. All this can have a major impact on the way students learn to get the education that they need to succeed in life. Most colleges, universities and schools across the country recognize that mobile and wireless technologies have a big influence on students. Increasingly more institutions are looking to adopt even newer learning techniques and methods so as to help students learn faster and understand things with a lot more ease.
Increased investments in advanced technology
To be able to modernize campuses and make them digital-oriented, a lot of today’s schools and universities want to invest in technology. As a matter of fact, educational technology funding has spiked to over $714 million in 2020, and it is only going up in the upcoming years. It’s safe to say that online or connected learning is winning a lot of ground, and many schools adopting advanced technology are driven by demand for extra skills heavily influenced by mobile and wireless technologies.
Flipped learning
What’s flipped learning all about? To begin with, it is a form of mixed learning. Students are allowed to stay at home to learn their lessons, and the curriculum is based on video lectures and online content learning. However, they are compelled to do their homework in the classroom. Basically, rather than learn from a teacher, they learn from their colleagues with the help of the group that use critical thinking to solve problems.
With the assistance of classroom technology that’s connected to WiFi, as well as to numerous mobile app solutions, students can craft their own interactive learning environment. Educators are just meant to use powerful analytics to measure the response of a student to the methodology, and whether or not it keeps the student engaged and focused on the studying out of the classroom.
Gamification of learning
Better known as a concept that applies game design thing into the classroom, gamification is an education trend based on more engaging and fun learning tasks. The main idea is to employ challenge the student with typical game systems, provide rewards and then even more difficult tasks with higher rewards.
Modern games have changed the way of learning and they have brought us to new ways of discoveries. The benefits of modern gamification are beyond description a that has laid a very firm foundation for the future educational system.
A more recondite scientific study shows that games have a positive effect on our mentality. Even few scientists say that winning at games turns our mindset positive. It has been proven that winning at a game releases dopamine – which is an essential chemical within the brain in charge of instilling pleasure and motivation. This model is aimed at making the overall learning experience seem positive and fun. The overall goal is to help students overcome challenges, and then use their brains to deal with even trickier assignments.
Mind mapping
Mind maps redefine the concept of learning. They make the experience multi-dimensional, and thus more interactive. Students are given visuals aid and graphics to help them study at a faster pace; the model helps them recall essential information with ease, especially because the images makes courses a lot easier to understand.
Software programs such as Brainstormer and Mindmeister keep students engaged, and permit them to share ideas with one another. Mind mapping which is recently introduced has become of the most famous ways of learning.
The progressiveness that you can achieve through mind mapping is super fast. In other words, we should say that mind mapping teaches you how to sort out difficult things in a matter of a minute.
Digital textbooks
Providing tablets to students is a lot more affordable than it looks. Rather than offer textbooks and be compelled to print new ones every year, digital textbooks have more advantages. They can be accessed from anywhere, and reading a text on a smart device is a lot more fun and interactive for youngsters than reading paper books.
There is simply no doubt that modern technology has completely changed the way we look at the world a long time ago. One of the most manifest examples is our schooling system and its newly developed curricular changes.
Though we are still dependent upon some old methods, technology has made a major landmark that has never seen before. Digital textbooks are of the most mesmeric discoveries of the modern world.
Last but not least, we have to mention social media. Some see it as a distraction whereas others can look beyond the obvious and assess its true potential. Educators are afraid to use Twitter, Facebook or YouTube because students can easily get distracted. However, with the right methodology and strategy, social media can actually render amazing results.
Featured image source: VentureBeat.com