Despite their name, teachers are responsible for so much more than educating the next generation of change makers. Their list of responsibilities is constantly evolving as they adapt to education trends and research, changing technologies and updated standards.
Digital curriculum resources help make teachers’ lives easier while also keeping their students engaged. By using these resources, they can lighten their workload while giving students more autonomy over their learning in the process. This can lead to a successful student-centered classroom, where the needs, interests and abilities of students are the primary focus.
In this blog, we discuss the benefits of digital curriculum resources and how they can help cultivate student-centered classrooms.
How Digital Curriculum Resources Help Center Students
Student-centered classrooms are built through personalized learning. This teaching style allows students to learn at their own pace and choose content that interests them, with teachers helping to facilitate learning. Below, we’ll discuss how digital curriculum resources help center students in several ways.
Fostering Independence Among Students
When curriculum resources are available digitally through a learning management system, students can access them any time. This makes for a more flexible learning environment that accommodates student and parent schedules. It also allows students to revisit old content if they need a refresher and can make it easy for them to move on when they’re ready.
When students can access engaging resources anytime and anywhere, they are more likely to use them without teachers prompting them. This personalized approach to pace makes students the copilot of their learning, helping them develop other skills, including time management, problem-solving and technological proficiency alongside their education.
Making Accessibility the Default Option
Many traditional curriculum resources need to be reinvented for students with accessibility needs. Textbooks or handouts, for example, don’t easily accommodate those who have cognitive disabilities or are visually impaired.
Tools like accessibility checkers and closed captioning services can be integrated into digital curriculum resources. Inclusive design principles can make learning more accessible to students with autism spectrum disorder by using things like simple, personalized interfaces and sequenced instructions. Making accessibility the default option means a more inclusive learning environment without the teacher spending added time.
Giving Teachers Time to Teach
A 2016 Market Data Retrieval report found that U.S. teachers spent an average of about 12.5 hours per week creating or searching for instructional resources for their classes. Pre-created digital content and interactive activities are easily accessible and can give hundreds of hours back to teachers to do what they’re passionate about: teaching.
That means that teachers can give students more attention, guidance and feedback without compromising quality. These digital tools keep students entertained and engaged without the added workload.
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Written by:
Chase Banger is a Content Marketing Specialist at D2L. An award-winning journalist and former communications specialist, he has a passion for helping people through education.
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