"Yes, I'm at the computer, so what?" Why Digital Technology Actually Helps Children Learn

Digital tools help prepare for adulthood

Reading fiction and studying history broaden your horizons. But in adulthood, you need not only the ability to maintain a conversation. It is also important to develop practical skills, such as the ability to protect yourself and your data online. And this knowledge can be obtained even at school.

The teacher can review with the children the main schemes used by attackers on the Web. Or discuss high-profile cases of data leaks, and then explain how to protect your devices from viruses. And also tell you how to choose a strong password, why you should use Wi‑Fi in coffee shops more carefully, and why install applications only from trusted sources.

Modern technologies immerse deeper into the topic of the lesson

It's one thing to just listen to a lecture, even if it's interesting. It is quite another thing to make presentations instead of the usual reports or even shoot short videos on the topic of the lesson. So children will learn how to create digital content and come up with scenarios for it at school. These skills will come in handy in adulthood, because they can be turned into a profitable profession.

And digital technologies allow us to consider the topic of the lesson from a different angle. Children can not only read textbooks, but also lookDigital teacher: how teachers can engage students using technology / RBC Trends topic videos. For example, the educational show "Learn on the blog”, where bloggers, together with teachers, master school subjects in unusual ways. If children do not understand the meaning of the work that they go through in a literature lesson, videos from book reviewers — they will tell you why this book is worth reading.

It is important that digital tools do not replace reading textbooks, but complement it. After watching, the teacher can discuss with the children what they have learned. So students will learn to convey thoughts to others and express their opinion. This means that digital technologies will indirectly help them socialize.

Lectures with 3D models and VR really hook students

Primary school students concentrate on tasks averageTioni Asprilia, Laila Qodariah, Fredrick Purba. First Grader’s Attention Span During In‑Class Activity / GUIDENA Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Psikologi Bimbingan dan Konseling 7 minutes. To the student body decreasesAnne Cummings Hlas, Krista Neyers, Sarah Molitor. Measuring student attention in the second language classroom / Language Teaching Research just up to a minute. This is partly why it can be difficult for children to listen to the teacher and remember what he says. To make classes more lively and interesting, teachers mayIgnat Shestakov. Computer under the desk: how teachers use students' smartphones / Izvestia give children the opportunity to search for information themselves, and then retell what they learned to each other.

"Revive" CanExperts told how school textbooks with augmented reality are created / Enlightenment Group of Companies and school textbooks: for example, to see a 3D model of an ancient chariot, just point your tablet or smartphone at the page. VR technologies can also change the approach to lessons: with them the child see bacteria close up or put experience in a safe environment.

Learning turns into an exciting game

Children with great interest get to knowGamification: how a gaming approach helps in education and at work / RBC Trends new when there are game elements in training. This can be used to motivate students to learn and help them build collaborative skills.

Often teachers divide children into teams and give them the task of creating a group project. Digital technologies will be well combined with such an approach. For example, a history teacher might invite students to play a realistic strategy game on a topic they are learning about in class, and then discuss how virtual campaigns differ from real ones.

Some teachers do not arrange quests, but use"Invite children to draw a poem": how to make literature lessons interactive / "Chalk" scribing. This format suggests that children outline the teacher's story using simple illustrations - or the teacher himself makes sketches on the board as the lesson progresses. Students can use their sketches to prepare educational projects. For example, if at the lesson they pass the poem “Dead Souls”, then from the drawings it will be possible to assemble presentations and videos about how people lived in the 19th century.

Another tool available to educators is chat botsChatbots are the future of education / Pedagogical Council. They help collect feedback from children or pass them materials for the next lesson. Chatbots can even be used for tests. It will be more interesting and easier for children to answer questions through gadgets. This is a fresh format, so students have not yet become bored with it.

Technology helps children find a common language with the teacher

Pupils considerThe appearance of a teacher is important for 76% of schoolchildren / Gazeta.ruthat a good teacher should not only understand his subject, but also speak the same language with students. Digital tools can help here too. If the teacher uses services that students have long been accustomed to, then it may be easier for children to learn new material. And the teacher will show what remains with the wards on the same wavelength.

Sometimes teachers do not understand something: for example, how to use new instant messengers. The teacher can ask the children to explain to him how to send messages or, say, put reactions on them. Students will see that before them is not a strict mentor, but a living person who also sometimes needs help. And they will also understand that people learn all their lives, which means that they also should not be ashamed if they have not figured out something yet.