distance learning, also called distance education, e-learning, and online learning, form of education in which the main elements include physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of various technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student communication. What Are Blogs, RSS Feeds, Podcasts, and Widgets? Flexible learning allows time flexibility. Before COVID-19 made distance learning a necessity, many educational institutions were already relying on EdTech to help connect with their students for online classes or as part of a hybrid schedule. Plus your virtual classroom stays secure. TouchCast Studio. Think about the last time you. Popular online textbook marketplaces include Cengage and Chegg. Raven360 is a training technology tool dedicated to building flexible learning paths for users so employees can manage content that's more relevant to their development. This gives your hybrid students the opportunity to get the best seat in the classroom, no matter where theyre dialing in from. This may be because a hybrid or high-flexibility approach is relatively easy to envision. Assistive Technology for Students with Mild Disabilities. And they're helping eliminate some tactical and operational work and move the rest to machines and service providers. While this may not show up explicitly in a standardized test result, students build their ability to see the world as inter-connected, which we know it is. Neuroscience has revealed that learners show a great deal of variability in three key areas: in what they find motivating (the why of learning), in how they are able to take in and process information to make meaning from it (the what of learning) and in how they demonstrate their understanding (the how of learning). Another trait of flexible classrooms is having a technology stack that is flexible and adaptable to any classroom setup or teaching method. This free tool lets students store notes online so they can access them from any device with an internet connection, and it gives them multiple ways to save information, including taking photos, typing it in or recording it with their voice. And many educators were using technology in the classroom for the first time, which can run the risk of tech overload for the less tech-savvy of the bunch. The most popular examples of synchronous online learning tools include video conferencing platforms, live virtual webinars, virtual classrooms, instant messaging, and audio collaboration. Unfortunately, this puts some learners at a disadvantage, including those whose motor challenges make it difficult to hold a pencil, type or use a mouse, or those with processing or memory issues. Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information. So students themselves are the biggest benefactors of this radical shift. According to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, flexibility is key because it allows educators to accommodate their students' natural variability . The term can be used to describe both analog and digital technologies, but more recently, we see that digital TEL is taking over education in the form of different types of educational software. To do this, simply select the Content option at the top of the screen and search for existing instructional videos available from Edpuzzle, YouTube, Khan Academy, and other video platforms, or upload a video that youve created. Technology present in schools in the form of tablet devices, smartphones, and laptop computers are now used as a part and parcel of the teaching-learning process. The Canvas LMS is used by top institutions worldwide, and it can boast it has over 6 million users with an over 90% satisfaction rate. ChromeVox. hbspt.cta.load(1818747, 'd267e406-16c3-4610-af82-acd71fec6a00', {"region":"na1"}); Instead of uniform rows of desks, teachers can have a variety of seating options like bean bag chairs, sofas, and group tables. Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the educational systems to shift from traditional learning to flexible learning. This free and popular cross-platform tool provides basic recording and editing functions, but students will need to find royalty-free loops on sites such as incompetech.com if they want to add a music soundtrack. And many more are taking advantage of apps that allow parents to view the information in their LMS. Students can let you know if they are confused, submit and up-vote questions they would like answered, respond to quiz questions and engage in short discussions. Other challenges unique to doing blended learning activities at home are poor motivation/self-directedness, and lack of time and/or time management skills. Screen and audio recording tools. Apart from online learning platforms, we also have online course platforms like LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, and Podia. Keep in mind the number of students you will be hosting on video calls and choose a video conferencing platform that supports the intended size of your virtual classroom. Classroom design drives student engagement. Learners can use a number of video apps (vApps) to link to supporting research on the Web, ask questions through polls, link to a script of their video for accessibility and more. Fortunately, accessibility is now a built-in option on major operating systems. Classroom audio and lesson capturing software help teachers teach effectively to students wherever they may be. To account for learner variability in each of these areas, CAST developed UDL guidelines that call on educators to provide options in the form of multiple means of engagement with learning, multiple means of representation for information and multiple means of action and expression through which learners can demonstrate their understanding. In fact, high percentage of teachers in Europe (86%) states that pupils are more motivated when computers and Internet are being used in class. Digitizing Paper Records with Optical Character Recognition. Check out these tools that make it easier to read on the web: Safari Reader. Technology is changing education. Asynchronous communication is any communication that does not take place in real-time. Information technology in education provides a large variety of new methods for teachers. Just as a carpenter has a tool belt with a number of options to choose from to best suit the nature of each job, so technology gives educators a wide array of options for engaging learners and helping them access their learning environment. This type of universal access to learning materials helps bridge the gap in classroom equity. Learning analytics is where big data meets traditional quantitative methods in education. Teachers can use Google Classroom as a landing page for their class, where all course resources and information are housed. One study found that flexibility of the space alone could boost academic, just as much as air quality, light, or temperature. But the benefits of technology in the classroom reach much further than those with learning disabilities.