Children possess technological skills, process information differently, and require new educational models.
The expert Jonathan Ávila, product manager of Alcatel Mexico, comments that we are living a digital education that is not limited to time and space, but rather promotes learning anywhere, anytime. For young people, the issue of mobility is very important, so the device market must adapt to their needs, by which they have refined their digital language.
Ávila defines teachers as digital immigrants, who have been forced to learn and adapt to the new digital environment, which is an evident problem is the digital gap between teachers and their students.
According to Professor Marc Prensky of Harvard University, digital natives are young people and children who were born and raised using countless electronic devices, while teachers still retain habits such as preferring paper over the screen.
For many digital students, traditional teaching methods are boring, slow, and, in short, outdated. In contrast, teachers do not understand how young people can work and learn while surfing the internet, listening to music and texting with their friends, adds Ávila.
These differences between natives and digital immigrants warn of an urgent reconsideration of new educational methods and content that reinforce the interaction between both parties. The technology expert offers some tips to successfully adapt to digital education, based on the needs of students, are:
Report quickly and quickly
Students are accustomed to absorbing a lot of information in a short time, so they require agile teaching methods that capture and hold their attention, for example: short informational videos instead of long lectures.
Promote multitasking and parallel processes
Hyperlinks are multimedia elements present daily when browsing the Internet. Their constant use has trained them to perform tasks simultaneously, so they tend to be interested in this type of exercise.
Teach using graphics instead of just texts
The graphics are usually more striking than the texts. In this sense, educational infographics and other types of materials of interest can be implemented as part of the study guides.
Facilitate internet access for information search
Although the use of the internet and mobile devices in the classroom is still a subject under review, with positions for and against, the use of the internet in certain school activities can be favorable and practical to locate information quickly.
Use educational content, based on leisure and entertainment.
New technologies have contributed to a host of original and creative content, such as GIFs and memes, which could be used in various subjects. In addition, there are currently video games and numerous online educational platforms that educate while entertaining students.
These councils promote the transition to digital education, so that the technological gap between students and teachers is narrowing, the specialist ends.