Skolera’s Solutions Preparing Teachers for the Digital Age

The preparation for the digital age is something that sounds a bit scary for schools. Everyone knows about the huge transformative role of technology in education and the importance of preparing teachers for this journey, but what some people often overlook is the how. As providers of EdTech solutions, we believe we are capable of igniting the change you need to witness for your school staff. In this article, we discuss the most significant competencies that teachers require to become “digital teachers” and explain how Skolera’s solution is the best companion for this particular mission. Skolera’s solutions is now preparing teachers for the digital age!

The Digital Teacher: A Dynamic Role?

The digital teacher is usually the one who brings about the change in education using the latest technology, and the most recent learning methodologies. It is indeed a dynamic role as it focuses on catering to the diverse learning styles of the students. Additionally, digital teachers are usually the ones who collect and analyze student data for measuring student performance on a regular basis. 

This, in turn, helps enhance teaching methods and pedagogies. Because it is an evolving and dynamic tole, digital teachers get to use the latest innovative tools like AI to maintain a decent position in the rapidly changing educational environment. 

According to Statista, “90% of K-12 public school teachers claim that digital learning tools are the best when searching for information or doing research.”

Related article: Transform Your Academic Year with Skolera

Are there challenges that teachers face in adapting to digital transformation?

Generally, when a school decides to start digital transformation for the school system, this is often met with some resistance from some teachers. Why? It’s because adapting to new technologies is often difficult for teachers who are used to employing the same methods and teaching tools. Here are some of the challenges that teachers face when adapting to digital transformation. 

One of the challenges is usually the lack of digital literacy. The sad truth is that many teachers nowadays still lack the proper training and digital tools suitable for teaching. Adapting to that can sometimes be quite difficult especially if the teacher is not used to working with online tools and software. 

Another challenge that some teachers face is access to technology as not all teachers have equal access to internet connection or technological tools. They might even face technical issues like glitches. This can pose a problem for teachers who want to delve into the digital world. 

One factor that affects the road to digital teaching is the resistance to new changes. Some teachers may be reluctant to try something new since they think they don’t need it. It takes a flexible and adaptable teacher to be willing to overcome this comfort zone and try out new challenges. 

Read more: Artificial Intelligence in E-learning

What are the 8 skills and competencies required for a digital teacher?

A digital teacher is another name for an “online teacher” or an “e-learning teacher.” As you may already know, this type of teacher requires a diverse set of skills and competencies to be able to thrive in a world dominated by educational technology. Let’s take a look at some of these skills and competencies!

• Digitally literate

It goes without saying that being digitally literate is a top priority for any workplace nowadays. This is especially true with jobs like teaching. Teachers need to have good computer skills because schools tend to function around digital systems like LMS. That’s why being comfortable with using software applications is extremely crucial for being a digital teacher. 

 

• Expert in the subject 

Certainly, it makes complete sense that a teacher is required to have both good social and technical skills in order to be successful in their field. This makes the teacher more credible and qualified for the head principal and for the parents as well. It’s important to remember that effective instruction comes from the ability to easily explain complex topics to different types of students. 

• Well-organized and good planner

The majority of the teacher’s work often goes into the planning and organization of lessons, assignments, curricula, and tests. To be an effective digital teacher, organizational skills are indispensable. When it comes to digital classes, teachers will need to be aware of several conditions like online scheduling, management of academic resources, technical computer setup, and many more. 

• Adaptable and flexible 

Adaptability in general is a skill that most workplaces need in our continually changing world. Being adaptable in one’s job means understanding that change is inevitable and that one has to accept that and act accordingly. Teachers need to understand that not only is education changing into educational technology, but the students are equally changing. The solution to this would be for a teacher to be flexible enough to adapt his/her teaching strategies according to the diverse needs of students. 

