Teachers use learning apps, digital tools, technology devices and next-generation technology to promote a fun environment, facilitate communication among students, give every student access to technology, and make learning more personal.
Pearson released its assessment of student engagement using digital learning, including ways that schools use technology to assure intellectual, emotional, physical, and social engagement.
The U.S. Department of Education said that using technology in the classroom can increase productivity, reduce costs of materials, and deploy a new model of connected teaching. The model links students and teachers to learning content that improves instruction and meets each student’s individualized needs.
- Customized Project Programs
“Students embrace learning that allows choice and sparks curiosity,” Pearson said in an infographic. Teachers can encourage intellectual engagement by using programs such as Summit Academy that scales a list of projects created for each student based on data about their academic level.
The program uses smartphones as a virtual reality portal for students to experiment using the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station.
- Systems that Use Online and Blended Learning
“Students learn best when they feel ‘known’ and cared about as learners,” Pearson said. Schools such as New Directions in Prince William County, Va., and Brooklyn LAB in New York City promote emotional engagement by using virtual spaces to coach students through their personalized learning pathways.
Schools are using Pokémon Go along with maker experiences to encourage students to learn using their whole body and increasing physical engagement in classes other than physical education.
Schools that allow Facebook on their servers can utilize this typically used socializing tool to encourage students to communicate and collaborate on projects, which enables social engagement.
Unlike Facebook, Edmodo is a social media site designed with students, teachers, and parents in mind. Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for teachers and students to communicate, while keeping parents informed.
Wikispaces Classroom allows students to talk with one another about group assignments and teachers to measure performance in real time and give feedback and support as needed.
Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia use some type of online learning to supplement instruction or to enroll students in a full-time online learning institution, according to the Department of Education. A combination of programs and apps could be integrated into the curriculum to foster different types of engagement.
