The definition of the word “learning” has changed over the past year and we all know the reason. Earlier, when one sought to learn something he/she learned to share a room with people who already know about the thing but looking forward to how drastically the circumstances have changed recently, learning isn’t the same anymore. Nowadays, one can learn about anything from the comfort of his/her house. Listed below is an elaborate explanation of certain famous learning tools that are a boon to both students and teachers.
- PDFs ( Portable Document Format Files):
The concept of PDFs is no stranger to any student all over the world. PDFs come in quite handy to both students and teachers especially in a time like this where stepping out of our houses amounts to putting our lives at stake. PDFs can be downloaded, used to share the virtual copies of the textbooks, classwork, homework, or any notes prepared for any purpose even other than studying. A single PDF can contain a whole book using very little storage and as they are stored in devices like our Phones, Laptops, computers, etc. they are just a click away. So, all you need is some study material that you can convert to PDF, and it would be easy from thereon. Additionally, students should know how to use zip file openers, since many times it could happen that the files you download from the internet or that are shared with them might be zipped.
- Video Lectures:
During this pandemic, all sectors, even the education sector, have suffered drastically. Meeting one another targets the safety of the lives of our families so all the tasks including learning are being carried out inside the safety of our houses. Video Lectures have recorded explanations of certain learning topics that can be accessed from anywhere on any device. For instance, these videos can even teach about different projects, such as how to set up your Raspberry Pi 4. During a time like this, video lectures come very handily to students as they can watch them anytime when they want and even as many times as they want until they are satisfied. Some sites/apps that provide study material in the form of video lectures are – Udemy, Coursera, Khan Academy, etc. Kids can also reuse these video lectures anytime they need to revise the material and they can also share these videos with their friends. They will need to learn how to send large video files as well but that’s all okay since it will benefit their digital literacy skill improvement.
- Live Lectures:
Before this pandemic hit, classes were originally held inside a classroom where all the students and teachers were present and there was a live interaction between both the parties which made clearing doubts easy and made learning more precise. Looking forward to the situation right now, doing such a thing isn’t safe at all. A substitute to such offline classes is live lectures that are live streams where the teacher explains a certain topic live in front of the students virtually and the students can ask and even answer questions related to the topic while learning which enhances the quality of the learning process.
- Enhanced Conceptual Learning:
Conceptual learning means learning about a certain topic theoretically side by side watching how the topic works. Earlier when classes were held in schools it was a burden to teachers to prepare stuff that would help to teach about the actual working of some phenomenon but nowadays with the help of Computer graphics, Conceptual teaching and learning have become a lot easier. Visuals of all such things are available on the internet and are quite easy to access as well which helps students’ learning priorities to not get affected by this pandemic. There are special educational programs for children which ensure the best educational preparation for your kids. You need to take care of the educational aspect of your kids from an early stage of their life. There are many freelance childhood experts nowadays such as the ones offered by Kolabtree that can consult and support you in ensuring the best childhood experience for your kids.
Analytical tools:
One of the most common things that were a reason for the outrage of teachers during offline classes was the burden of checking and analyzing the students’ homework/test copies. As we’ve already talked about some substitutes to the basic components of the learning process there is a substitute for this too. Websites like Google Assignments are available which will analyze and check your homework and give you detailed feedback on the points where you need to improve and some quite valuable suggestions.
Using teaching tools
There are some situations commonly found in classrooms containing students such as staring, dreaming, and “what did you say?”. You can find several students out there that do not pay proper attention in the classrooms and mentally wander off easily. The question is how do you maintain their focus on their studies? Well, there are many tools available on the web at the moment that will help in keeping the students motivated. Students need to keep focused on the game and they are forced to play as if their life depended on it. Here are some games/tools for engaging the students.
- Quizlet Live: This tool allows the students to work together for finding the right definition or words for the description. This tool has been developed for practicing definitions and terms. Here there are some tricky things though. You will not be able to check some of the descriptions by your teammates. In case someone from your team commits a mistake, you are forced to restart all over again. Different teams will battle each other to become the first one to cross the finish line. For more info, you can check the website demo offered by Quizlet. For using Quizlet Live you are required to have at least 12 terms or descriptions. Quizlet Live is the latest development of its predecessor Quizlet. Quizlet also permits you to conduct quizzes in forms such as Flashcards, tests, gravity games, spelling exercises, and matching games. All this is good fun but it is not live and therefore not as activating or competitive.
- Kahoot: This is probably the most well-known example of tech tools used for education. It is competitive and students like that because they want to win. Students are required to tick off the correct answer as fast as possible. For all the right answers they will score points. When the answer is right and the student was fast to respond, he or she will get more points than the slower student. Kahoot is fun not only for the students but also for the teachers. It is simple to use and it provides a great overview of the answers provided by students. You can find out the questions that are causing problems and which students have not understood the lessons. Students love it because it allows them to use their mobile phones and there is no need to type in the responses. If you are looking to get more collaboration from the students, the team mode from Kahoot is your answer. A single device with a lot of students.
- Quizizz: This is an online assessment tool that permits students and teachers to develop and use each other’s quizzes. You can provide a unique access code to the student after which the quiz is presented live in the form of a live competition or it might be used as homework having a specific deadline. When the quizzes have been done, the students can review their replies. What is more, the resulting data gets compiled in a spreadsheet for providing the instructor with a clear and visual impression of the student’s performance. He can then analyze the trends to decide which areas need more focus in the future. Quizizz provides this quick feedback and it may be used by teachers for reviewing future learning activities and possibly change the focus of the material used by placing more emphasis on concepts that students are finding more challenging. Quizizz comes with a straightforward layout and the company website does a terrific job of walking you through the process of quiz-making. They provide step-by-step instructions that do not overwhelm the user at any stage. It is also quite intuitive to take the quiz.
Conclusion:
Learning helps a man/woman move forward and take a step better than the last one. It enhances the quality of lives of many and praises the existence of betterment. Bad times are just a part of life, no bad time can stop one from moving forward and achieving his /her dream. Listed above were some new-gen learning tools that are quite useful these days and help enhance the quality of learning for both the students and teachers. This pandemic has stopped us from moving out of our houses but it shouldn’t be able to stop us from learning and taking a step ahead to make our lives better.
