Get ready for adaptive learning technology, impacting education in 2016.
Remember how you were supposed to have your conjunctions memorized after one round of Schoolhouse Rock? And if you couldn’t learn from memorizing a song, it meant you were going to fail the quiz?
Not all kids’ brains work the same but, for years, schools have acted like they do. Now, adaptive learning technology helps remove ‘I don’t understand’ and ‘we’re moving too fast’ from classroom conversations with a more personalized approach to learning.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s define the term. Adaptive learning is the use of software to modify and personalize classroom experiences. Whether in math, reading, or even the most obscure subject, these tools use analytics to adjust to a student’s learning pace and customize the lesson to work best for them.
Fortunately, many educators have started to acknowledge the benefits of adaptive learning. So, say goodbye to canned lessons and keep your eyes peeled for it to pop up everywhere in 2016.
Now that we’ve talked about what it is, how exactly can it be used in the classroom? Read on to learn about three incredible benefits of adaptive learning:
Personalized learning for students
Adaptive e-textbooks let students learn at a pace that’s best for them, no matter what the rest of the class is doing. Interactive questions after each topic let the e-textbook judge whether the student is ready to move on. If not, it reworks the messaging in a new way so the student can really absorb the material. When applied to students with disabilities or learning difficulties, this technology is revolutionary as it gives them the power to learn at their level, even tailoring lessons specific to their needs.
Stimulation for advanced students
E-textbooks don’t just have the potential to help students who need lessons slowed down. For more advanced students, the questions will get more and more difficult so they’re feeling challenged throughout the process. By speeding up the process for those students who’re learning faster, this tool helps maintain interest and helps decrease doodling, talking, and other distracting activities in the classroom.
Data for teachers
Adaptive learning also gives educators real-time data helping them more accurately track student learning patterns and comprehension. This gives teachers the information they need to adapt their own teaching style, better serving the needs of students when they aren’t using the technology in their classroom. It can also help tutors track difficulties ahead of time, letting them put their valuable student session time to better use.
EdTech opens up new possibilities like adaptive learning, but it can also set up schools for major headaches should those devices fail to function. Fortegra mobile device protection can help safeguard schools from mishaps, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of these new tools worry free.
Have you seen adaptive learning tech in action? Tweet @Fortegra using #edtech to tell us how!
