What place does online courseware have in the classroom? We think it’s an important and indispensable part of today’s learning process.
Of course, it wasn’t always like that. For centuries, classrooms were more or less the same. You had the teacher and the students, textbooks and a blackboard. Whether in the 18th century or 1985, typical classrooms could be boiled down to these essential elements. Today, things have changed.
As with so much else in the world, the digital revolution has reached into every corner of the classroom. Having online options for learning is now the standard, and it will continue to be part of education moving forward.
Here’s how 30 Bird’s online resources can improve your classroom results and capture your students’ attention.
(Inter)Active Learning
Active learning is the type of learning that stimulates our brains the most, leading to better memory retention and better future performance. So, what exactly is active learning?
First, let’s look at the opposite: passive learning. Passive learning is the type of learning that occurs in a traditional lecture environment, with someone speaking at students and the students listening to them. Studies find that when students just sit and passively listen, their brains aren’t very engaged in the learning process. That means that their minds tend to wander or shut down. This negatively affects the learning process.
Studies have proven that when a student actively participates in the learning process, they pay more attention, retain more information, and generally learn more effectively. Active learning can include practice exercises, study questions, case studies, or problem-solving. It is anything that changes the student from a passive listener to an active participant in learning new skills and ideas.
Today, interactive learning is active learning. With our interactive online study materials, you can watch your students grow faster than ever. Our online resources emphasize active learning for improved classroom results.
Teaching Gen Z
Students graduating high school this year, in 2019, have never lived in a world without the internet. From the time they were born, technology has been a crucial part of their learning process.
Generation Z is living in a brave new world of learning. For centuries, learning was largely the same across time. In the last few decades, we have seen the biggest learning revolution in history. The digital revolution means that information is available to anyone, anywhere via the internet. For many of us, that’s an exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking, and relatively new development. For today’s students, computer technology has always been a central part of the learning process.
To remove technology from the learning process now would be disruptive to the way their brains are wired to work. That’s why 30 Bird makes printed and digital learning materials. However your students learn best, they will have access to the tools they need to succeed.
Online Courseware and Older Students
In some areas, particularly professional certifications, students using 30 Bird materials may be older. What about them? Is online courseware a good idea for older students?
Our online courseware is designed to complement, not replace, our printed materials. If a student prefers to learn exclusively from a textbook, they can. But, for most people–even older students–a combination of printed and online resources create the best conditions for learning.
And because our online materials are easy to use, tech ability won’t be a barrier for anyone of any age.
Always Up-to-Date
At 30 Bird, we pride ourselves on keeping all of our materials current. However, with printed materials, the updating process is slow and can be costly. Either addendums or new editions have to be printed, purchased, and distributed. All of that takes time and, of course, money.
Often, institutions decide that continually buying new editions isn’t worth the money or hassle. That means that large periods of time may pass between when a student is using a textbook and when it was printed. When it comes to information, that passage of time creates a large gap in the information available to the rest of the world and the information available to the student. The size of this gap can be the crucial factor in whether a course is a success or failure.
We can’t blame customers for not always wanting to purchase new materials each time a new edition is issued. What we can do is make sure that they have access to the latest info. That’s where our online content comes in. Unlike printed materials, we can make online updates easily and seamlessly. You can extend the life of your learning materials with our adaptable online tools.
Accessibility Matters
Through online learning resources, students with certain limitations or difficulties in the classroom can learn better. Studies have shown that online resources can offer students with special needs effective alternatives to classroom lectures and improve their educational outcomes.
We all have unique and wonderful minds. Some of us learn differently than others, and that’s okay. At 30 Bird, we want to make sure that every student has the opportunity to learn better, whatever their specific needs and abilities.
Expand the possibilities for your students to learn, no matter how their minds work. With 30 Bird’s online resources, you can be sure that you are setting all of your students up for success.
