The Matrix of Integrated Learning in K-12 Schools
Wow, remember when classrooms relied solely on textbook material and note-taking by hand, at one time by ink and later by pens. Times have changed and so have how teachers engage their students in learning experiences. Now, for almost every educational textbook in print, there is an electronic copy or ebook option to buy. Many students are being expected to purchase tablets to experience their learning in the classroom. Tablets and Kindle devices enable access to ebooks so there is an abundance of opportunities when it comes to technology.
Yet, more than ebooks, Information, and Communications Technology (ICT) is being integrated into the classroom including tablets, computers, digital whiteboards and other technologies that facilitate learning. Integrated learning solutions are changing the landscape of learning in educational institutions. Interactivity is ever-increasing within education and is a valuable pedagogical approach by teachers in classrooms to engage students. Teachers no longer have to draw on the board, they can pull up a 3D model and have a deep conversation about it. Integrated learning, that Is adopting print materials with digital aids is highly-utilized in modern classrooms and as we progress, more and more publishers will release digitized learning material for teachers to work with students.
Integrating Digital Technologies into Education
The flexible projector can produce a digital display and be connected to a variety of devices to be truly effective while conveying information in a high-density method that can reach the entire classroom. Students do not have to squint to see a blackboard or average whiteboard. Smartboards are the next-generation of whiteboards and permit users to write on them with digital pens and can be collaborative with students and teachers or more than one student aside from being truly interactive. With colorful visual aids, large collaborative boards, and creative projector displays students and teachers have so much to explore.
Can you imagine writing on a digital table and sending it to your email? Well, it’s happening! Digital aids in integrated learning of print and digital material include Smart tables that are essentially digital, interactive displays as tables rather than wall displays. Smart tables enable a group of students to use in a collaborative effort and drive interactivity and these are suitable for all ages and diverse abilities of students within educational institutions. Digital textbooks are the next wave of textbook material utilized within classrooms, which may be the reason why the print industry continues to decline. Among the technologies of education, today is the audio enhancement option that can be very helpful in the classroom: this entails wireless microphones for the educator(s), which transmit instruction and information to the entire classroom through premium-quality speaker systems and can be connected to multimedia.
Teaching material can be recorded by audio-visual methods and played back for students at a time convenient for them or review. Networks are commonplace in contemporary societies with many people connected wirelessly via Bluetooth and WiFi, replaced by Ethernet cables. Networked learning is a new wave of networking for educational purposes where students work on laptops or computers and the educator or teacher can view the progress simply by pulling up the display of that student’s screen. It's advanced technology for truly networking and connecting teachers and students and students can submit their work electronically rather than in print form. The digitization of education is ever increasing as technologies advance further and further into forms that we could not even imagine generations before today. Does your school embrace technology or is it still something that teachers wish to use?
References:
Blackburn-Dwyer, B. (2016). 8 High-Tech Gadgets That Are Making Classrooms Smarter. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/8-high-tech-gadgets-that-are-making-classrooms-sma/
Victoria State Government. (2019). Using Digital Technologies to Support Learning and Teaching. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/curriculum/Pages/techsupport.aspx