• Project manager and multitasker 

Because a teacher’s day is usually busy and cramped, there’s no way they’ll be able to finish all their tasks one by one. Teachers must acknowledge that time management is their best friend! Most of the time, teachers will be required to multitask to be able to finish their workload in time. Don’t fret if you’re not a multitasker yourself. It’s a skill that comes with experience and lots of practice! You’ll eventually get the hang of it once you willingly put in the effort to perform your tasks at the same time. 

• Active listener 

Being an active listener is a skill that is crucial for teachers. If you’re a current teacher, you are someone who deals with diverse age groups, different positions, and different mindsets. Every day, you communicate with students, assistants, heads of departments, parents, and admins. That’s why being an active listener is critical to building rapport with your students, establishing good relationships with your coworkers, and enhancing your parent-teacher meetings. 

• Collaborative and supportive 

A collaborative and supportive teacher should be the one who creates a positive environment for the students at school. When students feel like school gives them a sense of community, they’ll be more comfortable giving their all when it comes to the academic aspect. One of the ways that teachers can show their support to the students is through feedback. This is important for students to understand their progress in the subject and receive the teacher’s comments regarding their performance in assignments and tests. 

•  Equipped with TPD skills

Teacher professional development has become a top priority among teachers and school principals nowadays. This is because TPD courses and certificates often focus on getting the best out of the teacher’s existing knowledge and expertise. It aims to introduce teachers to the most recent changes and advances in EdTech and the improvements in pedagogical strategies. This is why a digital teacher needs to be constantly updated and equipped with TPD, in order to thrive in the educational landscape of today.  

How does Skolera overcome these challenges to achieve effective teacher transformation?

Skolera is an EdTech solution provider of Learning Management and School Management systems for schools and educational institutions. One of the most prominent features of Skolera is its ability to ignite complete digital transformation for schools. This is achieved through a set of powerful tools and features that enable school admins, heads of departments, and teachers to perform their academic and administrative tasks digitally. 

Skolera is keen on preparing teachers for a complete digital transformation through its TPD events, valuable collaborations, and intelligent practical tools. These are some of the tools that can help teachers on their journey to becoming digital teachers. 

• Smart course control 

Create your course curriculum content, an assignment, or a quiz once for the entire course, and select which classes to publish it to. Your “Quick create” icons are time-savers.

• Cumulative course status 

Follow your course completion status and compare it to the course plan. Pace your progress accordingly.

• “Who’s on track” feature

Find out how well the class is performing, or focus on one student to track his/her academic progress and behavior.

• Automatic attendance

With the integration and use of biometric or barcode scanner, recording students’ attendance is getting simpler; teachers are saving time and effort while verifying the attendance of their students.

• Native mobile app

Skolera Native Mobile App is a potent tool for parents that enables them to monitor the progress of their children, view their grades, and get notified of children’s behavior notes and school activities.

• Gradebook

Grades entered manually by the teachers for assignments or calculated automatically by the system for quizzes are added to the student grade book. This is visible to teachers, HODs, students, and parents and is used to indicate students’ academic progress. The school administration controls what and when these grades are visible to students and parents and how they are calculated.

• Collaboration and blended learning 

Using our integrated Virtual Classroom module, teachers can implement the latest teaching techniques including flipped classroom and blended learning methodology, and introduce students to group-based and project-based learning. Another virtual collaboration space (Zone) can be easily created to allow users with different roles (teachers, students, and parents) with similar interests and common goals to share ideas, collaborate, and plan activities and events.

• Teacher Hub 

This is an important part of the communication module which provides means for effective communication between all teachers and the HOD of a specific course. School announcements are circulated to all users to keep them informed of school news and the latest updates.

• Tailor-made reports

Using our independent reporting engine, custom-made reports are possible and easily implemented based on templates provided by the school. These reports can then be generated by an admin as pdf files, sent to other users by e-mail, or published to the student interface.

Check this out: Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning with an LMS

If you’re a decision-maker at your school, it’s time you start thinking of the newest ways to transform your teachers into digital teachers! This will ensure that your staff is updated with the latest trends in EdTech, and qualified to teach the students in a digital environment to bring out the best in each one. Book your free demo now and test some of Skolera’s powerful features today!