Technological advances are inherently meant to make our lives easier. Only when we abuse it or become obsessed with it can it become a toxin to our health. In today’s era, however, young students are becoming increasingly engrossed with technology, walking the line between obsession and general interest in technology.
Our goal as educators and technology enthusiasts should be to harness the potential of new technology and use it for the reason it was created: to make life easier and solve our problems.
Through educational technology, we can guide our generations of young students to learn more with a faster and more consistent method that promotes healthy living.
learn online
As most students can attest, one of the biggest ways that technology has taken over their lives is through the advent and evolution of e-learning. More students have learned to adjust to remote digital learning, which for many students has opened the door to their own potential.
There is a growing wealth of resources online that can be used to support growing minds and keep them healthy. For example, him CDC has instituted a program called BAM!that unites mental learning with physical education.
Also, sites like Cheers to the children! aims to provide evidence-based tools, games and learning modules to young learners in a virtual space on health issues. Both resources will provide young learners with the knowledge base they need to stay healthy for years to come, all while playing fun games and learning exercises.
Health and self-care education through EdTech
One of the initiatives focused on the edTech center for young students is to highlight the importance of self care and the fundamentals of healthy lifestyle habits, including hygiene, mental health and physical well-being
Now, there are more health-oriented apps that give students the knowledge to take care of themselves. An important component of this is understanding your health needs, the solutions to those needs, and how to access them. It pays to explore the options available and find the right topic that is relevant to your student.
Gamification in Health and Learning
You may have heard of the old term “Educational entertainment”, coined by Walt Disney in 1954. The classic education/entertainment hybrid that, when mixed, should politely deceive the user that they are pleasurably consuming something they may not have originally found appealing.
In most cases, educational games qualify for edutainment. The 1990s gave rise to some of the first pioneering educational video games. What math explosions, Good startY Carmen Sandiego. Each of them emphasized teaching a specific subject while managing to be engaging and immensely fun for the children.
Fast forward thirty years later, and edTech has made leaps and bounds to improve the medium we loved back then. apps like Zombies run! they are the perfect example of what we should strive to emulate with education. In this case, it is a fitness app that motivates users to improve their health by running, but with the added stimulation of being chased by zombies.
It became an instant hit with its users, fostering an audience that used the app both for its quality of entertainment and for its ability to convince them to exercise while being entertained.
Preparing students for the real world
Perhaps one of the best areas of potential for edTech is the utility of preparing students for the real world after completing their education.
Virtual reality technology can simulate real-world scenarios to help students anticipate and adapt to situations that are likely to arise in their daily lives, situations that they may not know how to handle without proper guidance. These can range from navigating taxes to handling difficult personal relationship conflicts.
Also, new technology is not only useful for students in the here and now, but by understanding technology earlier, students will become more accustomed to newer technology at a faster rate in ten to twenty years. The more technological base they have now, the stronger they will be in the future.
Beyond that, however, health education can inspire students to pursue a career and higher education in health care, therefore combat the current shortage of informed and educated health workers. With a record level of nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals leaving the profession, there is more demand than ever for the younger generation to take their place.
putting it all together
We have a duty to our future generations to encourage and strengthen them to help us build the future of technology.
Consider that we have accomplished a great feat in being able to access the technology we currently have. If we are not proactive in arming the next generations with what we have created, we risk generational and technological stagnation.
Again, the overall purpose of the breakthrough is to make life easier for all of us, and that’s what’s at our fingertips. We just have to push ourselves to take advantage of it!
