The educational system has always struggled to meet the expectations of both students and educators.
The students complain about getting too much homework and too much coursework material to study. They complain about the teachers being boring and the studying resources not engaging enough.
The teachers, on the other hand, complain about the students being too distracted, lazy, and unwilling to make an effort.
We know that there are problems. But let’s wonder: what problems can technology solve?
Teachers are prompted to use technology, so they make efforts to bring it into the classroom. But tech tools should be used not because everyone else is doing it, but because they can solve specific problems within that classroom.
5 Common Educational Problems Technology Can Solve
- Academic Writing Struggles
Okay. It’s time to admit this once and for all: students hate academic writing. It’s a generalized statement that doesn’t apply to every single student, but it certainly applies to the majority.
Why do they detest research, writing, and editing? There are few reasons we can list:
- The teachers don’t offer enough instructions and personalized attention
- The projects come with short deadlines
- Academic and scientific resources are hard to read and understand
- The topics are often boring
To solve this issue, many students will order their essays at Edubirdie. But if the teacher encourages the use of tech tools, they can inspire the students to write.
Pinterest is a cool platform for collecting resources. The students can create a board for a particular project and progressively collect sources of information. The platform allows them to add notes to each pin, which is great for writing down ideas on how to use that source.
As for the proofreading process, Hemingway App is a great tool that simplifies it.
- Lack of Practice
The teacher has a responsibility to present lectures in class. The students have to pay attention. By the time the teacher is done with the lecture, there’s no space for questions and practice. So, the students get homework. They struggle with it because they have to complete it alone.
The concept of a flipped classroom helps to solve this problem. The students get the lectures as homework. This is where technology gets into the blend. The teacher films the lectures or chooses resources from YouTube, Khan Academy, and other educational platforms. In the classroom, everyone solves practical problems and the teacher encourages the students to ask questions and discuss.
- Lack of Engagement
Boredom and lack of interest in the lectures – that’s one of the most serious problems in education. Technology has multiple solutions for it.
Let’s start with smartboards. The teachers can show multimedia content through them. They can find great educational videos on any topic and discuss them in class.
Tools like Participate are also part of the solution. This is a platform that connects the teacher with pros, who help them build an engaging lesson plan. Then, they use Participate to share learning resources and track the progress the students make. The platform has peer-review features, progress-tracking reports, and tools for collecting and categorizing resources.
When the students use a tool like this, they can learn at their own pace. If the reports show lack of engagement, the teacher includes other types of learning materials to get more attention.
- Lack of Personalization in the Learning Process
Classrooms are overcrowded. No matter how hard the teacher tries, they cannot pay attention to every single student at the same time. Some of the students are very active in discussions, but others are socially anxious. Those are the ones that don’t receive enough attention.
Educational software solves this problem. The teachers use special tools where they input all data they get from each student’s engagement. Then they analyze the problems each student has and offer additional instructions, specifically aimed to fill in the gaps.
- Expensive Educational Resources
Should we even start talking about the money that students spend on textbooks, notebooks, and writing tools? If they lag behind, they should get private tutoring as well. Education is expensive. It always has been. But technology is making changes there, too.
Today, students can access open educational resources, which can completely solve the need for tutoring. The teachers can also offer free learning materials that the students can access from their devices. Everyone should have access to cheap (or even free) education. Thanks to technology, we’re moving in that direction.
Technology Doesn’t Solve All Problems, But It Sure Makes Progress in Education
No matter how many tech tools we implement in the educational process, boring teachers and lazy students will always exist. People are different. Not all of them are equally interesting as teachers or equally interested in learning.
But technology does contribute towards greater engagement and equality in education. That’s a fact we can’t neglect. It makes education cheaper, more personalized, more engaging, practical, and overall easier.
Today’s students are quite lucky to have technology on their side. Let’s not deprive them from the opportunities that tech tools offer!
