How to be a digital person

 

In This post I would like to write how to be a digital teacher: 

In an era where our students are very skilled at harnessing technology creatively in many ways, we see them spending a considerable amount of time playing games and getting attracted to a wide variety of smart devices. So as a math teacher, I should adapt my teaching strategies to equip the demanding need of a changing digital world. Whether in the way I present my content, how I communicate to my students, or how I design my assessments.

Being a digital teacher necessitates presenting content to my students that combines a mixture of pictures, video, audio, and text relevant to the study; this helps minimize the complexity of the task and allow students to retain the lesson concepts in their long-term memory (Moreno & Mayer, 2007). I usually try to deliver my lesson in multiple ways; I let my students express their answers using digital diagrams, flowcharts, or text. Hence, I tried to implement gamification in my Math course. Through mathematical games, I gave the opportunity to my students to enjoy what they are learning, feel motivated and encouraged, compete by sharing their scores, and interact by playing multi-player games. Thus, they found that using technology in learning is not that complicated due to the easy interface of the games. Besides, they recognized how much useful this technology is, especially when they were moving from a certain level to a higher one and noticing how their skills were improving. 

Being a digital teacher also requires creating an online learning community where students and teachers can communicate easily, and this also can be extended beyond classrooms. After our experience in online learning during the Pandemic Covid-19, we are now ready to face any obstacles that may obstruct face-to-face learning. For instance, when we have a student who cannot attend the class due to a particular situation (such as surgery or quarantine), we ask him to attend the session online and interact with his friends in class. Consequently, online learning communities serve as useful tools to deliver education through challenging times .

Being a digital teacher also necessitates the use of digital learning platforms that provides flexibility for students. For instance, in my school, students use Sabis Digital Platform (SDP) ©, where they can access the lesson material and prepare diagnostic quiz any time. The SDP gives me an instant steady stream of formative information about how students are performing. Based on the insights that come out of that formative assessment, I accommodate my teaching to fits the learning need of the students.  

Being a digital teacher requires always being up to date; because some information or content we teach might become obsolete, the teacher should be a lifelong learner. For instance, do professional development and always utilize and learn new technologies and digital learning tools that give students opportunities for engagement and interaction anytime and anywhere .