Introduction
With the increase ever-rising level of the technology level, the various tools have been coming up to match the various needs of the users. In the past, the users needed just a few of the platforms to make communications as well as enhance other activities. However, the world is a changing place and people wants keep on changing. The technology has to match the changing needs as well. Technology on its own can’t meet all the expected needs but has to be supported by the various tools. Computers take the most common and the most useful aspects of the technology. Its tools, therefore, form part of the most needed aspects of the daily lives of the people. In this discussion, the whiteboards and the cell phones form the two tools that are important to consider in the learning objectives. The two are a good part of the normal communication. On top of that, they make communication easier and faster than it would have been if they were not in place. Therefore, many of the students, as well as teachers, make use of them to induce better performance at the end of the day. Many of the institutions consider having the aspects in place so as to make the management work easier.
It becomes easy to determine what is going on in real time and also induce a real-time decision that matches the needs. There are other learning tools that can also be used in addition to the whiteboards and the cell phones. Such include the Skype, the twitter, Facebook, and other aspects. It becomes better when the institution has more of the technology tools. This is because the users have a wide variety of them and thus can make a decision on which one to use based on the need at hand. Various considerations are made before making the decision of the tool to use. Some of the considerations made include the speed of the tool, the vast of information that it can hold, the number of users that it can support at a time and others. Based on the need at hand, one makes a decision. Usually, many people consider using a learning object that supports many users and can enhance an activity at a high speed. This is because it allows the attainment of the major goals effectively and thus meeting the main objective.
Whiteboards
Whiteboards are software enabled platforms on which the users are able to have a live chat with the rest of the people. In this case, it provides a platform through which communication is done online and receives information in the real time. This is a good learning object. It favors the needs of the teachers as well as those of the students. In this case, they have the platform to exchange ideas and received and give feedback on the same. Live chats and videos, as well as chats, are well supported by the whiteboards. Like the physical whiteboards, the software whiteboards have the capability of allowing people to add and withdraw content to the platform at will. In this case, one can add and delete the information that he or she considers irrelevant, abusive or wrong to be on the platform.
The reason for the selection of the whiteboards as one of the learning object owes to the current wide use in learning institutions. Therefore, the large use of the whiteboards creates the suspense of wanting to determine the reason for the ide use. In addition, the wide use creates the reason to determine the various pros and cons that could result from the use of the platform. This required the teachers and the students to send so many emails to each and every user. This proved to be quite tedious and thus not so good for the learning environment.
Another reason for the selection of the whiteboard as the learning tool is to determine how well it supports the learning environment. Thus, it attempts to determine how well the whiteboard supports the learning of the students via their interactions as well as those between them and the teachers. The selection allows the researcher to determine the instructions that one need to follow in order to use the platform effectively. At the end of the day, the exercise becomes a good platform for more learning.
The whiteboards have also been selected so as to compare it to the rest of the learning objects. This is in the appreciation that the learning objects have been increasing with time. Some of the social media platforms have been turned into learning platforms for the users. For this reason, the selection provides a platform for the determination of the reason for the use of the whiteboards in place of the rest such as the Skype and Twitter.
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How the whiteboards are used in effecting learning
The users, students, and the teachers, use the whiteboards in various ways. This allows the learning environment to be more favorable for both sides. The end results include better performance of the students and the teachers. The teachers are able to cover their courses in faster speed and offer a deeper level of information. At the end of the day, all the users benefit. The various uses of the platform by the teachers and the students include the following:
Giving of instructions
Instructions are an important aspect of the learning process. In this case, the teachers need to give instructions to the students at all times. For instance, they use the whiteboard to post information on the areas that are important in the syllabus. In this case, they offer instructions to the students in the areas that they need to study more than the others (Siemens et al, 2015). This acts as a way of guidance at all times by the teachers. It enhances better studying habits by the students. Such directions guide the learning process and help the students to concentrate on the important things since the entire content may be too wide to do within a short period of time.
Posting of the assignments
The teachers also use the whiteboards to post the homework. In this case, they are able to post information to the students in the real time. Thus, they do not need to pass the information long enough to ensure that all the students get it. This is contrary to the traditional forms of giving of the assignments where hard copies took the stage. This has made it easier. It has enabled the students to have fewer excuses for the reason for which they did not do or even access the homework.
Making of follow-ups
The teachers use the whiteboards to make follow-ups on the students’ progress. All the students in a class are able to access common writing boards. As such, the teachers make an inquiry on the progress of the students regarding their learning as well as the assignments. This makes it easy for them to offer better guidance on the students that have some difficulties. On the other hand, the students give feedback on the challenges that they might be going through in their learning process. The enhanced communication between the teachers and the students enhance the better learning process. The teachers meet their objectives better as well as the students. The performance level is thus enhanced as opposed to when the whiteboards are not present.
