It’s safe to say levels of anxiety are at an all-time high worldwide, especially in classrooms. COVID-19 forced students into isolation, and now many students lack engagement and difficulty building confidence in their abilities due to this disconnect. The question has become how can we reconnect students and teachers through tech education?
Education Week outlines the importance of the teacher/student relationship and how making this connection is essential for academic success. Author Arianna Prothero speaks with Laura Phillips, a neuropsychologist with the Child Mind Institute, about this critical aspect.
“We know that kids learn best when they feel safe and secure; when they feel anxious and aroused and uncomfortable, learning stops,” said Phillips. “To maximize the school year, we need to help kids feel safe and connected to the people with whom they are interacting.”
Building these relationships doesn’t happen overnight and can be challenging. However, integrating tech education into any curriculum can help overcome obstacles that prevent teachers from connecting to their students. Here are three ways how tech education can help:
1. Increase Engagement Through Personalized Projects
Maintaining student engagement can be difficult, but introducing digital skills that allow for customized projects and self-expression pique students’ interests. Using real-world coding provides students the chance to build a personalized adventure game or create their first website. These projects help students make a connection between their studies and what they value most in their lives. Additionally, this opens the door for teachers to connect their own experiences and likes/dislikes with the student, leading to opportunities for meaningful connections.
In addition, introducing tech education can allow students to make vital connections to the digital tools they use daily. Finally, creating a learning environment that applies to the world our students live in makes it easier for them to stay engaged in a meaningful way and helps teachers foster relationships that will help them succeed in the classroom.
2. Digital Skills Can Help Build Social-Emotional Learning
Tech education can often feel cold and anything but a tool to build social-emotional learning. However, at BSD Education, we have designed a tool beyond website and app development rooted in coding. It makes hard, cognitive, and soft skills that teach students to C.A.R.E – Curious, Adaptable, Resilient, and Empathetic.
By blending critical social-emotional learning with engaging tech education, building a meaningful relationship between teachers and students becomes more attainable. BSD’s VP of Education, Mark Barnett, examines how BSD helps students develop self-esteem, empathy, and skills needed for their futures through carefully crafted lessons.
“We at BSD believe in developing social-emotional capacity as well and feel that social-emotional learning should fit together with any skill development,” said Barnett. “This is why we have designed all of our curriculum around our philosophy of CARE.”
“We at BSD believe in developing social-emotional capacity as well and feel that social-emotional learning should fit together with any skill development,” said Barnett. “This is why we have designed all of our curriculum around our philosophy of CARE.”
Mark Barnett, BSD’s VP of Education
3. Make Connections by Learning Together
Integrating tech education into your curriculum might be a new experience for you and seem daunting, but BSD’s unrivaled support and intuitive platform make it as turnkey as possible. Using a platform that will be there with you every step of the way will help you learn and grow right alongside your students. Co-learning by digital teaching skills can be a bonding experience between teachers and students in the classroom.
Are you ready to build relationships with your students by introducing digital skills to your classroom? BSD is more than a product. We are a partner in delivering 21st-century skills to students worldwide. We encourage you to reach out so we can help you make these vital connections that could change the future for your students.
