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Many schools were caught off guard in the early days of pandemic closures and had to scramble to set up systems that allowed teachers and students to collaborate on lessons from home. The plunge into remote learning has created an urgency for tech-based educational solutions that can improve and enhance the remote learning experience.
From fostering social connections to increasing engagement, ensuring equal access to resources and more, technology can help teachers and students achieve better results when they can’t be in the classroom. Below, 16 experts from Forbes Technology Council share ways educators can leverage tech to improve educational outcomes in a remote setting.
1. Improving Student Engagement
Given the trials and tribulations associated with remote learning, student engagement must be placed at the top of the learning priority list. Using ed-tech solutions that embrace a gamified approach to learning can create an exciting experience for students. Finding creative ways of integrating that technology into your curriculum can also enhance the student learning experience. - Junior Bernadin, The Ron Clark Academy
2. Fostering A Feeling Of Connection
With so many students in a distance-learning environment, a feeling of connection is incredibly important. One unique way to use technology in education is via e-sports. These programs have been found to increase engagement and promote activity and interaction among diverse students. They can also advance science, technology engineering and math learning and provide a new avenue for scholarships. - Matthew Zielinski, Lenovo
3. Determining Behavior Patterns
Schools can use artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine the behavior patterns of students. Platforms such as MOOC can be used to learn patterns and personalize content for each student, which can help them better understand subjects, or provide instructors with guidance material to better address the class. If this can be done while class is in progress, that would be even more effective. - Murthy Malapaka, SLK software, The Automation company
4. Ensuring Equal Access
Technology can help correct the current imbalances that exist in our educational system. It can ensure that every student can get access to the same quality education through the use of such tools as virtual reality, augmented reality and a host of others. - Selva Pandian, DemandBlue
5. Creating Real-World Simulations
Today, online learning and training are more advanced, adaptive and prevalent. There is a huge opportunity to leverage technology to create real-world simulations that closely resemble specific layouts, applications and scenarios through advanced graphics, virtual reality and cognitive intelligence. - Lydia Miller, TATA Consultancy Services
6. Offering Mental Health Support
Covid-19 has greatly impacted students’ mental health. While many schools offer counseling, it has been largely interrupted by the pandemic. As schools turn to tech-based educational solutions for remote learning, they should look to mental health support systems with the same urgency, as they are on the rise and are well-positioned to help students cope with these uncertain times. - Ken Cahill, SilverCloud Health
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7. Enabling Students To Self-Assess
During this era of remote learning, tech can empower students to gain insights into their own learning. The best education solutions not only give students information but also teach them how to apply that information—how to learn in general. Tech can be used to improve outcomes by enhancing peer reviews, enabling personalized learning and self-assessment, connecting students with instructors and classmates, and much more. - Richard Wang, Coding Dojo
8. Boosting Interactive Learning
Augmented reality can make remote learning interactive and can significantly improve student engagement and outcomes. We are seeing early success stories on how effectively complex concepts of chemistry or biology can be taught in a simulated and immersive manner. Imagine remote learning where instead of a video call you have an AR hologram of the teacher followed by a virtual field trip. - Meeta Dash, Verta.ai
9. Accommodating Different Learning Styles
The greatest potential tech can provide to education is diverse tooling designed to engage different learning styles. Simple tools such as subtitles on live video can be game-changers for some learners. This isn’t possible in a classroom. The key to using tech for improvement is to focus on what can be done rather than replicating what has been done. - Joe Onisick, transformationCONTINUUM
10. Enabling Micro-Skill Delivery
Technology provides a platform for micro-skill delivery. Instead of having to sit through an entire training, it is possible to focus on a single skill or function that needs to be learned. However, learning like this has to be balanced with context—students need to know why they are learning this skill. Otherwise, you have people who know how to do tasks but have no flexibility to deal with unique or unfamiliar situations. - Thomas Polk, Midwest Eye Consultants, P.C.
11. Expanding Educational Resources Beyond Textbooks
With remote learning becoming the norm, educational possibilities have opened like never before. The abilities of artificial intelligence, machine learning, visual effects and more make education more informative and interesting. Students can grasp concepts, do research, conduct experiments and learn things in ways that go beyond the constraints of a book or limited information guide. - Trishneet Arora, TAC Security
12. Reducing Language And Geographic Barriers
In the era of continued remote learning, technology will lead to an open-source educational landscape that enables lifelong learning. Technologies such as AI and VR/AR expand the reach of education by reducing language and geographical barriers. This provides greater access to educational resources—including the best teachers in the world—and unlocks significant knowledge and potential for students. - Jeff Wong, EY
