Teachers turn to technology in hopes to connect better with students

By Madisyn Zipper

Sounds of iPad keyboards and SMART board collaborations ring through each and every classroom this year as teachers attempt a new approach to educating social media-obsessed teenagers.

The Apple App store alone consists of 75,000 education-related apps, and educators seem ready to take advantage of them. Each high school teacher in the NA-FC district has been given an iPad to experiment with this year, with plans to integrate into courses next year using a classroom management system entitled My Big Campus. The use of these new iPads and programs will create a more individualized learning approach and information will be more readily available; although teachers may need a bit of help finding the volume button.

In a past, classrooms were filled with chalk residue and overhead projectors, but students today are accustomed to technology now more than ever.

More than six in ten college students and high school seniors agree that tablets help students to study more efficiently, according to a study conducted by the Pearson Foundation. With many apps, guidelines, and website sources, getting through a difficult math question is much easier than it was in the past.

While some students have trouble with concentration, with the use of iPads communication has been opened up. Even with administrators, communicating efficiently is essential in a school setting.

In the future these advances in technology will enable students to have better organization skills and increase their academic achievement.