Recent Technologies Accepted By Schools Worldwide
A series of technological innovations introduced in the classroom are changing the way maths and science are taught in schools. Education has become more interactive, fun and engaging while students explore concepts such as ratio and proportion using animations, and motion capture technology. 3D printing is another prominent technology that has reinforced collaborative education among students by building real-time objects from digital blueprints. The imagination of the student is the limit as he or she can print almost anything and test and evaluate their ideas there and then.
The following are the five innovations introduced in schools in the last five years that have the capability to transform the landscape of education.
1. 3D Printing
3D printing technology seems like a sci-fi fantasy but it can actually build objects from digital blueprints. It is especially being seen as a favourable technology in the education and corporate space. Students can 3D print almost everything, right from cars for physics lessons to cross sections of the human heart for learning biology. Abstract concepts of maths and science can be reimagined through 3D printing as it makes learning fun, engaging and interactive.
2. Sign-Language Translator
A sign language translator is a boon for the millions of deaf students for whom everyday communication in school requires costly translators and tedious note writing. The sign language translator is equipped with motion-sensing cameras and voice recognition that translate sign language into spoken words and spoken words into text in real time.
3. Motion Capture Technology
Motion capture technology can be harnessed to teach biology or language by having students virtually match words and decipher and move organs of the human body. Such an interactive method of pedagogy would help develop enthusiasm into the classroom.
4. Classroom Animations
Computer visualisations are used to teach mathematics that give a whole new meaning to lines plotted on graphs and algebraic representation. The feeling among students that mathematics is hard might wane away and they will have fun while learning math. This generation will nurture a love for math like no other.
4. Educational Games
It is not a hidden fact that kids put a lot of committed effort into gaming and crossing each level of the game becomes extremely important for them. Educational games have been introduced in schools where kids need to solve a mathematical problem to get through to the next level. In a game called Wrecks factor, students have to correctly factorise quadratic equations to answer ships’ distress calls and save their crews. The use of gaming technology gives children a clearer sense of practical application of classroom concepts.
Picture credits: The Economist.
