The Benefits of Technology in Teaching

During the last few years, we stood witness to the unveiling of a string of technological advancements that has helped raise the bar of formal education. New methods of teaching in classrooms have made the lives of countless of students easier and have transformed the process of learning into a more interesting and enjoyable experience for many. Gone are the chalkboards and flash cards of yesteryears; enter the high-tech laser pointers and 3D printed models. Gone are the boring lectures that are usually treated by children as punishments. Today, teachers are able to easily integrate modern technology even into the most basic classroom meetings due in large part to the teachers earning an instructional technology degree.

Check out this video to see what I’m talking about:

But how exactly does the use of technology aid in teaching?

Read on and be enlightened.

 Technology makes teaching more convenient.

Long ago, teachers used chalkboards, lengthy textual materials, and other old-school tools to impart their knowledge to students. While these things are still widely used today, the gadgets and technology introduced in our time have helped them teach conveniently and effectively, better than ever before. No longer do they have to spend sleepless nights laboring on visual aids that only get thrown into trash bins when the class gets dismissed because printable charts and other educational materials are within reach – with only a few clicks and search strings. No longer do they have to shout in large classrooms to do a roll call of the names of those present in class because a microphone and an attendance app can aid them in this.

 Technology makes learning more interesting.

The use of videos, audio recordings, or presentations and projections makes learning more interesting for students. They provide a certain level of interactivity that most youngsters enjoy. To say the least, they complement the shorter attention spans kids usually have these days.

 Technology offers wider access and reaches more audiences.

Before, children from Africa or China didn’t get access to decent education. But now that a lot of them have access to computers and now that we have several cause-oriented groups that work in order to bring modern technology to their doorsteps, the playing field is being leveled regardless of geographical location or social status.Technology can make a lesson last a lifetime.

Remember those days when teachers had to consume hours blabbering about some battle that happened in Thermopylae several BCs ago in which no one seemed to be remotely interested about? If you’re a teacher, it would feel like a losing battle, especially if you have to repeat the exact same lesson a year later to another set of kids. With the use of technology, you can just create a pre-prepared slideshow or video lecture and just play it over and over again and just make the necessary revisions to make lessons timely.

 Technology is cheaper.

Technology provides a cheaper alternative to tried-and-tested methods of teaching and learning. With the presence of e-books and other digital educational tools, these downloadable materials can give parents, students, and teachers a run for their money. Additionally, students no longer have to carry heavy textbooks every day and they don’t even have to look up the meaning of words like “countenance” or “physiognomic” from the seemingly never-ending pages of the dictionary. Unfamiliar terms such as cloud phone systems (i.e. RingCentral) and on-demand software can be easily studied and understood using the vast number of resources online, without having to spend a dime and without having to go to the public library.

Perhaps when you combine all these points, you’ll find that technology can make teaching seem more cool and creative; and usually, anything that’s cool and creative brings out the best in students and ups the ante of learning in the process.