Technology is now an essential part of education. Although eLearning was already weaving its way into primary school classrooms, the pandemic accelerated all things digital. Video, virtual reality elements, and AI used in online lockdown classes are now part of the everyday in-class curriculum. And learning management systems (LMS) are in the majority of schools, with only 6% of schools in the US without one.
An LMS brings a host of elements like online textbooks, various multimedia elements, virtual resources, online tests and quizzes, media clips, interactive learning, augmented reality and virtual reality. Teachers get a dashboard with AI assistants, automatic grading, and self-guided learning for each student. It’s clearly good for student engagement and does help automate some key tasks for teachers, including grading and assessment. But there’s a catch.
Bringing an LMS on board is a process. Like any new technology, it requires proper training and a transitionary period to ensure full user adoption. Essentially, you need to teach the teacher first – much the same as learning a new curriculum.
Once the LMS is in place and being used to compliment teaching, it behaves much like any other technology, with the same expected hiccups and integration or interoperability issues. This is where they become a whole other beast for teachers to manage.
Many LMS solutions require advanced IT skills to administer and handle technical problems. Even just a few children in class with user-based confusion can take up the teacher’s time, let alone if there are genuine technical glitches.
While technology is clearly bringing important improvements to K-12 classrooms, these come at a cost to already-overworked teachers. The solution is to have firm, reliable support in place that enable teachers to focus on teaching instead of technology troubleshooting and administration.
The key is to look to the network behind the technologies. These really are the glue that connects everything together. And the strength and sophistication of the school network can be the difference that either provides support or drops the ball.
If you’re running an elementary school network, there are three things you can make sure of to help relieve time-strapped teachers:
This may be the most difficult time for teachers in history. But it can also be the most exciting. There’s no need for teachers to burn out because of technology. Support them with a network that takes the guesswork out, provides them with consistent service and happily takes on the administrative work so they can focus on students and learning outcomes.