It’s about time we give a shout-out to the teachers out there. There’s no denying that teaching is a tough job. Whether in the classroom, online, or some other form of hybrid teaching, it’s essential to recognize the trials and tribulations these often unsung heroes endure. Many of us here at ryco.io are former teachers who understand exactly what it is like to be in the classroom day in and day out.
In today’s learning space, technology continues to evolve into a critical aspect that cannot be ignored. Thankfully, in addition to aiding in the education process, technology can also help reduce teacher stress levels. In this article, we’ll uncover how teachers can distress with EdTech.
Stress and Teachers Today
It’s no simple task being responsible for the education of students, regardless of format. Additionally, being a teacher is a high-stress job as the education sector faces ever-growing demands.
Not surprisingly, the stresses associated with these positions will continue to takes its toll on the educators of the world. According to a report conducted by Education Support, the following findings were discovered regarding educators today:
75% of teachers feel stress in their positions
Mental health issues are experienced in over 34% of educators
Work is having a negative impact on the mental health of nearly 50% of educators
What Is Causing Stress in Teachers?
Several factors contribute to increased stress levels in teachers, including:
Lacking resources and support
Enduring long hours
Handling high workloads
In addition to limiting their ability to complete their jobs efficiently, these common stressors also negatively impact teachers’ mental and physical health.
Effect of Stress in the Classroom
Unfortunately, the negative impacts of stress do not stop at the educators. Often, failing education standards follow suit. Beyond the teachers themselves, the problem of prolonged high-pressure levels has far-reaching consequences.
Studies show that if stress goes unattended to in teachers, it may result in:
Higher dropout rates
Poor student discipline
Higher costs of education
How EdTech Can Help Reduce Stress in Students
Before we get into the details of how EdTech can help reduce teacher stress, we’ll first explain how it can benefit students.
Increasing Happiness
Increasing happiness in students comes from promoting their need for autonomy and self-expression. Allowing students to work in more creative projects can fulfill this portion of their learning desires.
Learning resources can be customized by assessing each student’s requirements through artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Some of these learning solutions include:
Software
Quizzes
Interactive games
Other adaptive learning programs
Improving Student Progress
The progress of students improves through data-driven insights provided through EdTech. For the best results, EdTech helps guide teachers to modify their instructions on behalf of students. Teachers can enhance the quality of data and maximize benefits through:
Adaptive learning platforms
AI
Course management systems
MOOCs
Promoting Adaptive Learning
For every student to access learning tasks and resources best suited to their strengths and interests, EdTech helps to promote adaptive learning. Based on similar interests, EdTech also facilitates sharing and social activities amongst students.
Actively Engaging Students
EdTech helps keep students actively engaged as it enhances their feeling of competence. By providing instant feedback and allowing the use of interactive elements, EdTech helps improve the student experience.
How EdTech Can Reduce Stress Levels For Teachers
Not surprisingly, it’s critical to address stress in educators. Thankfully, EdTech can also effectively help to reduce stress in teachers. Technology in the education sector can be beneficial to teachers for multiple reasons, including:
Boost teacher morale
Promote productive communication
Provide the necessary resources
Help reduce the workload
1. Boost Teacher Morale
Teachers can quickly connect with colleagues and parents amongst various modern communication platforms, including:
Email
Text
Video calls
Thankfully, teachers can boost their morale by openly communicating without the worry of sharing personal contact information.
2. Promote Productive Communication
Another crucial advantage provided by modern communication platforms is that they allow teachers to use multiple modes of communication for families with different levels of access to technology. This aspect is beneficial, even with translation across numerous languages.
Teachers can promote productive communication between teachers and parents in a more timely, efficient, productive, and satisfying manner by relying on technologies that include:
Video conferencing
Websites
Texts
Emails
3. Provide the Necessary Resources
EdTech tools help educators with creating customized learning experiences on behalf of their students. Studies show that this learning style is so impactful on students that they need up to 60% less time learning.
To deliver a more engaging learning experience to students, teachers can use learning tools in digital form that help develop such learning materials. Teachers can quickly create material using robust course authoring tools using EdTech, as opposed to the production process of a typical textbook, which may take nearly a year and a half to create.
Content development time can be reduced by up to 40% using EdTech tools, which typically include aspects such as:
Interactions
Templates
Themes
To cut down on their time even further in creating learning materials for students, teachers have access to a wide range of resources, including external resources and question banks.
4. Help Reduce the Workload
The effectiveness of EdTech tools has improved thanks to Learning Tools Interoperability, or LTI. While syncing results, EdTech also allows easy integration with third-party resources, applications, and tools into a single Learning Management System (LMS) ecosystem.
For example, all within an LMS ecosystem, the grade book of record automatically syncs with students' grade results and assignments.
In the same regard, teachers can lessen their workload by streamlining and automating many administrative tasks through EdTech tools.
Wrap Up
Even before the pandemic, educators struggled to balance their professional and personal lives. But, not surprisingly, the pandemic exacerbated these concerns as teachers struggled to maintain continuity in education on behalf of their students. Stress levels amongst educators are at an all-time high as they work to engage with families and prepare students for standardized tests while coping with a loss in instructional time.
Thankfully, EdTech can play a substantial role in helping reduce some of the stress levels in teachers as they continue to transform how they educate in and outside the classroom.