By Eric Weinstein, author of Labyrinth Learning’s Excel for Accounting and Payroll Accounting
Continue reading Effectively Teaching an Excel for Accounting Course
Tag Archives: Using Technology in the Classroom
Technology Use in the Classroom Will Become More Important Over Time
The days of traditional textbooks, white boards and students in one setting, all being taught the same material, is slowly dying out only to be replaced with rapidly developing classroom technology. Educators, parents and students are quickly realizing technology in higher education is becoming more commonplace and embracing the change.
Because of technological advancements, educators are having to rethink the established teaching methods of presenting information and then having students repeat it back in rote. The future of education is requiring teachers to develop techniques on how to present critical thinking and long-range problem solving.
For all the negatives that people think of with new age technology, like concerns surrounding social media interactions, online gaming and off-topic websites, the positives are so much stronger.
Some of the advantages of classroom technology include:
- Keeping students attention even longer
- Increases in students willingness to learn
- Freedom for students to learn at their own pace
- Better preparation of students for more advanced technology
Of course, no article on technology in higher education can be complete without a nod to the long range advantages and potential impact that remote classrooms are already having worldwide. Cultural, geographical and financial boundaries are all reduced through nothing more than a strong internet connection, a webcam and a microphone.
For more ways to help engage your students and improve your classroom, feel free to contact us at Labyrinth Learning.
Teaching with Technology: What the Students Want
With the advent of the Internet, the demands made on the modern educational infrastructure have become ever more severe. Thanks to the fast paced world around us and opportunities available, students require a greater flexibility in their courses, their schedules and their technology.
Here is what students are looking for in particular:
Mobile, Integrated, Cutting Edge Interfaces – This means that students want access to the class, no matter the time or their location. Wherever they have an internet connection, students appreciate being able to access discussion boards, reporting, online tools and a classroom response system. These are the bare minimum, and the technology can support far more.
Less Disruptive, Disinterested Students – While technology brings many great benefits, it also allows the less disciplined to engage in counterproductive activities during classroom time. Real students are looking for valid ways to avoid distractions and concentrate on their studies.
Off-Site Access – Modern students, especially those that are connected online, want and need the versatility that our present technology affords. And, most importantly, they want it where and when they want it.
We live in the age of technology, and our students are veterans. They’ve grown up with and have seen more technological advances and breakthroughs than anyone. So, make sure your lesson plan and teaching style fit their expectations and needs by using these helpful tips.
For more about these and other teaching tips, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Improving the Quality of Higher Education Through Digital Means
The future has come to colleges all across the world in the form of digital technology. Nowadays, both students and professors are seeing how this new medium is improving the quality of higher education in real time.
- Going digital has given educators the ability to determine and rate program efficiency through analysis of collected data. Student performance can be tracked, and the curriculum can be finely tuned, depending on what information these data cuts reveal.
- While professors are often reluctant to begin an online teaching program because they feel it is not an effective time management experience, investing in the necessary hours at the beginning reduces time commitments in the future.
- Online classrooms have the ability to assist in improving the quality of higher education in a larger group of students. For example, ESL students, who perhaps are having difficulty composing complex grammatically correct sentences, can begin the semester with a specialized interactive tool allowing them to learn at their own pace. This digital technology also gives the instructor the capacity to track each student’s individual progress.
- With digital learning platforms, the potential is there to establish a more personalized interactive relationship. Everything from feedback about test scores to questions that a student needs answered can be responded to in real time.
Please connect with us today online or call 800-522-9746 for more information on the tools and assistance we offer at Labyrinth Learning. Our products can improve the quality of higher education in your classroom.
Image Source: freedigitalphotos
The Bright Future of Technology in the Classroom
You know it better than anybody: college students can be very persuasive when they choose. And if you feel as though they’re pulling you along on the rising tide of technology in education, at least you can be assured that they have a good point, because technology usage in the classroom will become even more important in the future.
For now, you may be persuaded to allow your students to bring their smartphones to class to look up vocabulary words and translations, or in some cases, to take pictures of classroom notes and presentations. You might call this simple acquiescence; other colleges put a formal name to it: Bring Your Own Technology to School Day. Students also might be taking notes on their laptops, designing projects in Prezi and using the Smartboard to demonstrate just how adept they are at using technology in education.
In the future, when technology is further brought into the class, students might:
- Collaborate regularly in real time with students across the globe, using Skype or a similar service.
- Take a visual tour of a foreign country via a webcam, microphone and, of course, a reliable Internet connection.
- Trade their laptops and tablets for wrist-mounted computers.
- Take the extra step of having a computer chip implanted on their person so that they are literally wired for global connectivity.
