Technologies are constantly evolving, and we can no longer ignore them. Life without gadgets in modern times is simply unreal. Even after writing spell check my paper, you will see a quick response and make your life easier.
85% of the surveyed students told the researchers that it is impossible to use mobile devices in their school in the classroom. Nevertheless, the pedagogical community should reconsider its attitude to gadgets, scientists believe. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, smartphones and tablets can no longer be erased from the life of a modern teenager. Children simultaneously live in two worlds: real and virtual, even in the classroom. Teachers forbid it, but children still go into pocket computers.
Secondly, the formats of effective teaching with the help of gadgets at home and at school have already been developed.
Among such formats, for example:
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device — “Bring your own device”). Students are offered to use their gadget in the classroom to search for information, view video materials.
The advantages of the format: Students receive information in their usual form (through videos, articles, chats) and are more willing to learn. They are more confident in managing their own education outside of the classroom.
The format of the “flipped classroom”. The study of the material and the completion of tasks takes place in the opposite sequence to the standard lesson. At home, the student views the theoretical part proposed by the teacher via the Internet, often in multimedia format. Practical tasks are also done in the lesson.
Advantages of the format: This frees up more time for teacher-student communication in the classroom and for working in a group. Sick students are more easily included in the study: the video lecture contains all the necessary information on the topic. In addition, you can always return to such a resource on the eve of exams.
E-learning
These are no longer separate technologies, but the creation of a holistic environment that includes learning using mobile devices (mobile learning, or m-learning) and learning based on Internet technologies (web-based training, WBT).
Advantages of the format: You can study remotely: consult and get grades. Self-education is also possible, for example, through mass open online courses-MOOCs (see the Guide to online resources for independent Education).
Children choose pocket computers
Teenagers are more likely to go online through personal devices, and even at home. This was the answer of 50% of respondents. Another 25% equally often use gadgets and a desktop computer to access the Internet.
Against the background of brand-new smartphones and tablets, school computers and laptops (often outdated) lose a lot. They do not provide the opportunities for communication and information search that personal devices have. And access to school equipment is often only at computer science lessons. And a smartphone is always at hand.
In such a situation, it is a sin for the school not to use the useful options of children’s pocket computers. Moreover, most schoolchildren use smartphones to solve several tasks at the same time. So, 70% of respondents said that they use this device during the lesson for games, social networking and listening to music. And exactly the same number — 70% – use the gadget to view educational content in the classroom. (These were two different questions, and not an answer to one question — about the purposes of using smartphones).
In fact, children with smartphones simply transfer to school their usual “format” of multitasking — combining different types of activities. Today, even preschoolers can simultaneously watch cartoons on the computer, play games on the phone and listen to music. Several perception channels work at once, and life is not divided into online and offline.