Social Emotional Learning Through Classroom Technology
From managing our schedules, to corresponding with parents and coworkers, to recognizing when we need to eat, our ability to complete the everyday functions of our lives relies on our own social emotional skills—such as communication, assessing our own needs, empathizing with others, problem-solving, and goal-setting. For students, these skills are gained and refined through social emotional learning, and technology can be useful in providing students and teachers with the tools and means to aid that learning.
Social emotional learning technology helps teachers integrate SEL into classrooms in ways that are meaningful and measurable, as well as provide teachers and students with the means of measuring the effectiveness of SEL and progress toward learning objectives. These programs create personalized learning experiences through software that analyzes and adapts to students’ study behaviors and progress to support their individual learning styles and needs.
Integrating Social Learning Tools
Programs like McGraw Hill Connect, GSuite, and Office365 are great examples of social emotional learning technology that both enhance student engagement and support differentiated learning by encouraging students to track and measure their own progress and assess their own learning. Using social learning tools, students are able to determine areas of personal struggle and growth in real time and, as a result, are provided with more intuitive, individualized learning experiences. This enables students to learn to set and meet realistic, individual goals and problem solve to meet personal learning objectives, while remaining mindful of their needs, learning styles, and other educational factors in the process.
Practicing social emotional skills through technology has proven to be especially beneficial to students with special needs, as it provides them with a less pressurized learning environment in which to do so, while giving them a sense of control over their own learning.
Why Foster Social Emotional Learning Through Technology
Social emotional learning helps students develop better peer social relationships, emotional awareness, and job readiness skills. Through social learning technology, students are further encouraged to take charge of their own learning, as well as empowered with the ability to see their progress in their own social emotional learning and completion of learning objectives. Students who are introduced to technology that encourages their learning of social and emotional skills do better both academically and in their personal lives.
Social emotional learning has been beneficial in teaching emotional regulation and empathy that has been proven to help in the prevention of both cyberbullying and suicide, leading to healthier, happier, more productive students with greater short-term and long-term outcomes. SEL is essential to whole-child learning and giving students their best chance at their best future!
