Just a few short years ago, mobile technology in an educational environment was essentially forbidden.
Just about every educational professional – from the college professor to the kindergarten teacher and everybody in between – saw mobile devices like smartphones and tablets as a distraction to learning and little else. Thanks to the ways in which technology has continued to advance in a relatively short period of time, however, we know now that this is not true. Mobile technology in school is an incredible way to give students more options with regards to where, when and how they like to learn.
Smart classrooms that rely on mobile technology are absolutely not a distraction to learning – if anything, the exact opposite is true. By embracing technology, it injects an element of fun into a traditionally cold and calculated educational environment. Instead of relying solely on the words on a page in a textbook, students can now see live video demonstrations, see full-color high definition photographs, “flip the classroom” to show what they are doing on their device, and more. All of this goes a long way towards enhancing the lesson that a teacher is providing, not detracting from it.
Another one of the many benefits of bringing mobile to the classroom has to do with the ways that it allows teachers to engage with students and learn as much about them as possible, all with the goal of designing the most comprehensive education that they can.
Thanks to network connected tablets and other smart devices, for example, teachers can now employ advanced analytics to help bridge the gap between the top and bottom performers in a classroom. Why are the bottom performers at the bottom? How much time do they spend on a particular page in a virtual lesson compared to the people at the top of the list? How are their overall usage habits different? All of this is integral for giving teachers the ability to reach out to students who may not be doing as well and to allow them to be elevated up to the level of the rest of the class.
In many ways, bringing mobile technology into the classroom is ushering in the classroom of the future. Students no longer have to carry around book bags filled to the brim with text books, lecture notes and more – all of that is stored digitally on a highly organized tablet, Chromebook or laptop that fits comfortably into their hands at all times.
Mobile also encourages collaboration by employing many “social” techniques like messaging and file sharing to the benefit of both students and teachers everywhere. Perhaps the most important benefit of mobile in the classroom, however, is the way that it lets students learn at their own pace without impacting the entire class.
All of this is most certainly going a long way towards creating better classrooms that are better equipped to create the types of students that will excel long after they’ve graduated.
Looking to add new technology to your classroom? Contact TTI today to find the best networking solution for you.