Making of inquiries
The whiteboards incorporate both the teachers and the students at the same time. Therefore, the students have the privilege of enquiring from the teachers on the various issues that they encounter. Many are the times that the students may not get through a research ion their own without the support of the teachers. For this reason, they have the whiteboards as the platform for the making of inquiries. In addition, they make use of the platform to give feedback on the mode of teaching that the teachers use. In this regard, they have the chance to provide for their satisfaction as well as their dissatisfaction.
The interaction between the students
As stated above, the whiteboards accommodate both the students and the teachers. The students are usually more than the teachers. In many cases, the students on the same whiteboard share a common class or course. As such, they have the freedom of using the platform for peer teaching amongst them. Peer teaching increases the level of understanding of the various concepts that they learn in class. Both the students and the teachers also benefit from the platform. This is because the students perform better with the help from the rest of the students (Watson et al, 2014). In addition, the teacher benefits by having a less difficult time in enabling the students to learn better and faster.
Delivering comments
The students have the freedom of evaluating the teaching practice of their teacher from time to time. The purpose of the evaluation is to offer an idea on the issues that should be done better for more improvements on the side of the students. Therefore, the students use the platform to let know the teacher of the various issues that he or she does better and the areas that she does poorly. This allows the teacher to improve on the weak areas. In addition, the teacher has the ability to uphold the areas that the students feel that she does well. On the other hand, the teacher also benefits in that he gets a chance to offer comments to the students. In this regard, the teacher has the privilege of determining how well the students perform. Therefore, they use the whiteboard to give reflections to them on the weak areas as well as the strong areas that they need to uphold. At the end of the day, the students use the comments from the teachers to make the best out of their learning process.
Impact of the whiteboard tool on how the students learn and think
There are both the pros and cons resulting from the application of the whiteboards as a learning tool. This applies both to the teachers and the students. First, the students find it easy to access their teachers. The whiteboards allow the teachers and the students to interact on a one on one basis. As such, they have the chance to make inquiries at their convenience. This increases the learning ability of the students, in turn improving their performance levels.
Also, the peer learning among the students is improved. The students sharing the same course have the privilege of having the whiteboard as a connecting platform. In this regard, they get the chance to teach each other. The weak students get help from the strong students. The learning process of the students becomes more vibrant due to the real-time and all-time connection. This results in ultimate good performance of all the students.
An open learning process for the students and the teachers is well enhanced. This is because the whiteboards allow the teachers and the students to interact at all time at the convenience of their location. For this reason, the better interaction increases the motivation from both parties. It becomes easy to make follow-ups on the performance and the understanding of the students. In addition, the evaluation of the teachers done by the students is enhanced. As such, the teachers are able to better their teaching techniques at a faster pace.
On the other hand, various aspects prove to be negative from the use of the whiteboards. This is due to the perception that bit creates on the minds of the students and the teachers. First, the students find it easy to access help from the teachers and the rest of the students. As such, they put minimum efforts on the personal research. This has turned many of the students to be dependent on help. This means that they would be helpless in case the interaction was not available. Many of the students feel that the role of learning lies more on the teachers. For this reason, they look upon the teachers to offer much of the content as opposed to their personal studies. This turns many of the students to be lazy and has less content retention.
Both the teachers also feel that physical interaction is not as useful as the learning content. Thus, the digital learning has made the students and the teachers become less social. Many of the teachers have turned it preferring the online method as the better teaching technique. On the other hand, students prefer having learned on the whiteboards instead of attending for lectures in the classrooms. For this reason, the learning process has become less sociable and more on the content. This hurts a major need for schooling institution, which is to enhance interactions. Learning is concentrated on the book content and less of talks and real-life experiences. Many of the teachers find a chance to have their personal life at their best at the expense of the students. It is likely that some of the students may not fully understand the content as delivered on the whiteboards. As such, they lose much of their concentration and chance to become better students. A conflict of interest arises where the teacher engages in other businesses instead of being in class. This results in a conflict of interest, ending up in poor teaching practices. Teachers-students physical interaction is important as it creates a bond between the two parties. Whiteboards are thus important in the teaching process. However, they are not conclusive. They need to be used in moderation. The physical interaction has to be incorporated to maintain the social nature of education process.
Cell phone learning tool
The main essence of the cell phones invention was to improve the aspect of communication among people. As such, it was to make life better as communications would be faster and more effective. With the incorporation of cell phones, other opportunities started to crop up. For instance, people saw the need to have application over for the mobile phones to enhance better learning. The cell phones have therefore played a major role in the enhancement of the education sector. All can be traced to the need to have better communication among the different parties. In this case, the teachers vs. the students and the students vs. students communication needed to be enhanced. The cell phones are therefore used in various ways by the teachers and the students.
