The world is evolving and so is teaching. The traditional way of teaching and learning through books and a blackboard with chalk seems to be outdated. For several years, technology has come in forcefully to improve education and is now a key component
Not only are screens, interactive whiteboards and PCs increasingly used at school, but even at home, children now find themselves doing their homework with the help of computer devices. To this we must add that, especially due to the pandemic, Distance Learning has been completely cleared in recent years. According to a survey conducted by the online tutoring platform GoStudent, 96% of Italian students made use of online teaching during the last school year. It is the highest data recorded among all the countries analyzed and exceeds the European average by seven points (89%). From this it follows that technology has now become an integral part of teaching and that more and more students and teachers are making use of interactive tools on a daily basis.
Today’s children and adolescents are digital natives and use technology not only in their free time, but, as mentioned earlier, also for educational purposes. It is now known and proven that the use of digital tools at school helps to increase students’ interest in academic activities and help them learn more effectively.
Access to the internet and to technological devices (smartphones, interactive whiteboards, electronic resources, etc.), both in the classroom and in other contexts, play an important role in education and guarantee numerous advantages:
Ease of understanding
The use of technological tools motivates and makes it easier for students to maintain attention. As a result, the contents are assimilated faster.
Autonomy
Such devices develop self-learning to train self-sufficient people who can solve different types of problems in daily life. The use of technologies encourages to propose case studies and to involve children in content management. It is a methodology whereby students are taught “to learn to learn”, to build their own knowledge. Furthermore, the Internet provides an infinite number of information sources and favors the ability to select and manage the most appropriate one.
Teamwork
Technology makes it possible to interact between different students, even if they are not geographically close or after school hours, and it favors teamwork. In the professional field, most of the projects that are developed are in teams and require the collaboration of several people. It is essential to develop the ability to work in a team from an early age.
Critical thinking
Internet and social networks lead to sharing points of view and opinions, debate is very important when brains are developing. Furthermore, the enormous possibility that technology offers to break the space-time paradigm, allows you to interconnect infinite sources of knowledge around the world, get in touch with people from other countries and cultures and exchange information.
Flexibility
Students can follow different rhythms in their learning by having additional content or supporting materials according to their needs.
Finally, the use of technology in education and education benefits not only students, but also professionals. It helps to optimize the teachers’ tasks and makes their work more stimulating and at the same time more efficient.
Today’s children and adolescents are born immersed in technology and they seem to like it, so it is up to adults to take advantage of this and make sure that technology can become an excellent ally for learning.