What’s stopping you learning new digital skills?

Keeping as up to speed as possible with technology is crucial for effectively engaging and educating students in the digital age. It can not only improve the learning experience but also save time, simplify classroom management, and help career development. development. How are you upskilling to keep ahead? Take our six-step challenge.

Change can be scary. Leaving comfort zones can be uncomfortable and unnerving. New ways of doing things can be confusing. The rapid pace of innovation in education technology means teachers are faced with constantly learning new digital skills.

Some challenges to adopting technology do exist. However, they are not insurmountable. Instead of putting things in the too-hard basket, consider where new skills can take you. What’s the state of your skillset and how can you improve? Follow these six steps to find out.

1. Take a stocktake of your digital skillset

Before you can effectively develop your technology skills, first assess your current digital abilities and what you already know. This will assist you in determining your strengths and highlight places for improvement. Ask yourself:

• What tech tools am I comfortable using in the classroom?

• How do I incorporate technology into activities?

• What technological talents do I want to master?

Armed with this information, you can make informed choices on what to do next.

2. Set out specific goals

Once you know where you stand, you can establish some precise aims for increasing technological abilities. What are the goals you want to achieve?

When setting these targets, think about the importance, as well as the practicality, of the talents you wish to gain. You may have a lengthy wish-list of technologies you want to learn, but it’s critical to select and concentrate on the ones that will have the greatest influence on your teaching and impact on students’ learning.

Don’t go for technology based on what you are comfortable with or what’s new and most popular. Try converting everything into the actual classroom outcomes – in other words, the return on your investment in learning new skills. Just figure out your problems and challenges, and search solutions to address these. Consider how much you could benefit by adopting new technology.

3. Take advantage of PLD opportunities

If you are not too tech savvy, connect with technology experts, who can show you what’s available on the education scene. There are numerous possibilities for teachers to participate in PLD related to technology integration, including training days, conferences and webinars. Their guidance will assist you in identifying the best ways forward for learning new skills, and adopting new technology.

4. Seek out peer support and collaboration

Improving your technological talents does not have to done alone. Connecting with others with a similar desire and interest can be a tremendous source of encouragement and inspiration.

Many of your peers are going through exactly the same experiences and decisions. You’ll find much of the same journey has already been done by others. You can simply hop on board and benefit from their knowledge and wisdom. This process could include joining online groups and forums, following blogs and social media feeds, following the news, and so on.

5. Use new skills in the classroom

Okay, after setting precise goals and taking advantage of support opportunities, you have learned some new tricks for your teaching armoury. Now it’s time to put these new talents to good use.

Look for ways to use technology to improve or enrich your current classes and activities. Don’t be scared to experiment as this can be an excellent method for determining what works best for you and your students.

Instead of migrating everything at once, employ a phased approach. Switch part of your teaching activities at a time, concentrating on just one new tech skill. It will reduce the complexity of the integration and give you (and your students) chance to see how things are going before moving on.

6. Reflect on your use of technology

As you include digital technology in your teaching, it is critical to reflect on how well it is functioning. This will assist you in determining what is working well and what may need to be tweaked. Some things won’t work as you expect (probably many things) – a small change may be enough to do the trick or a complete re-think may be required. Remember, no amount of prep work and planning will guarantee surviving first contact with the classroom.

Improving your technology skills as a teacher is a continuous process. It’s important to keep up with new technology and search for ways to successfully incorporate them into your teaching. You’ll enjoy digital life all the more when you do.

Compiled by the INTERFACE team.