Technology Enhanced Learning is an approach to study at university that is becoming more utilised year after year. There are a number of reasons for this, with the main points being that technology enhanced learning provides many opportunities and additional benefits to students to achieve an improved learningexperience. In my first year of university, I was introduced to the TEL tool Canvas which gives me access as a student to valuable resources directly from my lecture, as well as access to my timetable. The app is the required tool for assignment submissions so plays a key role in my learning. During my second year as a student at university, technology enhances learning became the forefront of my studies. My lecturers were delivering teaching solely online through the technology enhanced learning tool Microsoft Teams. Now, as a student in my final year, I have become a lot more open-minded when it comes to technology enhanced learning. I have developed an understanding that if these tools are available for me to use, it is most beneficial to do so! So, today I’m going to share what aspects of my learning have directly benefitted from Technology Enhanced Learning, and why the Jamworks app is my favourite TEL tool as a student.
What aspects of learning can only be accessed through TEL tools?
Whenever I speak to people who attended university before me, I find it fascinating to learn that there are many Technology Enhanced Learning tools which they had to make do without as students. It makes me think about what life would be like without tools such as Canvas, Microsoft Teams, Jamworks and so on, and how many aspects of learning I would miss out on as a result of this. An aspect of study which can only be accessed through Technology Enhanced Learning is the ability to rewatch lecture content. I use the Jamworks app to record key points of my lectures as a form of note taking, and then rewatch/listen back to these clips during revision periods. As a result of this Technology Enhanced Learning tool, I am guaranteed to capture all the required and relevant information relayed to me during a lecture and I can give myself unlimited opportunities to re-experience this teaching until I am confident I have learned and utilised the necessary information. As a student who suffers with anxiety and a short attention span, the Jamworks app helps to reduce my stress levels during classes. If I did not have access to Technology Enhanced Learning tool Jamworks, I would not have the same level of access to my learning as I do now, so I am grateful for that. Another aspect of learning which can only be accessed through Technology Enhanced Learning tools is AI assistance. The use of AI in relation to study helps to speed up processes that would typically take longer through human processes, thus providing students with a smoother path to resources and information. The Jamworks app provides me with AI generated transcripts and summaries of the recorded clips I have taken during my lecture via the Jamworks app. This is an invaluable tool as a student as now I do not need to sit and write up notes by hand. Furthermore, with my Jamworks Pro subscription I am provided with AI generated revision quizzes based on the content taken directly from the lecture recording. There are many other TEL apps such as Anki and Quizlet which students can use for flashcard-style learning, but the Jamworks app is the only Technology Enhanced Learning tool which creates these learning resources directly from your personal learning resources.
How to approach Technology Enhanced Learning as a student
As a student I used to find Technology Enhanced Learning rather overwhelming, and if this is the same for you, do not worry it is normal to feel this way. There are such an abundance of TEL tools available online to students and with this access ever expanding at such a rapid rate, failing to keep up to date with it all can be intimidating. I know many students who enjoy the old-school style of purchasing stationery and doing things by hand; it’s familiar and if something’s not broken, why fix it, right? This was definitely my mindset for a large part of my college experience and when I first started at university. All of the TEL approaches felt too complex and even expensive for me, so I shut them out unless they were mandatory such as Canvas for example. But when I found Jamworks this shifted my entire mindset. I realised that just because there are an unlimited number of resources available does not mean I need to shift my entire approach to revision to online and technological methods. I was not in a position to afford to kit myself out with an iPad pro and Apple Pencil unlike some of my fellow students, but I could download the Jamworks app for free on my trusty Windows laptop and make myself a profile. I quickly realised as a result of using the app for a few weeks during my lectures that Technology Enhanced Learning is not about changing and leaving behind your old approaches to make way for the new, but more so that you can add on benefits and pick and choose aspects of tools that give you options you didn’t have access to previously. I still enjoy keeping a paper diary, using my coloured pens to outline different notes and so on, but using the Jamworks app as a form of Technology Enhanced Learning at university enables me to develop these notes beyond the limited information I managed to jot down whilst the lecturer rambled on speedily. I can capture and access key details that would have otherwise been missed out, and this is how I have as a result improved my grades and reduced my stress levels as a student.
Technology Enhanced Learning is entering into our lives as students whether we like it or not, so instead of rejecting it, it’s time we change our outlook on habits and try to incorporate additional methods of learning that include these tools to improve our access to resources. The Jamworks app is students’ favourite Technology Enhanced Learning tool because it provides invaluable access to lecture content and key information that cannot be accessed otherwise. It is a Technology Enhanced Learning tool which enables us as students to study through multiple learning styles and formats, be it visual, auditory, reading and so on. It provides a wide range of accessibility methods to cater for every student’s additional needs, which can be particularly helpful if you’re a student who receives DSA support. The Jamworks app is my key to using Technology Enhanced Learning to my advantage as a student who wants to succeed.
Try out students’ favourite Technology Enhanced Learning tool Jamworks – Click here to get started today!
