Modern Trends in Educational Technology

Modern Trends in Educational Technology

 

The education sector is a key area of society, yet it has been one of the slowest industries to embrace technology trends. But over the last year, the pandemic has forced businesses and sectors of all kinds to get involved with digital tools as well as educational technology in order to stay afloat. 

 

With online learning becoming the norm, education institutions have adopted new innovative methods of teaching and learning. Educational technology has enhanced student learning for the good. And with new innovations coming into play every day, we are here to give you a summary of the modern trends in educational technology.

 

We will be covering the following areas:

 

• What is educational technology?
• Use of technology in education
• How can educational technology help students?
• How can educational technology help teachers?
• How is BookingLive involved in educational technology?

 

What is educational technology?

 

Educational technology describes the use of IT tools in the classroom. The aim of educational technology is to create an active, engaging teaching/learning experience which then results in better learning outcomes. Educational technology can bring a new level of learning that cannot be achieved with traditional teaching methods.

 

Typical one-sided lectures and copying from textbooks can be monotonous. Not only is this outdated approach boring for the student, but it’s unlikely that they’ll retain much information. Whereas educational technology makes lessons more interesting and memorable as students feel connected with the learning process. When educational technology is adopted, the atmosphere of the classroom is transformed as students become more motivated to learn. Going to school shouldn’t be a chore and educational technology changes this outlook on the education sector.

 

Use of technology in education

 

It’s important for educators to keep up to speed with the latest advances in technology. Every innovation is released with an enhanced learning experience in mind. We’ll give a rundown of the modern trends in educational technology.

 

• e-Learning

It’s safe to say that the introduction of e-Learning has been fast-tracked due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply put, eLearning refers to education delivered electronically. This can be in the form of live lessons through platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams but also includes online slides, activities, videos and podcasts.

 

• Video-assisted learning

You may remember the days of the TV being rolled out into the classroom every so often. Well, now video is a massive part of education. The rise of online learning has also boosted the use of video-assisted learning. Animated videos can help to break down difficult concepts in an engaging way whilst reducing teachers’ workload.

 

• Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a powerful teaching assistant. At the moment, AI tools can be used to grade basic multiple-choice questions but it may not be long before AI advances to grading more in-depth written pieces of work. As well as this, AI systems can track student progress and notify teachers when there’s a dip in performance. Expect to hear more about AI in the classroom in upcoming years.

 

• VR and AR

Immersive learning is a hot topic at the minute, with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) at the forefront. Virtual reality offers a constructed reality and applies particularly well to STEM subjects; some companies have created VR labs so students can follow experiments step by step. Whereas augmented reality provides an enhanced view of an object in the physical world, immersive learning is making a real impact in the classroom as students can retain more information due to them associating the memorable VR experience with the concepts that they have learnt.  

 

• Social media

We’ve covered some super high-tech technologies in education but social media is also handy when it comes to learning. And it’s probably the most accessible piece of tech out of them all. Most young people are already glued to their smartphones, so why not take advantage of this? Students can use social media to share materials, discuss projects with classmates or comment on a post in a few clicks. The odd educational video might even go viral on TikTok! A popular educational account on the world wide web is TedEd – they create engaging videos on a range of topics that students can share with their friends. 

 

• Electronic textbooks

Traditional textbooks can be pricey, especially when the curriculum is updated every few years and teachers have to place another large order for the latest paper resource. Electronic textbooks are the solution. Many institutions have already invested in tablets and laptops for their students, so it makes sense to go paperless. 

 

• Gamification

Gamification is a great trend that’s picking up traction in the education sector. Gamification involves adding gaming elements to educational activities to make the experience more fun. Some of the features of gamification that make it so engaging are levels, progress bars, leaderboards and prizes. 

 

• Big data analysis

Data is simple to collect yet it can have a strong influence on learning experiences. Especially in the context of remote learning, teachers can access information on each student’s engagement in order to improve their lessons. Some of the statistics that teachers should spot are student attendance, performance (test results) and learner feedback (through a survey). 

 

• Appointment scheduling software

Appointment scheduling software is changing the game for the education sector. The handy system keeps students and teachers organised as they can view and manage upcoming classes from their laptop, tablet or phone. This trend applies well to e-Learning too. BookingLive’s scheduling software can be integrated with Zoom, so students can view their class and join it all in one place. With this piece of educational technology, student attendance should improve as the system can send automated reminders of classes straight to their phone. What’s not to like?