Conducting research
The cell modern cell phones are much better compared to the traditional phones. For this reason, the teacher uses them to conduct research on the various areas that they teach. In this case, the teachers need to prepare for the lessons that they offer to the students. Cell phones offer the applications that can be used for such. In this case, the students apply the cell phones in the pace of the office computers to conduct a research on various issues. It has, therefore, become an easy source of information, enhancing better teaching styles. On the other hand, the students also use the mobile phones for a deeper research. This may involve the use of the Google search tool and the rest of the tool to dig for deeper information. The classroom interaction between the teachers and the students are not enough for the providence of seep level of information. For this reason, there is the need for better tools to look for more information. The deeper research using the mobile phones enables the students to understand various concepts better. Also, the students are able to handle their assignments better and thus offer better and more qualified answers.
Making inquiries and follow-ups
The teachers and the students also use the cell phones to enhance the learning process. In this case, the teachers have been using the cell phones to speak to some of the students, especially the student leaders on the learning progress of the rest of the students. As such, the teachers offer prior communication regarding the future lessons (Dobrovolny et al, 2015). This enhances better proportion for all the students. On the other hand, the students also make use of the phones to contact the teachers. The students communicate to the teachers and make inquiries on various areas that they find difficulties in. AS such, it becomes an opportunity for the teachers to give an effective feedback on enquired issues.
Peer teaching
As stated earlier, the need for the cell phones came from the need to improve the interaction between people. As such, many of the students have the chance to interact with each other. It is given that many of the students that share the same course share their contacts with each other. This has provided them with the chance of making inquiries from each other at their convenience. As such, a better understanding of the various aspects learnt in class has been enhanced. The need to attend all the classes is therefore minimized with the existence of the cell phones.
The outcome of the use of cell phone tools in learning
Like other learning tools, the use of cell phones as learning objects has various pros and cons in the enhancement of the learning process. First, cell phones have enabled a better form of interaction between the teachers and the students. This is because the students have the chance of conat5cing the teacher at their convenience. The teachers, in turn, have the privilege of interacting the students at their own wish. This has enabled the teachers to make the learning process and more interactive process. As a result, many of the students get better grades due to enhanced interaction. Also, the teachers have had the chance to make better preparations for the future class. In this case, they contact the student on the time that could be quite convenient for all. This has removed the need for a rigid learning process. The enhancement of a deeper level of research has enhanced better performance in the learning process. In this case, the students use the cell phone apps to research on information that could be availed in class. Thus, they become better in understanding the content and offer best practices in the long run.
On the other hand, the use of cell phones has reduced the quality of education for the students. First, many of the teachers take advantage of the students, sending instructions via the phones. The consideration of the various apps on the phones to conduct research as limited the need to use other sources. As such, the use of unreliable sources has increased, making the learning process more confusing. Cell; phones have also been cited as some of the gadgets promoting cheating in exams in a big way. Students have been using them to chat in exams, thus portraying that they understand what they actually don’t. As a result, the education quality has been reducing with time, affecting the productivity of the students in the job market.
Conclusion and recommendation
It is imperative to accommodate technology as it improves from time to time. It is factual to state that the ignorant have themselves to blame if they decide to materialize the same in relation to the education. The use of the cell phones and the whiteboards has been quite rampant in the learning process. They have been useful in the improvement of interactions between the teachers and the students. Also, they have bee3n useful in enhancing the peer teaching process. Thus, more students make use of the tools to be more productive and have a better level of understanding. However, the learning process has also various negative results from the use of the technology tools. First, many of the students have become over-dependent on the technology as opposed to their minds. This has resulted in many of them becoming quite lazy. Also, the physical interaction between the teachers and the students and students vs. students has been minimized. For this reason, the reason, the learning process has become less sociable and less exciting. As a recommendation, it is necessary that technology gets merged with the traditional form of teaching. The learning technology tools need to be used in moderation to give room for the physical interaction between the teachers and the students.
References
Dobrovolny, J., Edwards, D., Friend, B., Harrington, C., Gemin, B., Pape, L., … & Watson, J. (2015). Keeping Pace with K-12 Digital Learning. An Annual Review of Policy and Practice. Evergreen Education Group.
Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S. (2015). Preparing for the digital university: A review of the history and current state of distance, blended, and online learning.
Watson, J., Pape, L., Murin, A., Gemin, B., & Vashaw, L. (2014). Keeping pace with K-12 digital learning: An annual review of policy and practice. Evergreen Education Group.
