Studies have demonstrated that classroom organization, management, and expectations improve when centered around building a positive environment where students can learn and thrive. This means focusing on ways to build up the classroom and school community, in order to share in the success as a team and help students grow in a positive way.

A key piece of this is to find ways to get students fully engaged and to help bring the team together around their success. A great way to do this is through incorporating digital and online materials. These materials can help students in both Special Ed and Regular Ed programs find more enjoyment in the work and more success.

While tech can be intimidating to those who have been in the field or working with non-digital materials for many years, it’s use is known to increase students’ engagement and participation in learning, both in and out of the classroom. Students are likely to be more excited and interested in these resources, as well as want to access them at home. This increased enthusiasm leads to improved individual participation and better classroom culture and community overall.

Three ways teachers can use digital materials for student success

1. Classroom Activities

Online and digital materials can be used in the classroom to increase student involvement and success. Activities that use interactive games encourage students to work together, as well as increase participation.

There are numerous online activities that accompany or enrich stories you are reading, such as videos, audio visual recordings, or even online quizzes and games. These can showcase the curriculum in a different way that students find exciting and fun.

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2. Homework

If you choose to send work home with your students, online and digital materials can benefit teachers in two ways.

1. First, by assigning materials online, teachers can often “track” if a student has completed an assignment or not. This can help you when communicating with students or families, or even other service providers, or to determine if the student needs extra help or is unable to access the assignments.
2. Second, it can help to get students more engaged and excited about their homework. If a student’s assignment involves online material such as a video, story, or a quiz, it can help the student feel like learning is less “work” and more like an online “game”. This takes some of the stress and dread away from homework, and helps students get more involved in their home assignments.

3. Teacher Tracking (of lessons and extras)

Online platforms can help teachers track students’ progress; in the classroom and in other services such as therapy. Using a platform, such as the E-Therapy STAR dashboard, enables teachers to see how each student is progressing towards their goals in all service areas, as well as check out any recent progress reports or evaluations. This makes it easier to collaborate between teachers and therapists and see where the student is struggling or soaring.

Digital materials can completely change the way your students view their school work, class activities, and school-based therapy services. It can help to build a positive culture in the classroom and get students more engaged in their work. It also helps teachers to see the bigger picture for each student and the progress they are making, so the student’s team works together and collaborates effectively.

Learn more about E-Therapy’s online therapy services

At E-Therapy, we pride ourselves on being able to help teachers and schools utilize digital resources to help engage their students, as well as to help track the progress of their students receiving therapy services. If you’d like to learn more about how this could work in your school, sign up for a DEMO or contact us with any questions you have.

This article first appeared on the E-Therapy blog at: https://www.electronic-therapy.com/blog/increase-student-engagement-and-participation-with-digital-materials/