If you are looking for new ways to make education fun for your schools, apps can help. Here are the reasons teachers should use apps for education.
Screen time is a gift and a curse. While too much time on video games can discourage children from learning, apps for education have the opposite effect.
Teachers should use apps for education as a quick way to upgrade their curriculum. Take a look at these 7 ways apps can transform teaching methods.
1. Apps Track Progress
Everyone loves instant gratification. But teachers typically won’t have that luxury when it comes to tracking a student’s progress.
Overfilled classrooms, constantly changing curriculum and other barriers prevent teachers from being able to give students enough progress checks. Enter educational apps.
Apps commonly store information that teachers can use to quickly find out whether a student is making progress. Since the data is captured in real-time, teachers won’t have to wait until the student takes a test before they can intervene with support.
Apps that track a student’s progress make it possible for teachers to keep the data on hand without paperwork clutter. Teachers will notice information on a student’s progress for the length of the time the app is being used.
This is especially true with learning games where students receive a score after each round of play.
2. Access to Multiple Learning Methods
In every classroom, teachers have to find ways to support students at all learning levels. This means spending time with multiple learning approaches so that advanced and remedial students get attention.
But apps for education give teachers more support by offering an instant variety of resources. Children can work on educational apps that meet their level of learning without the teacher.
This means the teacher has time for more meaningful interaction with each group of students based on the progress the student makes within the app.
3. Kids Feel Connected
Kids know screens. Teaching them core subjects using apps for education is a great way to make a connection.
Learning feels much more casual to students when it’s taught through games or activities. But learning by doing is also a more effective way to teach.
Research shows that fewer students retain information from lectures than they do from doing an activity. An app that provides an interactive context, like a math game, gives students far more engagement with the subject than listening to a teacher talk.
4. Parent-Teacher Communication
Apps for education don’t just include those related to learning. A wide range of apps exists to help teachers manage their classrooms.
Parent-teacher communication apps are important in helping teachers get the resources they need for special events, programs, or projects. Parents gain the benefit of fewer emails or newsletters from the school where information can easily get lost.
Parent-teacher communication for younger students is an important tool for behavior management. For example, apps like Classroom Dojo allows teachers to choose how the child behaved during the day based on a color selection.
This is much faster than writing individual notes or emails home to each parent. Teachers can quickly go through their classroom roster and assign a color to each child for parents to review each day.
A great education can’t happen without the support of parents. Apps for education allow parents to remain involved with the learning process in real-time.
5. Distance Learning
Distance learning, or virtual learning, keeps students engaged no matter their location. In colleges where professors travel to teach across campuses, the strain of keeping up with multiple student populations can be stressful.
Teachers can spend less time in their cars and more time focused on the material if they opt for virtual learning apps. Less travel saves the school money on travel expenses and the quality of education the students receive.
6. Low Literacy
Before students start to read, asking them to learn independently can be a challenge. Apps take away the need for constant teacher interaction between primary students and their teachers.
Younger students can use low literacy apps, or apps that don’t require reading, to complete projects and assignments. Reading apps have options where students listen to a book being read to them so they can follow along.
Most apps for education also include brief video instruction that shows the student how to answer questions or interact with the program. App developers design the layout of games and learning materials so that kids can use them without parent help.
Apps for education can also support resource classes like art and music. For example, Microsoft paint for mac lets students sketch and modify photos.
Students can create holiday crafts or collages for projects without knowing how to read.
7. Teachers Can Learn, Too
Apps for education don’t just help students learn. Teachers can learn new approaches to learning using apps.
Educational apps include content from all around the world. Popular teaching styles like Singapore Math and Common Core can show teachers in developing countries more teaching strategies.
Any teacher with limited classroom resources can simply download an app and test out another education method to see if it makes sense for her students. Students who don’t see to mesh well with the existing curriculum benefit from teachers who have more than one tool in their arsenal to boost comprehension.
Choosing the Right Apps for Education
Apps for education work best when they’re used to support and not replace instruction. The teacher’s role in the classroom can’t be replaced with an app because student personalities are too diverse.
Students benefit from personalized interaction, but teachers often don’t have the time to offer this to every student. Apps for education make it easier for teachers to track each student’s progress.
Teachers can respond with supporting materials to help students before they begin testing. Parents gain the benefit of hearing from teachers before students fall into a bad behavior or learning pattern.
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