What Is Educational Technology And Why Should It Matter?
Many people can recognize that EdTech is devoting technology to promote education. It’s true, but not sufficient. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) has defined EdTech as “facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.” On the other hand, educators who actually use EdTech have a much simpler definition of the term. They say that it is a concept of transforming traditional book teaching and learning to digital form. For them, the main difference lies in the way knowledge is delivered (thanks to technology innovation) to make teaching more effective.
Why Should It Matter?
There are lots of reasons why educators shifted to EdTech, replacing the traditional paper-and-pen teaching method. Particularly, we list some common advantages of EdTech that you can easily see here:
Innovative Teaching Methods
Technology is an innovation of humans, so when an educator can apply technology to teaching, it is also innovative. EdTech allows teachers to provide multimedia to address diverse learning styles, such as animation, live video, etc. Besides, EdTech enables teachers to create online courses where students can learn in their own space and at their own pace.
Social Media In Learning
Have you ever thought that social media would be a part of the learning process? When every student, both young and mature, spends so much time on social media, why don’t we turn it into a powerful tool to enhance learning?
It’s how the idea to use social media for teaching came about. Many educational institutes have started using social media as a communication tool in which students can interact with others easily. Students can share study materials, discuss with others in a group, or easily comment on someone else’s post. Even an animated learning video could go viral on social media. And TedEd is the typical example of this trend! This organization creates lessons worth sharing and posts them on YouTube where people can easily access, find, and share the educational videos with their friends.
Social media is here to stay and build a culture of collaboration and sharing, leading to an improved learning experience.
Learning Analytics
The current landscape of learning analytics has dramatically expanded, especially for higher education. Learning analytics allows educators to measure and report student learning just by the web. From that, it’s possible for them to better understand and optimize learning.
Gamification
If you are looking for a way to turn learning into a more fun and engaging process, gamification is the most suitable educational technology trend. There is no reason for students not to be actively involved in classroom games. Students can learn and practice while they are joining in on exciting game activities. Gaming elements help create a funny and positive learning environment for learners.
The adoption of gamification is most popular in the K-12 education sector. It’s because kids are quickly engaged in gaming videos or getting higher scores in a game. However, it doesn’t mean that higher education or corporate training doesn't need fun elements to improve the engagement level of learners.
Conclusion
In the end, we know that there is a lot to digest when we talk about educational technology trends. However, keep in mind that technology has seeped into education and renewed its whole teaching and learning process. Especially eLearning, an educational tool that not only increases the accessibility and convenience of education but also changes the learning behaviors and learners’ desires for learning.
But here is good news, you don’t need to go alone on this EdTech ship because you have us who will join you in bringing forth the true value of learning, inspiring learners, and making education more relevant and empowering.
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