To help honour hard-working teachers on World Teachers’ Day, EducationDaily invited edtech and Australian Curriculum specialist Kelly Hollis to share some insights and tips about ways technology can help reduce teacher workload.
With the teacher shortage continuing to impact schools across the country, as well as the new Australian Curriculum to take on board, finding smart ways to use the power of tech, she says, can make a sustainable difference.
“Tech tools can provide valuable support to teachers who are feeling overworked and stressed by helping them streamline tasks, access resources, and effectively manage the transition to a new curriculum,” says Education Perfect (EP) Global Head of Science, Ms Hollis.
Teachers, she says, “often face an overwhelming workload with numerous responsibilities, from lesson planning and assessment to administrative tasks and student support”.
“Tech tools provide access to a vast array of educational resources that can significantly cut down the time they spend planning for a new curriculum,” she told EducationDaily. “These tools can support the creation of resources or the sourcing of ready-to-use materials that can be adapted or modified to suit the needs of their students.”
While teachers, she says, “don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel”, Ms Hollis says there are “many exceptional quality resources available for them to use with the students”.
Technology also helps to facilitate collaboration among educators, with online teacher communities and professional development platforms providing positive opportunities to share experiences, resources, and strategies for implementing new curriculum standards.
Foster professional connections
“Collaborative efforts can ease the transition process by enabling teachers to learn from one another’s successes and challenges, ultimately reducing feelings of isolation and stress,” she says. “LinkedIn and Facebook groups and educational-based Twitter/‘X’ hashtags, such as #aussieED, are great ways for teachers to connect and collaborate.”
When it comes to the top tech tools she believes teachers cannot do without, she makes these suggestions:
- Learning Management System (LMS): an LMS like Google Classroom or Canvas can help teachers organise assignments, communicate with students and parents, and share resources in a digital environment.
- Parent Communication Apps: apps like SeeSaw or ClassDojo facilitate communication between teachers and parents, sharing updates, assignments, and important information.
- Content Creation Tools: These can range from the basics of Google Docs and Microsoft Word to Canva to create classroom resources. Canva is now free to all K – 12 educators and allows them to use all of the Canva functionality to create beautiful resources.
To help the take-up of tech tools feel less overwhelming, Ms Hollis offers these practical tips for primary teachers:
- Keep it simple – don’t overwhelm the students with too many apps or advanced devices. For primary-aged students, a tablet-based device or Google Chrome offer enough functionality to achieve many of the goals that you’d like your students to reach.
- Collaborate with colleagues – find a group of teachers who are covering the same content and share the load of creating resources for your students.
For secondary teachers, Ms Hollis shares additional, tailored tools and tips to suit educators working with older students:
Tools:
- Learning Management System (LMS): an LMS like Google Classroom or Canvas can help teachers organise assignments, communicate with students and parents, and share resources in a digital environment.
- Educational software or apps: there is a wide range of platforms available to support you with the teaching of the curriculum. Platforms such as Education Perfect are interactive and up-to-date with the new curriculum, saving you time finding or creating your own resources. EP also comes with a robust assessment tool to support teachers in gathering real-time data on their student’s performance.
Tips:
- Provide guidelines around devices – you must have a clear understanding of what your students are going to be doing with their devices so that you can ensure that they are equipped with the right technology. Secondary students will often be typing more than primary students, so require a device with a keyboard. This can often be managed with a school wide ‘Bring Your Own Designated Device’ policy, that clearly outlines the specifications that student devices need to meet.
- Be prepared for the tech to fail – as we know, nothing is ever perfect and things will go wrong at the worst possible time. Always have a backup plan in case the tech decides not to work on a particular occasion. This doesn’t mean that you need to have a whole second lesson plan written up, just be ready to be flexible if need be.
“Essential Assessment is a great tool that can be used from K – 12,” Ms Hollis told EducationDaily. “It provides schools with a unique numeracy and literacy assessment and curriculum model that is aligned with the Australian Curriculum, Victorian Curriculum and NSW Syllabus. The platform supports a whole-school approach to summative and formative assessment for Australian schools that supports data-driven teaching and instructional leadership by providing curriculum-aligned data to plan and monitor growth.”
Seek professional development support
For teachers who may be struggling to keep up with tech innovation in the education sector, Ms Hollis says “schools should offer ongoing professional development opportunities, workshops, and courses specifically designed to enhance the tech skills that they want their teachers to have”.
“These should cater to various proficiency levels, from beginners to advanced users. This can be done in a variety of ways such as informal sessions that are held during the school day, i.e. Techie Brekkie or Lunch and Learn and mentorship programs, where teachers are paired up with others who can provide guidance, answer questions and share best practices,” she told EducationDaily. “Where possible, schools should also provide increased funding to allow teachers to attend external professional development opportunities such as conferences.”
The hiring of a Technology Integrator or partnerships with educational technology companies, she says, can also help support all staff within a school to embark on the effective implementation of technology.
“This is the kind of support that EP provides schools that subscribe by offering them free, regular professional development opportunities both in person and online. EP also hosts events that provide teachers with the opportunity to come together, network and learn about the platform and the best way to incorporate it into their classrooms. “
Tech support at home matters too
But Ms Hollis knows that making tech work in the lives of students and their education is about more than just what happens at school – it’s what happens at home, as well.
For families worrying about their ability to support their child’s digitally led education, Ms Hollis says “it’s entirely normal to have concerns or doubts about your digital literacy, even if you work in a role that uses technology often”.
Her advice for stressed families is to begin with the basics – “and gradually build your confidence”.
“Begin with what whether it’s helping your child use a tablet, read e-books, or explore educational apps,” she says. “Explore digital resources together, and let your child show you how they use technology in school. Embrace the opportunity to learn alongside your child.”
