Exploring The Past, Present, And Future Of Digital Classrooms

While the term ‘digital classroom’ gained prominence during the pandemic, the use of digital aids to educate students has been shaping the educational landscape since the 1990s.

Digital education began in the 1990s with e-learning. It broke the geographical barriers and empowered learners to use the Internet for learning. However, the impact was curtailed, as few households could access personal computers (PCs) and the Internet. Digital education was primarily text-based.

Eventually, as more people started using PCs and the Internet, multimedia elements like videos, animations, and simulations became part of digital learning. This made learning more engaging and effective.

Today, digital classrooms have transcended physical barriers and made the learning experience more powerful and accessible. Many classrooms have successfully moved from chalkboards to smart boards.

Let’s find out how digital classrooms are shaping right now and how they will do in the future.

The Current Trends Of Digital Classrooms

Here are some common trends schools have adopted to make their classrooms smart.

1. Smartboards

Smartboards are interactive whiteboards that transform the usual classrooms into a learner’s delight. Teachers can use videos, images, and audio to create engaging student learning sessions. They can even split the screens to enable students to perform group activities, save lessons and recordings, share with students, and interact with students from anywhere. Smartboards are ideal for all types of learning—online, offline, and hybrid. They improve engagement and learning experience among students.

2. Mobile learning

With more people using smartphones, mobile learning has become popular among students. Unlike traditional learning, where students have to be present in the classroom, mobile learning allows them to access lessons from anywhere, anytime, on their mobile devices. This will enable students to learn at their own pace. Another benefit of mobile learning is it condenses large lessons into digestible, bite-sized ones. It also offers features like gamification and multimedia learning, which makes the lessons more engaging and improves knowledge retention.

3. Cloud computing

The foundation of digital learning relies on cloud computing. It stores all the educational resources required for conducting classes and makes them accessible to students, teachers, administrators, and parents. Cloud-based resources ensure that the lessons are available 24/7 on all devices, foster collaboration and communication between students and teachers, and allow parents to monitor their child’s progress and communicate with teachers. It is safe to say that cloud computing is one of the reasons why digital classrooms function smoothly.

4. Audio-Visual Learning (AV)

Digital classrooms are no longer restricted to textbooks. Schools are increasingly using AV aids to make lectures interactive. They can stream their lectures live for students worldwide and record them to make them available across different geographies and time zones. This eliminates the need for being physically present in the classroom. AV solutions cater to all learners – visual learners who like to learn from visually rich videos and images and auditory learners who can grasp the lessons better when teachers use integrated sound systems to deliver lectures. An AV solution can be used anywhere – from a small classroom to a large auditorium to enrich the learning experience.

The Future Trends Of Digital Classrooms

As digital classrooms become more popular, here are a few trends that could gain prominence and make digital learning more effective.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI can play a significant role in simplifying complex topics for students. Additionally, it can monitor the vast amount of learner’s data to identify their strengths and weaknesses and enable teachers to provide targeted interventions to improve the learning outcome. Teachers can also use AI to create lesson plans, grade students, and focus more on supporting students in their lessons. Many schools in India, such as the century-old Assam-based Narsing Higher Secondary School, have started using AI to digitize their classrooms and make them smart and interactive.

2. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)

AR/VR involves using multiple senses, which makes learning fun and improves knowledge retention. For example, students can leverage AR to overlay real-world conversations with translations or use VR to visit a Parisian cafe to learn and practice French virtually. They can even use these technologies to understand a human body’s inner workings or dissection in a virtual lab. It helps gain a deeper understanding of complex subjects and stay engaged. Teachers, too, can use AR/VR to conduct virtual experiments and simulate environments to make learning more engrossing and transform learning into an immersive experience for students.

3. Personalized learning

The days of one-size-fits-all learning are numbered as digital classrooms tailor learning to meet every student’s unique learning needs. No two students are the same, and thus, teachers have started using AI and data analytics to analyze a student’s performance and make data-driven recommendations to enhance their learning experience. For example, teachers can personalize learning for students who are weak in maths by providing them with extra practice problems or alternative learning methods. This individualized learning approach will help students understand the concepts better and perform well in their classes.

Conclusion

Digital classrooms are evolving rapidly as technologies emerge and progress. The increased focus on personalized and immersive learning has improved the quality of education and learner’s knowledge. No wonder digital classrooms are rising rapidly and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% between 2024 and 2029.

If you’re wondering how to transform your classroom into a digital one, we recommend starting with AV solutions.

You can make your dull classroom engaging with just projectors, correct lighting systems, and sound systems.

At Resurgent, we’ve built Integrated AV Solutions, especially for the education industry. Our solutions are helpful for:

• Digital classrooms: We combine traditional classroom interactions with multimedia tools like interactive displays, video conferencing, recording, real-time content, and online resources to provide a rich learning experience. This blend empowers teachers to enhance student engagement.

• Studio rooms:            These rooms mimic a physical classroom online and use internet-enabled technologies, such as interactive displays and projectors, software-based video conferencing, recording and streaming systems, and speakers and microphones to make lectures available across all geographies.

• Seminar halls: We provide high-quality audio, high-definition visuals (projectors, video walls, LED displays), software for easy content sharing, and conferencing systems for interactive learning, all controllable through a user-friendly interface to create an enthralling experience for learners attending large seminars.

• Auditoriums: We also provide tailored solutions for auditoriums, such as high-quality audio, video walls or projectors, and cloud-based software to create impactful presentations for large audiences. These solutions also include wireless microphones and audience interaction tools to make interaction with large gatherings possible.

To know more about how our solutions can revamp your classrooms into digital classrooms, contact us.