Labyrinth Learning can assist you in helping students embrace technology in education, and become confident learners along the way. Contact us for more information, today!
Image Source: freedigitalphotos
The Social Learning Trend is on the Rise
With even more people becoming connected to the Internet on a global scale, the increased availability of smartphones, and the growing popularity of social media, it is no wonder that social learning — the use of mobile devices and social media to assist in eLearning and enable peer review — is on the rise.
The following statistics explain how the trend is expanding on an international level:
- Worldwide Internet users — In 2014, it is estimated that 2.8 billion people will be using the Internet worldwide. This is up from 2.1 billion in 2010 and just 1 billion in 2005.
- Facebook — In 2013, there were 1.15 billion users on Facebook, which is a marked increase from 1.06 the year before. The number of users accessing Facebook on mobile devices has increased even more significantly: by 51 percent in a 12-month period, reaching a total of 819 million users.
- Smartphones — The cost of smartphones is rapidly dropping, which has provided Internet users with a cheaper way to get online. In 2012, the average cost of a smartphone was $298, but by 2013, this number had fallen to $180.
- Peer review — Of students surveyed, 92 percent said they benefit from reviewing the writing of others and 82 percent found peer review helped their own writing.
As an educator, you should already be taking advantage of all social learning has to offer. For more advice about how to incorporate technology into your classroom or training program, contact us at Labyrinth Learning.
Image Source: freedigitalphotos
How the Digital Age Has Impacted Education
Every generation sees a shift in its perceptions about education. The advent of the digital age just makes this observation all the more evident. Here, detailed below, are some of the changes that a computer-oriented society has manifested for our children:
A Distributed Network – It is no longer necessary to show up for class in the literal sense when a student can just log in and attend a MOOC (massive open online course). The internet is just bursting with opportunities along this line.
An Emphasis on Skills – An increasingly technological workplace requires an ever more tech savvy workforce. This means that the skills necessary to navigate the Internet and the computer world will be in greater demand as the technology expands.
The Face of Traditional Colleges is Changing – Online courses are growing at a shocking rate, and as we look to the future, we may find more students taking lessons from the comfort of their own homes instead of the lecture hall. The students of the future may even be able to choose courses from multiple institutions from across the globe.
For more information on this and other advances in technology in education, please visit us at Labyrinth Learning. You will always find us online or you can reach us anytime at 1-800-522-9746.
The Effect of Technology on Education
In a world of rapidly advancing technology, it can be difficult to sort the useful benefits of tech in the classroom from the distracting noise of marketeers. Of course, for every example of social-networks causing trouble in schools, there’s a story of a self-taught go-getter utilizing Internet resources for something beautiful. Just like in any era, our status-quo has its problems and dilemmas, but embracing technological solutions for educational issues should be lauded as the solution, not the problem.
Many teachers are already using technology in education to reach more students, to communicate better with students, to demonstrate complex-concepts to students, and to inspire students to do more with their potential than they ever thought possible.
A major aspect of their success is properly choosing which technology is best for their specific situation. However, any teacher who tries their best to introduce their students to the latest technologies rather than seclude them in the darkness of last decades textbooks and documentaries is having a positive impact.
Technology is and always has been a tool; finding the right way to wield it is just as important as the difference between using an axe to build a home and using an axe to wage a war. For example, when trying to get students to work together, some teachers realize that they are already connected via popular social-networking sites that have options to share data and insight as easily as selfie-photographs and gaming invites.
If you have an active interest in utilizing more technology in education for your students, contact Labyrinth Learning!
Image Source: morgueFile
How Technology is Changing the Landscape of Education
In ancient times, a centralized university or library was the sole source of education for everyone in a given society. If you wanted to hear a lecture, you had to be physically present when the teacher spoke. If you wanted to read a book, you had to do so in the library itself. If you missed something, you could only go on your own intuition and the guidance of your peers.
However, today, with multimedia recording technologies and the rapid spread of information, any lecture, book, or educational concept is only a Google search away. Brilliant teachers are quoted on Facebook, shared on YouTube, and lauded on Twitter. If someone desires to learn, there is nothing in their way other than an imperfect Wi-Fi connection.
It’s no surprise that low-cost Internet-based educational opportunities are stealing students from traditional university environments. However, the best-of-the-best longstanding universities are embracing this technology in education, including Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Stanford who all offer Massive Open Online Courses utilizing the Coursera platform. These unique classrooms offer the same information available in a standard college format, but make them readily available to the masses.
Even still, as technology in education continues to become more important, expect the university of tomorrow to look nothing like what we see today. If you plan to be a part of the ongoing technological revolution in education, please contact Labyrinth Learning today to see how we can best help you change the way you impact the world.