Impact of Wearable Technology on the Classroom

Sep 09, 2015

Lisa is seated in a giant lecture hall, concentrating on the English Literature session. She is enchanted by a lecture that discusses a chapter of ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens. But unfortunately, she finds it challenging to scribble down the notes. Instantly, she pulls out her ‘Google Glass’, smiles, and hits the ‘record’ button! This amazing device is capable of video-recording events, thereby rescuing learners from the trauma of taking down notes every now and then.

Now Lisa can easily play the recorded lecture later if she desires to review the lecture once more, and too directly from her English lecturer.

Another student, Harris explores ‘Google Expedition’ – a virtual reality technology that recreates the experience of enjoying ‘realistic field trips’ to any corner of the world! Fourteen-year-old Harris clutches an elaborate headset to his eyes, admiring the savannah grasslands in his Geography class. “Beautiful!” he cries out in ecstasy. No wonder, Harris loves his Geography lessons and is able to memorize concepts pretty swiftly.

Lisa and Harris belong to the same school that actively promotes the usage of ‘wearable technology’ inside its classrooms.

Introducing Wearable Technology to You…

As the name suggests, this sort of a technology includes wearable devices that are empowered by advanced electronic technologies. They represent a series of super-cool, technologically-savvy gadgets competent enough to carry multiple responsibilities and cater to the requirements of the learners. Wearable technology, no wonder, is sought after by a large number of academic institutions to ensure ‘tech-literacy’ among their pupils!

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Interesting and really interactive, these wearable tech-friendly devices have been observed to have a positive impact on student learning and performance.

This is one of the major reasons that account for the escalating demand of wearable technology throughout the planet, since this year.

Research states that the number of wearables shipped in 2015 is an overwhelming 72.1 million, a strong 173.3% increase over the 26.4 million units of wearable technology devices shipped during 2014!

wearable tech-friendly devices

Classrooms of the 21st century are embracing various avatars of wearable technology. These include, among others:

  • Google Glass
  • Smartwatch
  • Wristband
  • Keyglove

Such an innovative style of inculcating technology inside learning zones has been instigated by the concept of ‘BYOD’ or ‘Bring your Own Device’ in today’s classrooms.

For those who are yet to be familiar with BYOD, this concept permits students to carry their personal electronic appliances to schools. Next, they are encouraged to employ their gadgets in completing their assignments, setting alerts on them, and a lot more.

How does Wearable Technology Impact Classrooms?

Since wearable appliances are mobile, users can stay connected with their teachers, classmates, and classroom events with the aid of them quite conveniently. It is this privilege offered by wearable technology products that have been driving learning communities towards them! After all, mobile learning has taken the world by storm.

And of course, these portable, suave devices have triggered an enormous growth in mobile learning in the field of education in the last few years.

Let us track down some of the instances of the impact of wearable technology on the modern classroom.

Wearable Technology Impact Classrooms

#1. Auditory Learning

Variety is the essence of life, it is believed. And it truly is. So, implementing it in the field of education is important. Because you need to keep the students interested.

Students tend to suffer from boredom when they are subjected to monotonous learning patterns that are associated with long lectures or dull classroom assignments. It seems some teachers have finally realized the pains of certain students.

Because, they have started instructing pupils to bring iPods into the classroom.

You must have already noticed that the youngsters are greatly attracted to iPods. So, teachers make sure students sport iPods on their wristbands while they are inside classrooms. Gadgets like iPods are immensely beneficial to students, as they help them listen to podcasts on various academic topics. Students also utilize these technological products for seeking study materials by browsing iTunes.

Utilizing iPods intelligently in classrooms is a fascinating technique that aids auditory learners, thereby inspiring them to learn their lessons successfully.

Moreover, you can also store audio books digitally, thanks to iPods.

For instance, when you attempt to learn History, you can turn to iPods that can guide you about the speeches of political leaders or other important personalities.

#2. Communicating within the Classroom

Wearable technology is the ‘knight in shining armor’ when it comes to solving teacher-student communication issues!

