The Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Educational Apps in Classrooms

Innovation in the use of educational apps has rapidly grown in the classroom setting from all parts of the world, benefiting the student bodies and learning experiences. These tools use technology to help students engage with lessons in an individualized, unique, and changing way. However, like with other technologies, there are pros and cons to employing educational applications. These are some benefits that can be understood to assist the teachers in decision making that affects embracing these tools in their classrooms.

Benefits of Using Educational Apps in Classrooms

1. Increased Involvement of Students

• Mobile applications offer richer media through which teachers can present material that could engage the students. In this manner, they incorporate text, visuals and sound into the child’s learning process, thus making them learn with much enthusiasm.

• Some of the aspects, such as the use of games, allow students to move from one lesson to the next strictly on the basis of earning points or simply being rewarded.

2. Individualized Education

• They enable differentiation of the students in the classroom. In an asynchronous environment, learners are able to study at their own pace, to go back to information they had difficulty understanding or to skip sections they already comprehended.

• There are numerous applications that can give recommendations regarding the performance of the learner, and thus it can help the teacher to understand the strengths as well as weaknesses of the learner.

3. Availability of a Great Variety of Resources

• Apps open the door to video, simulation, and practice questions in areas that might not be accessible in a brick-and-mortar setting, such as writings such as books on a tablet.

• It assists students in accessing information from so many resources; this affirms students that any information provided by different sources offers the changes in form of descriptions, examples, and other presentations required by students.

4. Enhanced Cooperation

• Most learning applications are normally developed with the concept of collaborative learning, where students can form small groups and work on tasks assigned to them, brainstorm or share ideas, and solve problems together.

• Feedback and communication tools aid the students in developing team-making and teamwork and traits that they would require in the future.

5. Enhanced Effectiveness of Teachers

• Some of the important uses of educational apps are: The following administrative activities can be facilitated by teachers and educational apps: grading assignments, assessing student progress, and sharing assignments.

• Apps help teachers and students give instant responses to the work done, therefore freeing a considerable amount of time that would otherwise have been spent on evaluation to increase the efficiency of the teaching process.

6. Anywhere, at any time, learning

• This makes educational applications one of the most important benefits, as they do not necessarily require usage only during the school day. Students are able to engage in various applications during their after- or before-class time for lessons, assignments or test preparation, hence increasing flexibility in learning.

• This is particularly beneficial to the learners who may require some assistance or have long-term challenges due to sports, other activities, or any other engagements that may compel them to engage in part-time work.

7. Assistance for Various Learning Styles

• The use of educational apps means that there is room for diversity, and if a particular child is, say, a visual learner, an aural learner, or a physical learner, then they can learn through the preferred method on the app.

• For instance, some apps use animations and video lessons while others use quizzes or maybe the use of verbal directions, making it easier for all the learners.

8. Data and Analytics in Real Time

• Many educational applications have real-time analytics of the students’ performance, and the teachers can get the report of the students’ performance immediately.

• These data help the teachers to track the students’ performance and see students’ comprehension and learning lagging or not and make changes to their lessons immediately.

9. Affordable Educational Options

• Education apps are often either completely free of charge or are available at very low cost, making this type of solution a cheap way for schools to supplement teaching methods, handbooks or physical supplies.

• When designing an application that offers a wide variety of content, it becomes easier for schools to download numerous materials that are very expensive in a traditional format.

10. Getting Ready for the Future of Technology

• Since technology is applied in many fields, students who engage in the use of education apps become conversant with applications that they will find useful in their future work.

• Understanding skills on how to use educational apps gives students a feel of how to survive in today’s market by being computer literate.

Drawbacks of Using Educational Apps in Classrooms

1. An excessive dependence on technology

• Educational applications can be brilliant to use, yet there are issues with dependency on such tools. He or she may find themselves using more of the app-based teaching and training while overlooking other valuable facets of learning, such as direct interaction and practical lessons.

• It can also make students less proficient with critical skills and analysis with non-technology-based tasks with learners.

2. Misuse and Neglect

• Application in education comes with challenges where students tend to misuse the application often by distracting them from the class. Students own mobile devices, with applications easily accessible, and perhaps thinking about any other unrelated content from the classroom.

• It is crucial to be attentive to this problem because even the educational applications that were developed to help students can cause disengagement as students start receiving tons of notifications or as their curiosity turns them into the testers of all the remaining features.

3. Issues of Fairness and Accessibility

• Some students do not own these devices or have access to an efficient internet connection that enables them to use these educational applications. This web can result in an emergence of digital inequality whereby some of the learners are connected while others are not.

• Worries arise when students come to class from diverse backgrounds and the future holds no smartphone, tablet or even computers for some of these students.

4. Issues with Screen Time

• Since these educational apps entail more time spent on using devices, then this is a major challenge to the health of students. Extended time spent staring at screens has been associated with uncomfortable eye issues, headaches, and poor posture.

• Others have questioned the psychological impact of spending long hours in front of screens, which is supposed to increase stress levels and reduce concentration levels.

5. Control of Quality and Dependability

• There is indication that all educational applications are not the same. Some may be ineffectively made, hard to use or contain prejudiced or potentially misleading information.

6. Training and Adaptation for Teachers

• Incorporation of applications into learning activities has the challenge of training teachers, which is tiresome and might be expensive. The effectiveness of the apps, however, may be significantly reduced because many of the educators may not be at ease using technology in their teaching.

• Teachers may also experience difficulties in the successful integration of apps into their teaching and learning process that bring about the creation of content found in the app and the learning objectives.

7. Insufficient Long-Term Effects

• A few skeptics claim that educational applications cannot promote the development of thorough knowledge or proper understanding of patterns. Although they could be very helpful for revising, access to the application of higher-order thinking skills is limited and may not be as significant when compared with other forms of learning.

Conclusion

The incorporation of educational apps as tools for teaching and learning can be described in equal measure as both promising and challenging. On the one hand, these applications are characterized by improved interactivity, adaptivity, utilization of a broad database, and other advantages. At the same time, issues such as overdependence on technology and privacy have to be well addressed. 

DiYES International, one of the best schools in Trivandrum, steps together with the advancement of technology. The application has everything that a student and their parents require for home learning as well. Get in touch to know more.