How to Increase Student Engagement Using Digital Content
Introduction
Learning and teaching have evolved substantially over the years. Schools and educators are reforming the way they impart knowledge to students. They are shifting towards a student-centred approach that guarantees student engagement and success. People's attention spans have shrunk as a result of the development of several technologies, making it more challenging to capture their interest and hold it. As far as the field of education is concerned, keeping the students engaged in the learning process has become a difficult task for educators like you.
Many studies have found that student engagement in a digital classroom is higher than in a traditional classroom. The study also found that students who use technology for learning are more likely to be engaged. Teachers have integrated digital content into their pedagogical practices, nevertheless, increasing student engagement is not a cakewalk. Therefore, let’s look at some ways to improve the engagement of students using digital content.
Why Student Engagement is Essential
Students must find the learning process enjoyable and captivating. As long as students don’t develop an interest in learning, they won’t be able to relish the process of learning. Moreover, they will feel that learning is a tiring and boring process. You should strategically plan the lectures to maximize the engagement of students.
Engagement in learning plays an important role as it helps students to understand the concepts in a better way. When they are engaged in the learning process, students will capture the points that are mentioned by the teacher in the classroom. When teachers present compelling lessons before the students, they will find the topics intriguing and hence, focuses on the class to the maximum. As students thoroughly understand the learning concepts, the learning retention rate will also improve. Consequently, they will be able to perform well in their exams and excel in their academic endeavours. Moreover, students will be able to use the acquired knowledge in practical situations and also to come up with innovative solutions for the challenges that may arise.
When students are heavily involved in the classroom, students develop a variety of skills that would be useful for them in every step of their lives. These skills would help them to stand out from the crowd and be ahead in the competition. Also, these skills can aid them to land the job of their dreams and also in their professional development.
When students are engaged in the lectures, you will be able to identify the shortcomings in your teaching. Students will be able to give relevant feedback regarding their teaching style. You can collect feedback from them with the help of surveys or questionnaires and this data can be used to make necessary changes in your teaching styles.
In addition to this, students' lack of attention in the classroom can be considered a heads up for you to do a self-analysis of your pedagogical methodologies. You can work towards improving the involvement of your students in the learning process and also heighten the learning outcomes. Now let us dive into the ways by which you can increase student engagement using digital content.
Digital Content to Facilitate Learner Engagement
Audio-Visual Content
It is a known fact that visuals can have a more long-lasting impact on individuals than any other medium. In a conventional learning environment, teachers generally use the lecture method for imparting knowledge to students. While employing the lecture method, the student and teacher interaction is comparatively less as students will be passively listening to the lectures without completely comprehending them. Through lectures alone, it is hard to leave a lasting impression on students.
As far as the lecturing method is concerned, making a long-lasting impact with the help of it can be a strenuous task for teachers. While attending lectures, students can get distracted a number of times, and thus, they fail to grasp the concept that is being taught in the class. Therefore, audio-visual content can help you get through these difficulties of grabbing the attention of your students. You can introduce the learning concepts with the help of audio-visual content to your students. With these tools, you can make students understand various concepts without putting so much effort.
One of the most effective audio-visual content is video. Video learning content is gaining wide acceptance from teachers and students because of its positive impact on students. Students are able to comprehend the concepts easily as videos simplify the learning concepts for them and break the complex ideas in a way that is understandable to them. You can make use of animated videos as a teaching tool. Video as a visual medium can easily grab the attention of each and every student. The visuals can attract them and also since they are presented in an aesthetically pleasing way, students will find these resources amusing and informative.
The primary advantage of using audio-visual aids like videos is that you as teachers, would not have to spend a whole hour explaining concepts to the students. Instead, these videos can be used, which will save your time and energy. The time that you save can be used for interacting with the students and having an interactive or group discussion or any other interactive learning activity for that matter.
Teachmint provides digital learning content to the teachers to enrich the learning experience for the students and the teachers. Teachers can make use of these videos to improve the quality of their teaching and improve learner engagement in the classroom. At Teachmint, you will get access to voiceover videos with captivating animations to capture the attention of the students. These videos make learning a delightful and fun activity for the students. In this way, teachers can make students fall in love with the process of learning. Moreover, this enhances their knowledge of the subject and thereby helps them to grow into informed adults who are capable of bringing about a change.
