By: Christina Samek, Marketing Specialist.

This holiday season, your students will likely be inundated with all the new toys and apps available in the digital space. It’s equal parts exciting and overwhelming. The digital evolution has been growing, changing, and ultimately, improving for years. However, it sometimes feels like the hidden loops and curves on a roller coaster. You don’t see it coming and once it does, you’ve got to brace yourself and hold on tight.

Recently the digital space has come under intense scrutiny. Educators have to answer to screen time and privacy concerns while also trying to digest all the new digital initiatives coming from administrators. To revisit the roller coaster analogy, it’s a bit scary at first but the ups and downs are worth it. Digital has changed the landscape of learning. In the spirit of the holiday season, we’d argue digital is a gift.

Mobile devices promote personalized learning

According to McGraw-Hill Education, the use of mobile devices for studying is on the rise, with 80% of college students indicating they used them for that purpose. It’s not all Candy Crush and Instagram (is Candy Crush still a thing?). Considering this, more parents have come around to the idea that digital can offer an opportunity for personalized learning. Lastly, of the 1,000 students who participated in their Workforce Readiness Survey, 80% indicated they believed the use of technology would improve their employment opportunities upon entering the workforce. While this sampling appeals toward Higher Ed, college students are using tools and habits that began in K-12.

edTech in the classroom improves grades

McGraw-Hill considered other factors as well when they surveyed 3,300 students on their study habits and where technology comes into play. Their findings show that 4 out of 5 students agree digital technology has improved their grades. Additionally, 81% note digital learning helps save time and increases efficiency. At its core, digital learning is all about adapting to the individual and 69% agree it helps them retain information while 79% say it makes them aware of new concepts.

Technology boosts interdisciplinary learning

It’s not just students who benefit, you do too! Digital technology supports classroom topics. Tools like websites, apps, and of course eBooks, help students learn at their own pace while still engaging with your lesson plan. A PBS Teacher Survey found that 81% believe the use of tablets in the classroom enhance learning. Additionally, their findings concluded teachers use technology to increase student motivation, reinforce or expand teachings, and to adapt to different learning styles.

Classroom tech keeps students focused and engaged

Lastly and most importantly, National Math and Science Initiative found the use of technology in the classroom keeps your students focused for longer periods of time while stimulating their excitement to learn. Despite the ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-evolving digital space, there’s always going to be that constant in education: the drive to inspire learning.

Of course, nothing is perfect or fool-proof, but when used the right way, digital technology can benefit students and teachers across K-12. OverDrive’s K-12 platform was created with individualized learning in mind. Like you, we want to inspire an excitement to learn and a love of reading for even your most reluctant student. We offer opportunities for your students to read at their own pace, using built-in learning tools, with the privacy a screen provides.

We believe digital is a gift. We believe reading is. Reading is how we learn. No matter how much technology changes it, the world needs reading.

If you have any questions about the benefits our platform provides, let us know.