Consider any technology and evaluate its effectiveness by using any 3 aspects of Bates’ SECTIONS model.
According to me, Padlet that is a virtual wall is now being used in the educational system that creates interest among learners. Padlet wall is used to post the thought, opinions, images, and any link etcetera. I will discuss Padlet’s review based on the section model (Bates, 2020).
Padlet app is considered as one of the best apps in which the students can learn a lot from others. It provides an opportunity to share opinions and thoughts that can be read by everyone. It promotes collaborative skills among learners (Algraini, 2014). Moreover, the students who hesitate to speak in the class can also feel confident to use the Padlet app. On the virtual wall, they can also give comments on the ideas of others that are important to enhance learning. It is commonly known that the students can learn from their own experiences or the experiences of others.
Furthermore, it is quite easy to use both for teachers and students. It does not need to create an account for students. Students can just open the link provided by their teacher and click on the plus sign (edit) to give the answer to the required question. In addition, it provides a good chance for students to add their answers at any time. Teachers can use it to access the performance of the students in an easy manner and motivate them to develop their critical thinking skills (Martin, 2019).
Padlet basic does not have any cost. It is completely free and allows the teachers to upload 3 Padlets in an interactive way and engage the students from anywhere.
As a current or future educator, how do you deal with student’s preferences for different technologies?
Technology in education is changing dramatically with the development of computers that creates several opportunities, for example, it provides multimedia elements to promote active learning and interactions among teachers and students in regular learning environments (Cagiltay et al., 2019). However, all the students are not the same as they have different ages, abilities, and interests. As being a future educator, I will consider the interests of the students such as by which technical method, they want to learn. Also, I will check the level of the students while using different technologies and collect the data that is best to meet the needs of students.
References:
Algraini, F. N. A (2014). The Effect of Using Padlet on Enhancing EFL Writing Performance. Arab World English Journal Database, 1-55.
Cagiltay et al. (2019). Use of educational technology in Special Education: Perceptions of teachers. Participatory Educational Research (PER), 6(2), 189-205.
Martín, I. B. (2019). Using padlet to collaborative learning. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’19), 201- 211. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd19.2019.9188
Hello, HARPREET
Thank you for sharing your assessment and thoughts on Padlet. The new teaching mode integrating modern technology is constantly impacting the traditional education mode, making the teaching mode more student-oriented, enhancing the interaction in learning, and letting students do their own masters. In this process, students will virtually construct their own cognition of external things, and at the same time, their abilities in various aspects will be strengthened. As you said, educational technology is changing dramatically and there are many opportunities for computer creativity. As future educators, we are more aware of the importance of taking advantage of these opportunities. Because of the teaching opportunities created by technology, teachers are more likely to pay attention to and take into account the differences of all learners and the diversity of learning styles. Pay attention to the ability of different learners in seeing, listening and speaking, so that students with different cognitive abilities can achieve effective teaching goals. Teachers should make full use of technology to make the classroom more inclusive, so that every student can participate in the classroom, so that their abilities and interests are respected.
Best,
Sheng LI
Hi Harpreet,
Hope you are doing well. I agree with your point that ‘ all the students are not the same as they have different ages, abilities, and interests’. So, here the role of a teacher is more significant in terms of selecting the digital resource according to the varied interests of the students. For this, teachers need to spend more time on exploring ed tech tools and choose those that will benefit their students the most. Probably, they can use Bates SECTIONS model or any other model to evaluate its usefulness. Further, I agree with your idea that teachers can check the level of the students while using different technologies and collect the data that is best to meet the needs of students.
Sincerely,
Swanshi