Embracing the Future: Integrating New Technologies, Apps, and Social Media in the Classroom

In recent years, education has shifted from regular classrooms to virtual lessons and online classes. This change has required us to adjust and find new ways to teach and learn from a distance. To make this happen, we started using new technologies, digital tools, and interactive learning platforms, which turned out to be very successful. These tools have allowed teachers from all over the world to create exciting and lively virtual classes. What's fascinating is that they also work well in traditional classrooms, helping to keep students interested and excited about learning.

The new edition of the course “Making the Most of New Technologies,Apps and Social Media in The Classroom​” concentrated exactly on this: how can teachers create engaging and interactive lessons with the help of technology?. This session of the course took place in Bologna from 30/07/2023 to 05/08/2023. The participants came from all across Europe, with Nuno, Florbela and Ricardo from Agrupamento de Escolas Emídio Navarro in Portugal, Gábor from Pannonhalmi Bencés Gimnázium és Szakkollégium in Hungary, Agris and Andris from idzemes Tehnoloģiju un dizaina tehnikums in Latvia, Mirva from Länsirannikon koulutus Winnova in Finland, Ansgar, Diana, Hana and Inga from Bayerischer Volkshochschulverband e.V. in Germany and last but not least Sara from  IES Escultor Juan de Villanueva in Spain.

During the course, the participants learned how to use many different technological resources and include them in their teaching. The main goal was to use these new tools in both regular and online classes, making teaching better and learning smoother.

Our group had a chance to explore user-friendly tools which serve as virtual whiteboards, to store ideas, brainstorm concepts and help students and teachers collaborate together on the same tool. Our participants experienced that these versatile tools can be used in various functions such as preparing wrap ups, introducing new topics to their students or repeating old topics. In addition, they also exchanged ideas about various tools with which students can show their imagination and create their own content.

At the same time we  discovered the creation of websites, offering various possibilities for learning. Our participants learned to build different pages and add content, allowing them to personalize their websites. When they were exploring the tools; they used it to write blogs, promote for their school and create portfolios and more.

Among the various tools, they also discovered interactive presentations. These presentations allow the teacher to ask for the class's opinion through polls, word clouds, or by requesting questions and feedback on the topic being discussed. They also learned about creating video lessons and online learning quizzes, a valuable tool to assess students' progress.

After finishing the course, the participants gained new knowledge about interactive learning and new technologies. They also got a bunch of useful tools to use in their real and online lessons. No doubt, using these tools will make learning more fun and exciting for the students. It will boost their creativity, engagement, attention, and motivation, making the learning experience enjoyable and dynamic! 

As one of our teacher said: “By participating in this training I discovered how important it is to use ITCs. In a very nice and relaxed atmosphere we learned how to use many useful apps to use in our courses.The course was adapted to our needs. I enjoyed every moment very much. [...] The course was very well organised and structured. I felt I was in good hands, from the cultural programmes to the content of the course. I would like to congratulate the whole team for their support and help!”

Hope to see them again!

Discover more about this course here.

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