The learning cycle for any student comprises of four basic steps – introduction to a concept, learning it, practicing, and finally, testing. In classrooms, the use of traditional tools for facilitating the students’ learning cycle was considered to be the only way to learn – begin with a lecture for introduction, read the textbook for learning, reference books for practice, and previous year papers for testing. However, of late, multimedia content for school education and ed-tech have helped create a more modern and effective learning cycle.
The Introduction to the Concept
The learning cycle begins with the introduction of a concept. For understanding the concept, earlier, it required the undivided attention of a classroom of students, and only when the concept became crystal clear, would the student be able to grasp the next topic. This obviously led to the situation where if a student was to miss a lecture or happened to be unwell, the introduction to a topic would remain incomplete for them.
Today however, students can turn towards the top online learning sites and virtual tutors. Via the internet, people can find almost any explanation for any topic online, whenever they want. Unlike in a classroom, if any part is unclear, a student can look up video lectures or read up on the concept till they understand it. Students are able to see solutions to all problems, and can dissect the entire procedure followed to reach said solution.
Learning the new concept
Traditionally, learning a new concept would involve reading a textbook, making notes, and reading over and over till the student remembers the theory. Spread over so many subjects, this way may even lead to an overload of information in the students’ mind, and seeing the sheer amount of information that has to be learned, students many a times resort to mugging up the information instead of trying to understand it.
Instead of having to borrow notes from all over the classroom, multimedia content for school education offers the students a platform where they do not have to lose any important information. Equations, theories, videos, etc. may all be bookmarked and can be revisited at any time. One of the major factors that help in this regard is the use of visual aids. There is no doubt that visual aids can help one understand the concept better. They tap into the interest of a student and leverage their attention span.
Practicing the learned concept
Finding the right reference book may have been an issue before, as it may require several different books for different concepts. However, using some of the top online learning sites, students can easily access the right kind of questions and practice problems at one place. At some sites, students are also able to access questions based on their learning level. The use of AI at such sites works to identify a student’s weak areas and then show questions accordingly. Some sites also let one mark their progress in different topics. The incorporation of technology into education has been able to streamline students’ practice.
Testing oneself
After practicing different concepts, being able to evaluate how much a student has been able to retain is one of the most important parts of the learning cycle. While periodic and unit tests in schools are held regularly, just before a major exam (like boards), they just might not be enough. To improve the preparation of the students, multimedia content for school education, ed-tech offers students access to numerous tests for all competitive exams, so they can test themselves till they have all the important concepts at their fingertips.
New and improved learning methods and materials have been introduced to student lives thanks to technology penetration into the education sector. While the traditional methods still hold a lot of water in a student’s life, the addition of technology helps improve the learning cycle as a whole.