Hi there. In this education post, I would like to cover the topic of applying technology in education.
For the young students, you want them to learn essential skills and knowledge. You also want them to keep them engaged and not get them bored. Students who get bored would not want to learn. Older students who do self studying (outside of school) may want to consider mixing education and entertainment.
I think that one of the secrets to keep young students (ages 4 to 10) engaged in learning is through some games and cartoons. Educational games blend elements from gaming with learning objectives. These games should be easy to use, test memory and be helpful in learning.
As I do have a math background I do have a large collection of online math games & websites that I know of (mostly from my work). I share a few.
Arcademics
I do like Arcademics as a website. They have a lot of flashcards style type games from early mathematics and language arts. These are for grades 1 to 6. They have games that cover the topics of:
Practice Game - Solving Linear Equations In Math
There are some practice games for middle school and high school math students. They are rare but very helpful. The website is DarasaOnline.
In the screenshot below, solve for y from 4y = 7. Divide both sides by 4 to get y = 7/4. Click on the right answer.
These educational games can be used as a group activity from teachers or can be recommended for students to use along with homework. As fun and interactive these games are, it is best to use these sometimes and not all the time.
Since technology is all around us these days, I think it is really bad to teach with just a chalkboard/whiteboard, pencil and paper. It gets boring after a while. The exception to this is if the class has no access to technology due to a lack of funds.
Games as mentioned in the previous section does implement technology in teaching. Internet access and computers are needed for online educational games. The internet can also be used to access teacher tools. One example of teaching tools is the Toy Theater website.
Toy Theater's Teaching Tools
The Toy Theater website also has educational games for young kids but the teachers tools are good to show students fractions, percentages and time. (Screenshot below.)
One of my favourite tools when it comes to teaching equivalent fractions is using the Fraction Circles. It is an interactive application that you can use to show that one half is the same as two quarters as an example. The one half is split into two smaller but equal pieces to make 2 quarters.
Youtube Videos
Youtube has all kinds of videos. A lot of people use Youtube for entertainment but you can make good use of time by using the educational content on there. Educational videos on Youtube or a different platform can be used by teachers in a classroom or by students for homework/studying.
A teacher who wants to show a history documentary can use Youtube to show it, a language teacher can use Youtube as an extra educational piece to supplement the teaching. These are examples but the uses for video are endless.
Desmos Graphing
For high school mathematics, Desmos is a good tool to use to show graphs of various functions. Instead of drawing/sketching a parabola by hand, it would be faster and more efficient to use Desmos to show the graph.
You can also use Desmos to show different functions on the same screen. This is to show the differences between various functions.
I do think that modern education should involve some of technology in teaching. It keeps things fresh, dynamic and adds some entertainment to learning. Student engagement is important to get students involved and learning. A bored student is not an engaged student.
Technology in education also allows teachers to teach in certain ways that you cannot do with a regular whiteboard/chalkboard. There is more you can show with technology. This enhances the learning experience for students as well as the teaching experience for educators.
Thank you for reading.
