Digital natives and digital immigrants make up most of the world’s population. The natives speak and live technology; whereas the immigrants adopt and continue to learn as much as they can about technology but may not use it to its full potential, because they retain their accent from the past.
Teachers today are beginning to incorporate technology into their lesson plans as it serves as a tool of visual and auditory learning. It also helps them to connect with their students at a level that they enjoy and understand with ease. However, technology is not just for lesson plans and can be used to help both parents and students stay on schedule, organize work, and study.
Middle school students and older are known as GenM, the multitasking generation, because they constantly use technology to text friends, listen to music, watch videos online, use Facebook and Twitter, use a GPS and more. Because of today’s current technological stand point, students are doing their homework assignments online, reading their textbooks on their portable devices, and taking notes on their tablets or computers. While we still use pen and paper for many of our day to day tasks, much of what we do is going online.
Here are a few suggestions of applications for your portable device or computer that both teachers and busy families are using:
- Cozi, a free app and website that help to manage the entire family’s busy schedule. Parents and their children can access the same calendar and place reminders on the calendar that would be automatically sent to your phone. Never miss a doctor’s appointment or ballet recital again with this application.
- Your child is in the middle of writing a school report that is due tomorrow, and the power in your house goes out. What can be done? The answer is simple; access cloud storage systems such as: Dropbox, Skydrive or Google Drive. Cloud storage makes student’s work accessible through any device at any moment. If your child goes to the library, a café with wifi, or a friend’s house the child would just sign onto the cloud storage system and be able to continue working and not be stumped by the power outage or family vacation.
- Quizlet, a website that allows users to create flashcards, take practice tests and play games while learning vocabulary or phrases, is already a top choice for guidance counselors and teachers.
- Depending on which company your child gets textbooks from, there’s a good chance you can download their application and have the digital version on your portable device. This way, no one has to break their back carrying textbooks to and from school.
For more suggestions, search through your device’s appstore with keywords such as: calendar, scheduler, storage, flashcards, dictionary etc.
~Stephanie Elko, intern at Edwards Educational Services, Inc.