Digital skills and competencies are increasingly important for the expansion and integration of educational possibilities both inside and outside the classroom. This trend requires teachers to undergo constant training in order to take pedagogical advantage of the media ecosystem that surrounds us.
For this reason, in educational terms we are already talking about Teacher 2.0 . Teacher 2.0 is someone who brings together a series of technological qualities and skills to be able to effectively integrate digital content in the classroom and improve the individual and group educational process.
Adapting teaching to ICTs
ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) offer the possibility of teaching lessons in a more enjoyable way for students. This means that teachers must think in terms of audiovisual formats, that is, using images and videos as a means of capturing the attention of their students. In this article, I am going to go one step further and give you a preview of some of the technologies that are being developed and will soon be present in classrooms.
Regardless of the fundamental and irreplaceable role of the teacher, a good didactic use of ICTs will always enrich and favor the teaching-learning processes, since they will serve both to capture the attention of the students, and to show them a greater practical application of the knowledge they are acquiring during the development of the training.
And from the student's point of view? In addition to helping to capture their attention and even make them more participative, the use of new technologies will also improve their skills in one of the most in-demand skills on the market: digital competence. If we use the Internet, our mobile phone, multiple devices and applications to socialize, buy and communicate almost from the moment we wake up, it would be almost unnatural for training to ignore this reality.
Therefore, what was initially used to improve certain teaching-learning processes has today become a necessary skill required by the information society.
The next training: augmented reality.
Virtual reality “immerses users in a unique and visually stunning interactive journey through the wonder that is the human brain, the source of all the qualities that define our humanity,” said Sasa Marinkovic, AMD VR Marketing Leader.
In this case , we are talking about augmented reality ; a technology that has already reached some classrooms and is part of the most innovative training processes. It allows for greater perception, interaction and learning on the part of students.
Can you imagine the application that augmented reality could have in e-learning courses ? Perhaps you can understand it better with a concrete example. Think of an electrical maintenance technician who has to deal with a problem with a cable. He can simply point his gaze at the cable and his glasses will display data such as a short video explaining how to solve the problem and detailed information about the cable model to be replaced.
Augmented Reality
Of course, this technology would be a real revolution for all types of courses, but especially for online training, as it would give us a clear and tangible advantage.
However, even though augmented reality is a technology that is gaining both supporters and fields of application, we will still have to wait a little while to be able to use it as part of learning. Science fiction or near reality? I will leave the question for what will surely be the subject of another article in the future.
After this brief look at tomorrow, I will focus on what is already a reality: teaching 2.0. Teachers are one of the professions that have had to adapt the most to technological changes, since many of them can be applied in the classroom. Below you will see the characteristics that you must meet if you want to become a digital teacher.
infographic characteristics of a 2.0 teacher
1. Adapt to new digital materials with the methodological changes they imply. The so-called flipped classroom , aimed at scheduling activities outside the classroom to work on them jointly in class, is becoming established in many educational centers.
2. Acquire the necessary technical knowledge on operating systems (Windows, list of canada cell phone numbers Mac, etc.) and security tools for the protection of minors and parental control.
3. Take on the role of a ' coach '. In addition to explaining the lessons printed in the textbook in the best possible way, the teacher must have an open and patient attitude towards the students and, above all, take on the role of a motivator for achieving results. This can be achieved, for example, through gamification .
4. Master two-way participation among educators. There are more and more online communities where teachers exchange content and experiences. Teachers must be prepared for possible physical changes in classrooms related to new methodologies: organizing tables into groups, incorporating digital whiteboards, large-format touch screens, etc.
5. Encourage teamwork among students, instilling values such as tolerance, camaraderie, respect, responsibility and humility to know how to accept errors and recommendations.
6. Use social media as interaction tools to get in closer contact with students and send information related to topics of interest and study. They also serve to encourage student participation.
7. Use web resources as educational tools . Teachers search for and exchange content from different sources to have a criterion when choosing which web tools are most appropriate to use in the classroom and when. I'll leave you with some of the most interesting ones so you can start using them in your classes.
infographic web tools