In addition to the video resources, Teachmint provides teachers with a provision to keep track of their student's learning journey. Due to the availability of engagement analytics, you can ensure that your students have viewed the learning videos. This is crucial since it enables you to guarantee student involvement and ensure that they are on the right path. These analytical insights aid in understanding the interest and the comprehension of students with ease.
In a classroom setting, it is important that all students are on the same page to collectively achieve success. In a traditional classroom, some students may lag behind as their learning patterns and styles are different from their classmates. This may affect their confidence and thereby affects their academic scores. Audio-visual aids can be a solution for such issues. Videos have the potential to cater to the learning needs of auditory learners and visual learners. They also help kinesthetic learners and linguistic learners to a great extent. It is not an easy task for all learners to thoroughly comprehend the concepts merely through lectures. The use of this tool can enhance pedagogy and the learning journey of students.
Practice Tests
Assessment is an exciting way to engage learners in the learning process. In a conventional learning setup, students are usually forced to memorize the facts and concepts rather than understand them. Here comes the importance of practical tests that promote conceptual understanding rather than rote memorization. Regurgitation of information should not be objective of education. Education ought to be about empowering learners to face real-world challenges and equipping them with the knowledge to bring positive change in the society we live in. They are the change-makers of tomorrow. In order to make this happen, you can ensure that the students are understanding the concepts they are learning at school.
Practice tests are one of the effective digital content that brings out the best in students and maximizes their potential. Practice tests assist students to brush up on their knowledge and keep up to date with the learning schedules. With Teachmint, teachers can frame the questions to enhance the knowledge of students. You can frame questions in such a way that encourages students to do extensive research on the topics they learn and also broaden their knowledge.
Gamification features in the assessments would motivate students to perform better. Learning platforms are introducing gamification features into the process of learner acquisition. This feature would also instill a healthy competitive spirit in the minds of the students. Assessments and gamification are excellent ways to ensure the involvement of students in learning.
Text Content
Preparing text content is not an easy task, it requires a lot of research and hard work from the side of the teachers. This content will come in handy when you want to plan an effective class for your students. With the help of sufficient resources, you will be able to strategize your lectures in a way that keeps the students engaged in the classroom. However, preparing this text can be time-consuming. At Teachmint, you get access to text content curated by experts. This helps you to prepare your lectures beforehand and curate your classes efficiently.
In spite of the developments in technology, text content is a crucial part of learning as students give their exams by learning the text content. Videos and other learning aids help students to understand the concepts. However, text content assists them in framing their answers during their exams. Therefore texts are an inevitable part of the learning journey of students. The question here is how digital text content would help students in engaging in the learning process. Let’s learn how:
When students attend lectures, they often forget to take notes, which leads them to forget the contents. In such cases, text content distributed to them can be of great help to them. This will come to their rescue in times of their exams as they can revise the portions easily with the help of this digital text content. Also, students can save time that they spend on preparing notes for the examination. At Teachmint, you get access to crisp and informative content that is appropriate for each subject or class. They also have the provision to access the content anytime and anywhere. This gives students scope for learning at their own pace. Moreover, at Teachmint the content is available in two languages, i.e, Hindi and English and that makes
This learning tool is crafted in such a way that it develops an interest in learning among students. Thus, they would find learning an enjoyable activity and hence keep them engaged in the learning process.
Tips to Keep in Mind While Using Digital Content
As teachers, in order to facilitate the learning process, you need to keep the following points in mind.
- Make sure you are equipped to use the digital content in the most effective manner.
- Ensure that you share the relevant content with your students to utilize them productively.
- Introduce the digital content at a time you think is perfect.
- You may refer to the content to strategize your lectures in an efficient way.
- You can use the content to support your lessons.
Conclusion
Digital content is capable of adding value to pedagogical methodologies and learning practices. It has the potential to enhance the learning experience for the students by leaving a lingering impact on their academic and personal development. Undoubtedly, integrating digital content into the learning process would increase the engagement of your students and would spark an interest in students towards learning. Check out Teachmint's Digital Content & other features that can greatly enhance the classroom experience.
Suggested Read - Advantages of Digital Learning