Technology in the New Normal
Mark Gil Z. Reyes
Technology is inevitable everywhere including education. It is already sweeping through classrooms as educators and developers create more products designed to enhance the quality of education. These new technologies are shaking up the role of educators by creating philosophical shifts in approaches to teaching, and remodeling the classroom. With that being said, technology indeed shapes the future of education.
Every student learns differently, and technology allows teachers to accommodate unique learning styles on a case-by-case basis. One example is DreamBox, a math education software that’s used in a number of classrooms across the US. This software adapts to each student’s skill level and lets students learn at a pace best suited to their needs. This will greatly develop the skills of students for they won’t be pressured to keep up with their classmates whenever they’re having a hard time in a particular subject.
Further, artificial intelligence makes one-to-one tutoring possible. An AI-based tutoring system called Education Dominance is a platform that works similarly to a human tutor. It monitors each student’s progress and provides personalized assessments and tests. A study also reported that students who had worked with the digital tutor made enormous improvements in their education, and that they consistently tested higher than students without the program’s benefit. This platform provides a glimpse into how education models might work in the future: computers acting as individual tutors in classrooms filled with diverse learning styles.
Technology is being used in more and more classrooms, but teachers will be as important as ever. Even though technology makes everything a lot easier, it will not be utilized properly without a teacher who educates the learners on how to do things. In addition, technology will not function successfully in the classroom without the touch of educators. They are invented to assist educators in the classroom; not to replace them.
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The author is Master Teacher II at San Fernando Elementary School