3 Ways Technology Can and Is Transforming Education
March 10, 2016
Is your technology working for you, or the other way around?
It is an understatement to say that technology is all the rage in education. Much more than a passing trend, technology has and will continue to shape the future of the classroom and of the educational system at large, as it has done for all industries. From teaching to program management, there is no area of education that technology has not touched.
But technology does not exist in a vacuum. For technology to truly be transformative, it must exist within a system that values evidence-based practice and decision making, that invests in recruiting and retaining high quality educators, and that puts students’ best interests first and foremost. It is important to remember that technology does not resolve any of the issues educators face today, but simply enhances their ability to do so when used well.
Best-practice use of technology can transform education by:
- Increasing opportunities for adaptive, personalized learning.
In the age of differentiated instruction, the notion that every child learns a little bit differently is pretty much ubiquitous. And while differentiation can be labor intensive and tricky to execute in the classroom, advances in technology have made it easier. Dozens of apps and classroom tools make it possible to tailor instruction to student learning styles, knowledge and ability levels. For ideas on where to start, take a look at this article, featuring . - Improving efficiencies so educators can spend spend less time on paperwork and more time on what really matters, teaching students.
The problem of paperwork, especially in the field of special education, has received increased attention over the past year as the teacher shortage crisis comes to a head. One of the most powerful uses of technology has little to do with instruction, but with rather helping educators cut down on paperwork so they can spend more time teaching.
There are many ways technology can assist. Tools for digital data collection is one. Teachers sometimes spend hours every week transferring their paper and pencil data into their progress monitoring systems. Giving teachers access to technology that can at once collect data and automatically generate graphs and reports for progress monitoring can save teachers an enormous amount of time.
For related service providers, one of the biggest time sucks is scheduling. Giving service providers access to tools that can perform automated scheduling based upon student availability, location, and service requirements can optimize provider time and potentially free up hours that could be better spent working working directly with students, writing goals and evaluating student progress. Accelify’s AcceliSCHEDULE automatically creates student groups and provider schedules, reducing the time providers spend coordinating student services by up to 80%.
- Increasing program visibility to support data-based decision making.
Do you know how much time your district’s special education students spend in inclusive settings? How about how much time your related service providers spend in IEP meetings, or on paperwork vs. service delivery? Do you know which students are mastering their IEP goals and which students are struggling to keep up? These are the kinds of questions district-wide technology solutions can help school districts answer.
While at the classroom level, technology can be invaluable for instruction and increasing efficiencies, integrated district-wide systems that allow districts to track everything from student IEP progress and service delivery to IEP compliance and Medicaid revenue can make it possible for districts to make informed decisions like never before. While there is never one system that does everything, and most districts will inevitably be implementing a hodge-podge of digital tools at any given time, having systems at the highest levels that support interoperability is crucial to making your data meaningful.
Accelify’s integrated solution aims to do just this for special education. ringing together IEP planning, IEP service scheduling and delivery, and Medicaid claiming and billing, with the added flexibility to integrate with other systems in use by school districts, Accelify provides a truly unique solution that provides districts with the unprecedented ability to make data-based decisions about their special education program operations, to increase efficiencies and compliance and lower costs.
At the end of the day, while technology must be an integral part of the 21st century classroom and educational system, it is only as good as the individuals implementing it. Considering the amazing things technology can do for education, it is more important than ever that we invest in training, recruiting, and retaining the talent it takes to maximize its potential.
To learn more about how your special education technology can work for you, and not the other way around, join our upcoming webinar on March 22nd at 3pm ET: “Making Your IEP System Work for You: 5 Questions to Ask About Your IEP System.”
