4 Ways MagicBox™ Helps with Efficient and Accessible Remote Learning
April 20th, 2020
The motto of the American education system has always been that no student is left behind, and every student succeeds. But achieving that has become extremely difficult in the present scenario. As of April 5, 2020, there were more than 330,000 cases of COVID-19 in the United States, the largest number for any country. US surgeon general Jerome M. Adams compared the battle against coronavirus to the one at Pearl Harbor.
The only way to stop the chain of spread is for people to stay home and practice social distancing. Schools and workplaces are closed all across the world. The problem is that such prolonged periods of being stuck inside the home can have an impact on mental health as well as academic progress.
Due to this, schools are increasingly moving to providing remote learning for their students, creating a sort of routine for the day and keeping young minds active, engaged and busy.
The Remote Learning Conundrum
With millions of students out of school, educational institutions are grappling with a way to provide efficient and accessible distance education for such a large number of students. Just a laptop and internet connectivity is not enough for a holistic learning experience. This not only makes learning difficult for some students but puts added pressure on parents as well. When the education delivery is inefficient, many students fall behind. This means that parents need to step in to help.
Parents taking over isn’t an ideal solution. Not only will there be no standardized knowledge being imparted, but parents are dealing with their own work-from-home and household responsibilities. This means they might lack the time or the patience to ensure good education for their children.
The Magic Answer
The key to efficient and accessible distance learning is the use of the right technology tools. A robust online learning platform, such as MagicBoxTM, that seamlessly integrates with the existing school systems and other third party apps, makes distance learning effortless and efficient. The platform provides all the tools needed to create an engaging virtual classroom. Some of the benefits of this digital platform are:
1. Engaging Content
One of the problems many parents face is that their child is easily bored when it comes to normal online lectures and lessons. They might sit through the classes as long as the parent is vigilant, and when they leave, the child starts to multitask, paying little attention to the lecture.
But with MagicBoxTM, distance learning becomes fun! The virtual classroom built with the help of this platform are not just about a screen full of text or videos of teachers teaching. It allows educational institutions and publishers to seamlessly integrate audio, videos, infographic and even gaming elements in the lessons. These features allow information to be divided into small bite size chunks, which are easier to digest.
2. Learning for All
Another benefit is that no student is left behind. Although the US Department of Education, on March 12, 2020, announced that if a school is providing learning opportunities to general students, it should also provide it to those with disabilities. But in times like these, when the educational sector is under such immense pressure, accessibility in online learning could be challenging. Distance learning for students with disabilities is more difficult and requires special tools and provisions.
MagicBoxTM provides all the tools needed to create an inclusive and accessible distance learning environment. The multimedia and interactive elements are helpful for students with learning special needs. Other features, such as text to speech, font choices, using the right opacity, emboldening, textures and colors, are really helpful for those with visual impairment. The learning platform also offers closed caption, subtitles and speech to text features for those with hearing disabilities.
3. Comprehensive Assessments
One of the areas where traditional remote learning methods fall behind is grading and assessment. With MagicBoxTM, assessments are even better than those administered in the classroom. The learning platform allows teachers to provide detailed and personalized assessments remotely. Since the assessments are personalized, each student gets to know about their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, assessments can be customized into quizzes, puzzles and with gamification elements to make them more engaging and motivating.
4. Flexible Learning
Since learning cannot be limited to a physical space for now, it is important that students are able to access learning from anywhere, at any time and on the device of their choice. So, whether the student is at home, stuck at the airport, or even quarantined, they can access lessons as long as they have a device and internet connectivity. In fact, with the availability of an offline eReader, they can even access educational resources in the absence of internet connectivity.
So, if you also want to ease the transition to remote learning, while ensuring that it stays effective and accessible choose MagicBoxTM. Contact us to know more.