Recently, more schools have been applying interactive activities and media in classes as they believe that this can improve the learning experience and efficiency. I personally tend to agree with this idea although it might bring some adverse impacts in some circumstances.
Using visual aids and interactions in teaching can improve the engagement and learning efficiency because they arouse learning interests and help on understanding. I believe that the traditional teaching method – learning by rote and teaching by talking – mean that education depends largely on the teacher’s communication and students’ personal memory. If there were aids such as online cartoon videos to display the concepts, different views from other world- renowned institutions, and even engaging activities to apply the knowledge with peer wise, students would be more likely to have interests to explore the unknown and understand promptly by in-person experiences in such activities, rather than just collapsing in the classroom chairs to memorize the abstract knowledge again and again.
On the other hand, there are some detrimental impacts on learning outcome and efficiency if using too many assistant tools in classroom. If the whole class were occupied with videos and games without instructors’ interpretation and self-reflection, students could be faced with ambiguous understanding of those videos and take little away from the time-consuming games without understanding the meaning of different roles and where they can improve, resulting in a classroom experience which undoes the earlier gains. This is particularly the case for students who are shy and resistant to engage actively or ask questions in such activities. However, these issues can be addressed strategically within the balance between teaching and aiding tools.
In conclusion, it seems to me that visual and iinteractive assistance in classroom can bring a greater positive impact on students’ learning interest and speed, despite the fact that this is not always the case when the balance between teaching and interaction breaks.