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Parents may often see their children using technology at every given opportunity. Their children use it during leisure, at dinner, and even when they're with friends. There is this fear of the potential negative effects of the overuse of phones and tablets, and the fear is warranted. The addiction to phones has been a problem that schools have been addressing with haste. But our fear doesn't derive from technology itself but from how it's used. We see the abundance of contemporary research reinforcing these fears. At the same time, insightful and significant cognitive neuroscience on technology does not always directly translate into the intricate world of humans (Lodge & Williams, 2019). This is not to discredit any of the technology research but to shift our paradigm to see the advantages that technology can have on your child's educational experience. As an educator, my initial fears subsided once I saw the value of using digital tools that elevated the motivation and engagement of my students. I'm going to share some of my experiences that can be utilized both within a school setting and within your homes for your children.

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For learning to happen, students have to be engaged. A principle of brain-based learning is that the brain has to pay attention to the stimulus for learning to occur in most cases (Harden & Jones, 2022). Students have to be purposefully engaged in the content to learn. The digital tools that I integrate into the classroom draw the students' attention. They remain engaged throughout the activity because of the incentives and competitive nature that the tools evoke. To support learning for students, we also have to give attention to improving memory. Retrieval practice can improve memory as it involves the repetitive process of storing and retrieving information from long-term memory (Frankenstein et al., 2022). Students have access to these digital tools that they can use on their own time to quiz themselves and practice to measure their retention of the content. Parents, I encourage you to see the value of encouraging digital tools that your children can use to study the content that we learn in class. Students often find themselves lacking motivation or attention in the information they're consuming, but these digital tools keep your children engaged. Research has shown the importance of retrieval practice on memory. Your children should periodically use these digital tools to strengthen the neural connections to retain the information that they are learning.

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A digital tool that I recommend using is Quizlet. On top of being engaging, Quizlet is a gamified tool that will access the reward pathway system as multiple users can participate to be the first to get the most amount of correct answers. You can invite other family members to play to encourage friendly competition. As social learners, this collaborative activity can elevate everyone's motivation to retain information and promote a fun learning experience. Our students play in teams that add to providing feedback among team members. Through social learning, various neural connections are made that can provide more neural networks for memory and learning (Nichols, 2023). Your children can have a similar experience to boost learning inside their own homes with the family participating in Quizlet. Another feature on Quizlet that can enhance learning is using the "flashcards" option. Students can utilize flashcards to test themselves. Students will see the concept first and then will recall the information. They can check how accurate they were by clicking on the flashcard to see the other side. Students can flag flashcards that they need to improve on. Recalling information requires students to retrieve information from their long-term memory, and these neural connections will strengthen as students engage in this practice repeatedly. This process of retrieval practice will improve their learning overtime.

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A desired outcome from this is that students will utilize their time with technology to review course content through the tools they have been equipped with within school and at home. Students will exhibit the spacing effect in which studying over a length of time proves to be more beneficial than in one sitting. Their use of technology will be more geared towards education. Another desired outcome is that students will find other appropriate tools to engage in that will enhance their studying techniques and add to their arsenal of digital tools. An anticipated change from this presentation would be that parents encourage their children to use digital tools like Quizlet or Gimkit to increase content retention and improve their learning experience.

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A challenge of learning in using digital tools that can arise is the lack of implementing higher order thinking skills within these platforms. These digital tools can assess content retention and memory, but may not always support learning itself. These digital tools are not meant to access the prefrontal cortex for critical thinking or problem-solving. These tools are intended to increase content retention for students so that they may be able to feel motivated to confront more challenging activities in the classroom. In class, we will engage in activities requiring higher-order and critical thinking skills. but students often shut down when there are activities with more rigor due to simply not having a full grasp of the content. By using digital tools to support content learning both in the classroom and at home, students can feel less stress on a negative level and embrace challenging activities that boost their learning.

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An additional resource that parents can use themselves or research is Nearpod. Nearpod is a resource that teachers use that has interactive slides as well as interactive tools to engage students in new ways. They offer many different tools to keep them invested and allow teachers to provide immediate feedback for students to make corrections and improvements in their learning. This interactive method also invites students to play an active role in their learning that targets different neural networks rather than being passive learners. At the teachers discretion, Nearpod also can provide visuals as well as well as hands-on learning to meet the needs of diverse learners. There are many different features on the platform including interactive lessons to promote collaborative learning. Edpuzzle is another resource for parents to see as a valuable asset for teachers. Students can use Edpuzzle to watch videos and there will be questions throughout the video that students will engage in to check for understanding. Students can engage with questions that encourage critical thinking as teachers provide open-ended questions. The videos would be beneficial for visual learning and dual coding to accomodate for diverse learners. Students can rewatch these videos at home and answer the questions embedded in the video platform. They can also receive feedback promptly from their teachers so that they can correct their mistakes and ensure that what they're learning is accurate. Both of these amazing resources can be used by students in their homes that may be assigned by their teachers.

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Support teachers and maximize classroom instruction time

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Empower your teachers to create engaging, effective lessons that will help students succeed on their unique journey.