Tablets seem to be everywhere these days. While it’s relatively common to see tablets in cafes, restaurants, and supermarkets, you may not be as used to seeing them in schools. While tablets promise an added degree of convenience and can make some educational tasks more accessible, many teachers still doubt whether tablets are genuinely beneficial during the school day.
Finding the right balance between technology and traditional coursework can cause departmental friction. So, if you’re an administrator who’s wondering how to allocate their technology budget or an educator looking for a definitive answer on the impact of tablets in the classroom, here are a few things you should know.
Traditional handwriting methods may improve recall and retention over tablet-based notetaking.
In some ways, tablets are helpful devices for students to keep up with their schoolwork. Students can use them to take notes in class, research, and complete homework assignments. Tablets are also a valuable way for students to stay connected with their classmates and teachers. There are several apps and tools that students, teachers, and administrators can use for educational purposes, and some schools are now providing tablets to their students.
However, despite their increased prevalence, tablets aren’t ideal as your sole mode of education. If you’re going to include technology in the classroom, you should exercise moderation and ensure that you still emphasize core skills like handwriting and cursive. Psychological studies show that handwriting plays a vital role in a student’s retention and recall in the classroom and when studying.
Plus, while many tablets come packaged with tools that help students annotate, highlight, and share text, it may not be as engaging as working with a traditional textbook where a student can use sticky notes, highlighters, pens, and pencils to annotate, underline, and hone in on different themes.
Even in online-only classroom settings where most (if not all) materials are digital, it still helps to encourage learners to use pen and paper for notetaking, homework, and other course projects. However, balancing handwriting with tablet-based learning takes a deft hand. SOLVED can help you find the happy medium.
There are still effective ways to introduce technology to the classroom.
SOLVED Consulting makes it simple to increase tablet presence in your classes without sacrificing learning quality. Our goal is to develop applications and tools that help you streamline your grading process, improve homework collection, and deliver feedback to students that need extra time and attention.
If you’re ready to learn more about SOLVED for classrooms or how our innovative applications can benefit churches, yoga studios, and other businesses, contact us today. From our Graded app feature to our school app builders, we have something for everyone. Get started to make the most of the digital and physical tools at your disposal.