Right from conventional learning environments to the contemporary classrooms, technology has always helped teachers interact with learners in more ways than one. Effective communication, as you already know, is the secret behind victorious students as well as efficient educators. The best teacher tries to convey the rules of her class clearly to her pupils, clarify the inquiries put forward by the students, and assign them tasks.

And, ideal students would miss no opportunity to analyze the information disseminated by teachers, work on their assignments, and, in short, follow the teacher’s instructions.

Google Glass would make this dream of a ‘perfect classroom’ come true.


Google Glass

Here is why.

  • First of all, you can ask questions to a teacher through Google Glass, without interrupting the lecture.
  • Secondly, you can record lectures or significant classroom announcements in real-time using this gadget.
  • In addition, you can also create documents, along with videos and photos, with the help of this device.
  • Teachers can also use Google Glass to record the attendance

#3. Virtual Education

Certain schools and universities emphasize on the importance of learning foreign languages. And this is in addition to the official curriculum that the students need to follow.

Learning a new language isn’t a joke! It’s quite a bit difficult. And, I am sure, most students are acquainted with this fact.

However, you can bid farewell to the stress and anxiety of mastering a brand new tongue if you possess ‘virtual-reality-enabled electronic tools’. As I have already mentioned, technologies like Google Expedition are quite popular among the student populace. For, teachers can easily conduct virtual field trips and educate students about famous museums of the world, world heritage sites, historical regions and what not, and all these, just by employing this stunning technology.

Virtual reality is a boon to the world of education. You might wonder why I’m saying so! But there are reasons.

Here’s a quick look at some of them.

  • It assists students in learning foreign languages.
  • It helps students to gain a practical experience of the knowledge they are exposed to through textbooks and notes (accomplished generally through virtual trips).
  • It makes students interact with ‘virtual peers’ who might be based out of different geographical locales.
  • It also makes it possible for the students to record lectures in the classroom at real time, so that they can get back to those later.

#4. Assigning Tasks

Technology has completely changed the way we view present-day education. Gone are the days when teachers would offer printed handouts, leaflets, pamphlets, and mock test papers to students in order to guide them with their assignments. In fact, in most of the institutions, this process is no longer followed. Learners were assigned majority of their tasks in the form of such printed documents only prior to the advent of digital technology in the classrooms.

But, things have started to look up ever since the arrival of technology.

All you need to do nowadays to assign tasks to the students is fidget with those ultra-cool smartwatches on your wrists. Unlike any ordinary watch, this digitized watch is unique in a number of ways. Here are some of the features of these watches that can amaze you:

  • These gadgets enable the students to send messages to their teachers during a class without disrupting the normal flow of the session.
  • The instruments serve as a great reminder for students to submit certain projects within the specified deadlines or completing certain assignments on time.
  • The watches can be used to send ‘alerts’ to learners about changes in the class routine, timings, or any alterations expected in the assignment.

Smartwatches

Smartwatches can be ideally termed as one of the best alternatives to a traditional classroom that relies on ‘papers’ to assign tasks to students!

#5. Keeping Track of Students’ Fitness 

A healthy mind resides in a healthy body.

Therefore, needless to say, students are required to be physically fit and healthy if they strive for outstanding grades in the exams. Of course, you can argue that you invest your time in regular Yoga and meditation. But, at the same time, you need to keep track of your personal fitness!

This necessitates the requirement of a ‘wristband’.

Now, this wristband is not a fashion accessory, adorning your wrists. Instead, it is completely based on advanced digital technology that keeps a tab on your fitness quotient. Read on to unearth some of the special benefits provided by the technology of wristbands:

  • Tracking the activities of learners in the physical education classes of the school
  • Detecting the overall fitness of the students
  • Providing timely feedback of the progress made by the students

So, if you are a gadget freak, you should definitely keep an eye on the latest developments in wearable technology. Educators, as well as learners, should be well aware of these latest technological appliances to ensure that a superior quality of education is being imparted in the classrooms.


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