Smart boards, tablets, digital quizzes, learning platforms, AI, virtual reality, and adaptive learning apps. The list goes on. Educational technology or edtech/ed tech, in so many forms, is an important part of most classrooms today starting in elementary school.
While digital tools can enhance learning, they are most effective when used alongside hands-on experiences. Whether at school or at home, the goal isn't choosing between screens or paper, emerging vs. traditional. It's about creating a balanced approach that supports every child's development and success.
Within the mix, hands-on experiences remain essential for child development. Given that technology is now integral to everyday life and learning, finding the sweet spot can be a challenge. Explore how School Zone supports balanced learning through both digital and print resources.
Why Hands-On Learning Still Matters
Children learn best when they can actively explore, create, write, build, and solve problems using real-world materials. TeachTown, whose mission is “To measurably improve the academic, behavioral and adaptive functioning of students with disabilities,” is part of Everway, a global technology company. Clearly, their business is very much tech-oriented, yet they have posted a terrific 18-page resource titled, Why Hands-On Learning Still Matters: The Enduring Value of Physical Materials in an EdTech World.
It emphasizes that even in today’s tech-rich instructional environment, “Print-based and multisensory learning opportunities remain essential, research-supported methods for students to access, process, and retain information.”
About hands-on learning, they note, “When students can manipulate objects, experiment, point to visuals, sort, stack, trace, measure, or build, they’re engaging in experiences that connect learning objectives to action.”
Similarly, 5 Reasons Hands-On Learning Matters More Than Ever, by Innovation Station, says that hands-on learning “encourages teamwork, communication, and perseverance” and “it transforms kids from consumers into creators.” The article adds, “Instead of just watching how things work, children get to create how things work.”
A few key benefits of hands-on activities are that they:
• Develop fine motor skills through writing, drawing, and building
• Encourage creativity and problem-solving
• Support memory through active participation
• Build confidence through experiential learning
• Foster interaction and collaboration
In short, hands-on learning in elementary school strengthens cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development.
How Technology Enhances Learning
However, to acknowledge the continued importance of hands-on learning does not discount or even minimize the value of educational technology for kids. Among its many benefits, ed tech can personalize learning, provide instant feedback, and keep kids engaged.
“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching…” notes Dan Schwartz in the 2024 Stanford Report article How Technology Is Reinventing Education. Schwartz is dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education, a professor, of educational technology at the GSE, and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning.
The article also says, “The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom,” and Schwartz suggests that “Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level.”
Describing a possible instructor-student experience, he adds, “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”
Clearly, the full potential of ed tech is vast, exciting, and fast-evolving. A few of its known benefits include:
• Personalized learning at each child’s pace
• Immediate feedback and progress tracking
• Facilitated assessment
• Increased motivation through engaging activities
• Reinforcement of classroom skills through interactive games
Digital tools can facilitate interactive learning for school-aged kids and even preschoolers, encouraging them to engage, participate, and collaborate.
Blending Digital and Hands-On Activities for Better Learning
As powerful as digital tools are, they work best when they reinforce concepts rather than replace traditional learning experiences. Calling blended learning “a new educational paradigm,” the Australia-based Discover™ Learning Designs posted Blending Traditional and Digital Learning: Strategies for Success. They observe that “Blended learning is a game-changer for both students and educators. By mixing traditional classroom teaching with digital methods such as eLearning, it offers the best of both worlds.”
Another article, Exploring the Benefits of Blended Learning, by Metaverse® Learning, suggests that “Blended learning allows for the direct interaction of traditional classrooms while also leveraging the accessibility and flexibility of online resources.”
Blended learning or hybrid learning can include many pairings, but here are a few practical examples of how parents and teachers can combine technology with offline learning to deepen understanding, using a combination of School Zone’s Anywhere Teacher online learning program and print products.
• Complete a digital phonics lesson, then practice writing letters by hand – Explore dozens of phonics activities on Anywhere Teacher including those using Feed the Robot, Finish the Word, and Word Bank, and Beginning and Ending Sounds strategies, then move to Phonics Review Grades 1-3 Workbook or Phonics Made Easy Flash Cards.
• Use math apps before solving problems with counters, manipulatives, or on-paper problem-solving – Anywhere Teacher math activities range from Charlie’s Math Adventure and Sunny Day: Find and Count Shapes for the preschool through kindergarten crowd to math worksheets for first, second, third, and fourth graders. Similarly, workbooks like Preschool Write & Reuse Workbook practice early foundational skills while those like Big Math Grades 1-2 Workbook and Multiplication Facts Made Easy Grades 3-4 Workbook drill down into grade-specific essentials.
• Read an interactive eBook followed by a printed story with discussion – Anywhere Teacher includes eBooks with Read to Me and I Can Read options for building both confidence and independence as well as fiction and non-fiction eBooks that include comprehension quizzes at the end to test learning. Or give early readers a nice little “library” with the 3-level Start to Read!® 12-Book Set. It has charming stories that build on relatable yet imaginative themes like Get Lost, Becka! and The Fabulous Principal Pie.
• Explore science videos before completing a simple hands-on experiment – Check out the Exploring Nature: Life Cycle videos or digital flash cards (space, weather, insects, dinosaurs, bodies of water, and landforms) on Anywhere Teacher then dig into Big Science 2-3 Workbook, which expands knowledge of weather, plants, insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and includes hands-on experiments such as “condensation on a can” or a model for air pressure. Kids can make their very own rainbow on a sunny day or be a “flake detective” on the next snowy day.
Lifelong habits and practices start early, and K through grade 5 classroom technology is important in our tech-driven world. School Zone makes it easy to introduce and reinforce lessons using Anywhere Teacher combined with a wide range of more traditional but dynamic workbooks, activity books, and other tools.
Creating Healthy, Balanced Technology Habits
Technology is a powerful tool when used with purpose, yet hands-on learning remains a cornerstone of child development. Helping children develop a balanced relationship with technology, and finding the right balance for every learner is important.
Tech and hands-on can work together beautifully. As the Discover™ Learning Designs article says, “Whether you’re diving into a history lesson via an interactive online platform or solving math problems in a classroom, blended learning ensures you’re getting the best of both worlds."
To help achieve that healthy balance:
• Choose high-quality educational content
• Set healthy screen-time routines
• Encourage regular movement and breaks
• Use technology intentionally rather than passively
• Stay involved in children's digital learning
Not all digital learning for kids is of equal value. True too, of traditional learning. Different children also benefit from different learning tools in different proportions. Serving as both curator and coach in support of kids’ learning and entertainment will go a long way toward achieving a healthy balance.
How School Zone Brings the Best of Both Worlds
The use of technology in education has changed our world. However, technology isn't meant to replace hands-on learning. A balanced approach helps kids stay engaged and confident, but balancing screen time and hands-on learning for school-aged kids and even preschoolers can be challenging.
School Zone provides resources that make balanced learning easy at home and in the classroom. They include:
• Print workbooks that reinforce foundational skills
• Interactive digital games for both independent and collaborative practice
• The Anywhere Teacher online learning platform for ages 2-8
• Activities designed to complement classroom learning
• Resources for parents, homeschoolers, and teachers
• Support for kindergarten through grade 5 learners with flexible learning options
The School Zone Publishing story is one built on a deep understanding of how kids learn. We combine decades of educational expertise with traditional learning resources and digital tools to support children wherever they learn, to help them grow and thrive.
Join the blended learning adventure today!
