Technology as an inseparable part of teaching and learning.

Hello everybody,
How are things going?

We have dealt so much with technology on this subject, we have mentioned its advantages and disadvantages, we have talked about multimedia and its importance. Now, it's time to focus on technology tools that may help teachers to create an interactive atmosphere in their classrooms. Integrating technology in a classroom can be more beneficial than face to face or online learning alone.
"Technology will not replace great teachers, but technology in the hand of great teachers can be transformational"-George Couros.
This quote shows that technology is important while teaching but only if it is used carefully. Teachers who know how to use it in class, attract students' attention. This results in students' engagement and better performance.

Let's take a look on the past and see if things have changed or not.
Teachers, but also students used to be very happy just because they had some computers at school. I can still remember how excited we were on the 'Informatics' classes, even though we never used the computers to learn something.
I don't know why, but most of the time they were broken, the mice were missed or any other problem. Even when they were alright, nobody taught us how to use computer at its basic concepts. We used to play games on these classes or we stayed at class doing nothing.
Now students have more opportunities  because they can even learn individually from their computer or mobile phone. We didn't have such devices then, only some who were called 'lucky' had.
Technology didn't have the impact it has nowadays. Now it is a standard. It's kind of strange because at the moment we get used to a tool or program something faster and better appears.
It's the same thing that happens with our phones. Before, there were Nokia 3310 or Samsung, later BlackBerry was produced, now there are smartphone and iPhone of high technology. We see that technology is advancing day by day.
Think about your English classes.
Did your teacher put some music while you were reading?
Did your teacher bring extra materials rather than just textbooks?
Did your teacher present a lesson via technology using pictures, videos, interactive whiteboards or PowerPoint presentations?
Let me guess, most of them didn't.
That's mostly because teachers were not used to technology before.
There are still traditional teachers who just only explain the lesson and ask students to tell it by heart, but I've also noticed that there have been some changes. (Not sufficient ones.) There are teachers who use PowerPoint presentations or bring images to students, but interactive whiteboards are still missing. Our schools and universities still use the blackboards. Interactive whiteboards are really effective because they allow multiple students to collaborate using a touchscreen to annotate content or to take notes. It is an easier way to structure lessons, to make students engage and have fun at the same time.
Isn't it sad to see how no investment is made in education?
But, teachers can try their best to integrate technology in teaching. Instead of fighting the use of technology in our classrooms, we can interpret it in a meaningful way using different tools such as:
•Socrative, Kahoot, Hot Potatoes, Google forms to create different kinds of quizzes. They are all easy to use and very interactive. They allow all students to take part. If you asked me which one I would choose, I would say Kahoot as the most appealing one. It is colourful and allows teachers to create their own learning games and students to have fun while learning.

•FlipGrid is a tool that increases students' engagement by recording and sharing short videos in a collaborative way.
In every grid teachers can post questions and students may answer by sharing videos.

•Edpuzzle is another educational tool in which teachers may add text and voice questions. Teachers may do this in existed videos or they may upload their own videos there. It creates an interactive environment in classroom, but not only. It is interesting and students focus more.

•Dyknow is a helpful tool for teachers to monitor what their students do during the class. This allows teachers to notice if students are really working or they are wasting their time playing games or on social media. In this way, teachers may 'control' the class, in order for students to be more attentive.

•Students need constant feedback. Floop helps teacher to share feedback faster and in a more specific way. Students have the possibility to send to their teachers their uncompleted work and ask for suggestions. The teacher controls it, gives the recommendations and send it back to the student. I think this is very useful because allows teachers to be in continuous contact with their students' progress and it also enables students the possibility to edit their work in order to improve it.

Let's recap the advantages of technology in teaching and learning.
•Technology enables us to connect with other students and teachers.
•Technology helps students to engage mostly in a self directed learning. At the same time  they are responsible for what they learn.
•Technology raises students' interest and attention.
•Encourages collaboration, since students can work in groups or they may share different materials, opinions and assignments together.
•Technology has no limitations. It provides us with everything we need.

In my opinion, what technology offers us is endless. What we can do is to choose the positive and effective part of it. Let's make a change together because as John Dewey said: "If we teach as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow."

I hope you find this post helpful!
Thank you! :)