Education Technology: What is Edtech?

Technology is being integrated into almost every aspect of our lives. Many industries and sectors are now heavily influenced by digital transformation, and so does the education sector. 

Here in this article, we will go through education technology, or Edtech, and the benefits it brings for both students and teachers.

What is Edtech?

Edtech, short for education technology, is a step forward from traditional education methods. It is the practice of introducing information and communication technology tools to make traditional classrooms more interactive, inclusive, and a more fun learning or teaching process.

In other words, Edtech is the integration of digital hardware and software to improve teaching and learning.

What tools are used in Edtech?

Education in the digital transformation era is no longer a mere communication of educational material via just a black/whiteboard or paper and pen.

Classrooms are more tech-infused and tablets and interactive displays have replaced ‌traditional equipment. Also, teachers now have access to educational apps or task management software such as Monday, and they might explore differences between ClickUp vs Monday.com to manage their time and lesson plans. 

It is also not a surprise that some institutions use Edtech robots for taking notes and recording lectures for absent students. Or, some schools also offer virtual reality lessons and use gamification in the class activities so that students learn in a fun way while enjoying the interaction opportunities. 

In addition to all these tools and methods, Edtech IoT devices are also other choices to make classrooms digital and interactive for students, regardless of whether they are at school or are following the lessons remotely. 

Why Edtech is important?

According to a 2019 survey by Statista, around %63 of high school students in the U.S. use digital learning tools like AImath at school to learn every day.

Also, in another study carried out in 2018, %86 of 8th grade teachers believed that using technology to teach students is important and %75 of the teachers agreed that using technology had improved the academic performance of students. 

Given this feedback and the technological advancements in ‌students’ and teachers’ lives, it is understandable that they prefer to work and study in an Edtech-equipped school. 

What are the benefits of Edtech for students?

Let’s now closely look at what benefits Edtech can offer students of all ages and influence their learning experience:

1. More, better collaborations

Having more exciting equipment than just a pen and paper can surely encourage more and better collaborations.

EDLA-certified Interactive displays and GMS-certified tablets allow students to access Google features such as Google Play Store, Google search bar, Google apps, etc. so that they can install educational cloud-based mobile apps and learn the materials in a gamified process.

Students can also join online lessons via these tools, watch relevant YouTube videos, and search for educational materials. Therefore, they can have a great source where they can find everything they need to learn the subject straightforwardly while collaborating. 

In addition, using cloud-based apps enables students to upload their homework and have virtual lessons that can perhaps let those introverted students share their thoughts, communicate with other students, or ask for help without feeling shy. 

2. Unlimited access to materials

Since students and teachers can access online sources together, the learning process is much more simplified with Edtech. However, some may argue that having unlimited access to the digital world and the Internet is not fully constructive and can negatively affect ‌students. 

The solution to that is to use devices that allow teachers to limit the downloading and app installation for the students. Doing so would ensure teachers that students have access to educational material only. 

3. Efficient learning

Since Edtech is considered to be the ‌future of learning compared to ‌traditional methods, many traditional notions of classrooms and teaching methods have been changed. 

Students don’t have to follow the lectures by physically sitting in the classrooms. They can simply follow the video lectures at home. They can also rewatch the videos if they have difficulty understanding the lesson or they can pause and take notes whenever they need‌ to. With the use of an AI voice generator, educators can even create dynamic and engaging content tailored to different learning needs.

We should mention that it doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t go to school anymore. Instead, they can spend ‌class time doing more hands-on tasks together with their classmates. Such a new learning approach fosters self-learning and encourages the creativity and communication skills of the students.

4. Personalized Experiences

Another benefit of Edtech for students is that it provides the opportunity for ‌teachers and instructors to create personalized lesson plans for students. Such an opportunity aims to personalize learning based on students’ skills and interests. 

Some software can also enable teachers to get ‌analytics of the pauses, rewinds, and replays of the videos. Based on this data, they can understand which students had difficulty understanding the teaching materials. Therefore, they can offer further support to those students.  

5. Interactive lessons

Do you remember the boring classrooms we used to sit in where the only technology was the lamp or the air conditioner? Edtech classrooms are remotely like that. 

With engaging devices in the classroom nowadays, teachers can hardly catch students daydreaming or distracted. And it’s not just about the devices; the way these devices improve the learning process is way more impactful in that‌ regard. 

With the lesson plans getting more engaging, students can participate in class activities and share their thoughts. Incorporating gamification, such as educational games, is one innovative way to strengthen ‌students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

What are the benefits of Edtech for teachers?

Edtech is not only beneficial to students but also to teachers and the schools’ overall functioning. Let’s now look at the benefits of Edtech for teachers:

1. Simplified grading 

Thanks to the artificial intelligence Edtech tools available today, teachers and schools have an easy time grading students. As these software use machine learning, assessing answers given to ‌tests or assignments is no longer difficult or time-consuming.

With the time that teachers can save on grading, they can create engaging lessons, and arrange one-on-one talks with those students who are struggling with a subject or the ones that are excelling at it. 

2. Less challenging classroom management

With ‌education technology in place, it is a lot easier to manage classrooms. Edtech tools integrated with task management software allow teachers to bring more diversity to their lesson plans and teaching styles so that students are not only not bored but are also proactive. 

In addition to that, teacher-student communications are now much more efficient and easier compared to the pre-Edtech era thanks to educational apps. These teaching apps also keep ‌parents involved in homework assignments, meaning that there is more and better control over the learning process. 

3. Green classrooms

The digital transformation of ‌classrooms and ‌education technology has eliminated the use of paper and pens. Schools that have chosen to go digital such as virtual classrooms for learning are now contributing to having a greener world as there is no need to use tons of paper. It is a sustainable movement that can positively affect the future of the Earth or at least not threaten it. 

4. Accurate assessments

Traditional devoted teachers used to spend so much time evaluating students based on their assignments and performance. And the evaluation was never guaranteed to be accurate as they didn’t really access almost any data. 

Edtech has changed that completely. Teachers can also use tools that give them insightful data about students’ performance. With the data that teachers can now derive from ‌education technology tools, it’s possible to have accurate assessments and evaluations of each student.

This can help the teachers and students to have insight into the future of the students based on their skills and interests. 

Conclusion

While everything is changing due to digital transformation, it is important to watch out for the destructive use of technology. While education technology can be misused if not controlled wisely, it can be quite beneficial for students, their parents, teachers, and schools. 

Have you optimized your school with ‌Edtech yet? If not, hope this article has made you do so. Wish you the best of luck