As a teacher, your main focus is to advance your students’ understanding and knowledge in the most efficient way possible. With limited attention spans and classes that may be more management than instruction, you need to maximize your time. Thankfully, you are also a teacher living in the 21st century and technology can and should have a place in your classroom. For those teachers already embracing technology – kudos to you, you are on the right track, and teachers who are a bit more hesitant – let us try to change your minds.
Perfect For All Learners
Technology allows students who need extra practice to review topics at their own pace. They can go back over concepts that they didn’t fully comprehend and see the information displayed in different formats and wording. This helps students who may be struggling to achieve their “a-ha moment” and figure out problems on their own. Children who learn through technology will become more engaged with the material and this can increase their retention and memory. This allows teachers to move from the position of fully frontal teaching into the role of an adviser, coach and expert. They become a learning partner with the student as the learner discovers and works through the information at the speed that is right for them.
Familiarity and Comfort
As the way the current world works, children who were born in the last ten or so years, have grown up with technology. It is a part of their everyday lives – from watching a video in their stroller to playing on their parent’s phone or iPad. This generation may not only look for technology in the classroom but at this point, they may even expect it. By including digital resources as learning tools in your lessons, students can ease into the material. They will become more comfortable in school by playing with something familiar and that they understand.
Lessons Brought To Life
Children are innately curious and like to be interactive in the discovery of the environment around them. With technology, they can become part of the learning process with hands-on activities, games and projects. Although reading about history or science in a book can be interesting and an effective way to learn, watching it come to life in front of your eyes really makes an impact. Students are more likely to remember the information by engaging with it and enjoying this experience. According to Dr. Martha Burns*, a neuroscientist and leading expert on how children learn, when students want to learn more about material and are happy with what they are doing, dopamine is released. She considers dopamine “the save button” in learners’ brains. She states that “the more interested we are in an activity, the more dopamine is released and the better we remember it.”
Connect Your Classroom With LetterSchool’s Latest App Update
Now that we have walked you through the benefits of technology in the classroom, how can we help you integrate this into your everyday lesson plans?
Enter the new phase of LetterSchool – an integration of all of the different versions of the app combined into one powerhouse of learning and fun.
The upgraded includes:
- The ability to instantly switch between 12 languages for handwriting practice: English (US), Spanish (ES), Portuguese (BR), French (FR), German (DE), Dutch (NL), Swedish (SE), Norwegian (NV), Finnish (FI), Danish (DA), Japanese (JA), and Arabian (SA)
- Our programs are created in accordance with each individual country’s curriculum.
- Within English learning, we use the following fonts: Handwriting Without Tears, Zaner-Bloser, and D’Nealian.
- Progress and settings stored for up to three players on the same device.
- Engaging animations, graphics, and sound effects.
As you read this article on your computer, phone or tablet, consider how technology has affected your life and what type of impact it can make on your young learners. If you are ready to make a change in your classroom by engaging students and helping them improve their “save button” – Let’s try LetterSchool now!
