PROJECT CEDAFEC: October 2012

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Educational Technology as a tool to engage students and parents

8:18 AM |

Posted by Emmanuel SOFOLAHAN |

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Educational Technology refers to methods, systems and devices which are the result of scientific knowledge being used for learning and teaching purposes. In recent time, technology has become a critical tool to enhance students’ engagement, pedagogy and teacher‘s capacity.

The process of teaching and learning basically involves communication and problem solving, and as a result there is a need for proper means of engagement in communication in order to achieve problem solving and student efficacy. Some of the barriers to engagement in teaching-learning practices include: insufficient support from educators, inflexible curriculum, learning styles, unfair assessment, tempo of teaching, classroom organization, lack of appropriate learning and teaching support materials, overcrowded classrooms etc.

Information and communication technologies that have high applicability to teachers’ work can be used to overcome these barriers. Pedagogies that integrate information and communication technologies can also engage students in ways not previously possible, enhance achievement, create new learning possibilities and extend interaction with local and global communities.

Students Engagement:

Educational technology provides learner-centered instruction that enables students to develop 21st Century Skills. Here are some of the ways to use technology for learner’s engagement:

Educators

facilitate collaborative learning using digital tools
develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their own educational goals, manage their own learning, and assess their own progress
engage students in exploring real-world issue and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
design activities for students to reflect on learning with digital tools: blogs, wiki, online journals
select various digital tools that supports students learning styles and interests

Parents Engagement:

Parent’s engagement is essential because their support of 21^st century schools and in particular, educational technology is critical. Here are some of the ways to engage parents using technology:

Educators

use a variety of technologies to deliver descriptive and qualitative feedback to parents
provide digital tools and resources to parents to support learning
utilize technologies in order to provide opportunities for parents to tap into information about their children’s education through the school’s website or portal
provide opportunities for parents as audience for learner’s work (blogs, docs and projects)

Educational technology can be used to develop new ways to leverage education in order to drive various competitiveness of the 21^st century.

The body of evidence on the impact of technology on classroom practices, such as motivation, engagement and independence in learning is greater and more persuasive.