 

• Cybersecurity

With everything moving online, cybersecurity has never been so important. Schools are responsible for storing student information such as names, addresses, dates of birth and parent’s phone numbers. Data is extremely valuable, which makes schools vulnerable to cyber threats. So our tenth trend in educational technology is improved security systems to keep sensitive information secure.

 

 

How can educational technology help students?

 

Students of all ages, from primary school right up to higher education, can benefit from educational technology. Here are the ways that the use of technology in education can improve the student experience.

 

• 24/7 learning 

Students are no longer restricted to learning only in the classroom. IoT devices allow them to complete their learning in their own time and at their own pace. Not everyone copes well with early morning classes so having the flexibility to complete work on their terms helps students to thrive. As long as students can stick to a schedule and meet all of their deadlines, why should the time of day that they work matter? 

 

• Personalised education 

With the help of big data analysis, teachers can create custom learning plans for every student. This personalised plan can play to a student’s strengths, skills and interests. For example, some students may benefit from video-assisted learning so this could be worked into their plan. Whereas others may prefer gamification. 

 

• Engaging lessons 

Following the current trends in education, the regimented approach of copying from a textbook in silence is long gone. Hooray! By introducing technology into the classroom, lessons will be more interesting for students. And who doesn’t learn better when they’re actually enjoying themselves?

 

• Increased collaboration

Collaboration is a key skill for students to develop and cloud-enabled tools are the solution. These applications allow them to upload their homework and complete group projects where they can support each other in their learning.

 

• Encourages independence

Similar to the 24/7 access to learning benefits, educational technology encourages independence as students can manage their time effectively. The traditional learning experience of listening to lectures in person then completing projects at home has been flipped. Class time is better spent working collaboratively on group tasks whilst video-assisted learning allows students to learn the basics in their own time. This approach is a better use of classroom hours and encourages self-learning amongst students.

 

• Prepare for working life

Introducing the use of technology in education can set students up for job success. Industries across the spectrum incorporate technology into their processes, with more and more employers seeking digital skills. So it’s beneficial for young people to develop their digital capabilities early on. 

 

 

How can educational technology help teachers?

 

Although it’s amazing that educational technology can improve student learning, we haven’t forgotten about the teachers! The use of technology in education also brings many benefits to teachers.

 

• Automated grading system

Marking multiple-choice tests has got to be up there as one of the most tedious tasks for teachers. You can wave goodbye to marking objective assessments like these when you introduce AI tools. Applications that use machine learning can easily grade simple multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. This allows teachers to be more efficient and spend their precious time tutoring gifted and struggling students.

 

• Paperless work

When you digitise your processes, the hours spent standing at the printer becomes a distant memory. Not only will you be helping the environment by lowering paper usage, but the stress of protecting piles of homework will disappear. 

 

• Classroom management tools 

Cut out the chaos with classroom management tools. Educational technology brings ease of communication between teachers, students, and their parents. There are many apps out there that teachers can use to send homework reminders, so the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse definitely won’t cut it anymore!

 

 

 

How is BookingLive involved in educational technology?

 

We at BookingLive are committed to improving the quality of services in the education sector to improve the student and staff experience. The software that we provide can be used by students, teachers and parents to book after-school clubs, parents evenings, one-to-one tutoring, holiday camps, seminars and more. Our digital solution can be accessed 24/7 on any device and is proven to reduce no-shows.

 

The capabilities of the system are endless as you can choose the best integrations to suit your school’s needs. Our popular MailChimp integration allows you to automatically send beautiful newsletters to your stakeholders. The high level of automation that BookingLive provides means that your staff can spend their time on developing your students’ performance and growing your institution, rather than on admin tasks. 

 

Our appointment scheduling software has already transformed the processes of organisations across the country. You can read through our collection of case studies to get a feel for how we implement digital transformation. Our project with Clifton College was a great success!

 

 

BookingLive: Find out more

 

If you’re looking to adopt more educational technology methods into your classroom, get in touch with us at BookingLive. We offer custom appointment scheduling software to suit your school, college or university. Give us a call on 0800 1310 342 today.