Technology does not solely entail all of the high-end things that we’ve often seen or heard about. Such notions are utterly misguided and result in making most people feel intimidated which in turn propels them to shy away from using technology. However, technology has another beautiful side that can be used in
many different ways to ease the tasks you encounter on a daily basis. This side has also branched out into the field of learning and especially in the world of homeschooling.
So, how is it possible that technology can be effectively implemented in homeschooling? This article dives into a detailed explanation of some 8 ways in which you can
take advantage of available technology to improve your homeschooling experience.
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| 8 Brilliant Ways to Use Tech with a Purpose in Homeschooling |
Use of Videos
Using videos to help in the improvement of the
quality of homeschooling might come off as a rather obvious option. However, it indeed is worth going back to due to how important it is and also the amount of new content that gets online each day. You’ll find that the material posted online can have a much bigger impact on our children than you’d have expected. Due to this fact, using them during homeschooling sessions could be one of the paradigm-shifting steps that you could ever take in your child's education.
The ways in which
videos can be used for the betterment of education in homeschooling are innumerable. Among this array of applications, there are some that should be exploited soonest possible. They include watching of tutorials meant for different subjects such as Science, Technology, and Mathematics. This could be followed by subscribing for the best videos from the people who upload these videos on a regular basis.
Tablets
Have you introduced the kids you homeschool to tablets already? If not, you should highly consider doing so because the tablet options are numerous as well as budget flexible. In addition to these things, tablets do boast of a number of abilities that suit homeschooling sessions. The main advantage lies with the applications that tablets can be running on.
There are many
educational applications that can be installed in tablets to assist in homeschooling. The practice apps can especially come in handy given that tablets are very portable, hence increasing the rate at which these apps are used by the children to learn. It is also worth noting that during homeschooling, the areas in which learning takes place are flexible. The easy flexibility of tablets makes them even more ideal as learning tools for the children.
In this present age, you find that most people prefer reading eBooks as compared to reading the actual hard-copy books. This tendency also extends to our children with a majority of them opting to read their books from a tablet. With the use of tablets in homeschooling, you end up encouraging your children to interact more with their books as it is fun for them to read from tablets.
Another added advantage of tablets is the allowance of listening to audios. You can search for podcast materials that will help in the comprehension of the particular subject area that you’re teaching.
Robotics
There are a variety of ways with which you can bring robotics to your place for homeschooling purposes. This majorly involves programming a robot to perform what you require it to do and also building of physical units that enable the robot to accomplish simple tasks.
There are kits which make this whole process easier and among the most popular ones include kits such as Lego’s WeDo. They are fun kits that children enjoy putting together by themselves and also come with simple software that allows children to come up with their own apps in a logical and visual manner. In a nutshell, this is a type of technology that can be incorporated during homeschooling classes to help in the
development of logical thinking and cognitive functioning in your kids.
Digital Microscopy
Digital microscopes are easily purchasable and work to enable your computer to view images from a particular magnified object. They might not be the best alternative to microscopy as is used in most school systems, but they do accomplish their job effectively. This helps bring the experience that a child would have had to go all the way to school to acquire but instead can be brought right home!
Use of Online Educational Scrapbooks
Educational scrapbooks are online tools that can be used effectively to make learning more fun and wholesome for your home-school-going children. The educational scrapbook works in the same principle as an ordinary scrapbook but it’s not used for collecting fond memories and keepsakes. Instead, it’s used to help the student collect data regarding a certain subject and also help with their skill-set for writing.
This is accomplished by giving the student space to write a mini-essay about any subject that has been assigned to them. The scrapbook allows space to be left for the student to enhance his/her creative skills through decorating it.
Online Classes
One of the best ways in which
technology can be used during homeschooling classes is through facilitating online classes. Their importance to a homeschooler cannot be emphasized enough times due to their ability to help teachers to guide them through subjects at in-depth levels. The online classes will help the students taking them to learn and work on more independent terms. To add onto that, they are cost-friendly and there are even a number of websites which offer these classes for free!
Using Webquest
Webquest is a popular tool that enables technology to be heavily relied on when it comes to homeschooling. Basically, it’s a lesson format that’s oriented on making inquiries and most of the data that’s incorporated in its usage comes from the internet. They can be easily created via a variety of programs with the inclusion of
word processing documents that include links to various websites.
Webquest tools help homeschoolers to stay rooted in their tasks while using the internet and also give support to cognitive practices like problem-solving and critical thinking. This is readily achieved through authentic assessment, scaffolding and cooperative learning that is all integrated with technology.
Keeping of Digital Records
It is important to keep in mind the essence of keeping records of
how your students fair during their homeschooling classes. The best way of showing the progress that a student has made during his/her learning hours is through a digital portfolio. Technology has made this possible and these records have the capability of transcending time with their existence being found many years after they were first jotted down.
With such records, you’re able to look back in time and see what your students have written, created and generally accomplished in homeschool. It also gives you an allowance of gauging the manner in which the students have made improvements throughout their tenure in homeschool.
Conclusion
Use of technology when homeschooling can prove to be immensely
beneficial for the students involved. Technology provides great assistance for such students due to its ability to provide relief for the parents looking for engaging lessons for their children. Such lessons include ways of writing different
types of essays among many other lessons. On top of that, technology gives a way out for the children requiring special education and also for the families that constantly travel or have busy schedules.
This article has shown some of the best ways in which you can take
advantage of technology to help in the improvement of your homeschooling experience. Have you tried any of the above-stated methods? And what are the advantages that you have seen after using them?