The transition in education is slowly lifting up the education sector to new levels, thus helping the sector to bounce back, ushering new hopes and opportunities for a brighter future.
The classical education system had become sluggish and started to create student debt balloons. While other industries had managed to pick up the pace with the change in time, the education sector was slow at its attempts.
Revolutionizing the old and inundated education system was an umpteen task for the stakeholders. But what has helped in fulfilling the demands of the new and improved 21’st century education standards is the integration of technology in education. Right from the learning to the administrative departments, technology is slowly permeating nearly all levels of the education sector thereby helping to bridge up huge gaps and also resolve the accessibility issue of quality education across countries.
Education plays a pivotal role in building a foundation in the society and it wouldn’t be wrong to state that education is the very foundation on which a country is built. Through education, children learn how to reach their potential and become a productive member of the economy and a responsible citizen. Thus, the change in the classical education system was most required need as through it, countries can think of developing generations that are not only literate individuals but an enlightened citizen who can adjust to the new globalized culture.
Today with the help of good internet facility, students situated at the remotest corner of globe can interact with the best of the teachers of the developed world. They can also think of enrolling themselves to wide area of disciplines which just a few years back was considered, nothing short of a miracle or a dream.
Here are a list of important trends which are slowly shaping up the education for a better future.
1. Four C’s in Education
The four Cs of education namely- communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity will be at the forefront in 2017. It is particularly a tool and approach which lend themselves to collaborative learning.
The next generation online tools are also facilitating student collaboration and communication to allow students to act as creators of knowledge, rather than just consumers. Collaborative learning models is driving student-centered learning and emphasizing on interaction, working groups, developing solutions to real-world problems and communicating globally are the latest iteration of this trends.
2. Creating Personalized Learning Environment
It is the advancement in education technology that has helped students learn in a personalized learning environment. This immensely beneficial trend blends everything right from face-to-face teaching to technology assisted instruction mode to collaboration approaches to address each students learning needs. The main goal behind the creation of personalized learning environment is to germinate in the seed of deeper learning in students. So, basically with the help of modern day personalized learning technology, instructors can tailor instruction based on students learning needs and assess students regularly to evaluate the efficacy of instructional approaches and their learning levels.
3. Project, Problem and Challenge Based learning
Thanks to technology, the new trend in education is that of project based learning which is in tune with the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin- “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
So such kind of modern pedagogical approaches to learning along with inquiry model are fostering student-centered learning and student empowerment. It is also helping in engaging students in critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and self-directed learning connected to real life applications. Students are now able to take ownership of their learning and makes learning more active, both inside and outside the classroom. Students can now thus retain the gathered knowledge better and know better how to apply that knowledge at different situations.
4. Maker Programs and Activities
The trend is becoming more mainstream than ever and much like the 1:1 movements, it gives one a new lens through which one can look at traditional curriculum. In fact, maker-movement works like a catalyst for making changes in to teaching.
5. Augmented and Virtual Reality
AR and VR has started with a bang to slowly transform education and allow it to move beyond gaming applications. More and more classroom content is in its development stage for these technologies as it is finding home in schools, colleges and universities.
2017 was just the year for these two technologies to bloom and make its space in the instructional environment.
6. Computational Thinking, Coding and Robotics
With the popularity of maker movement, came up the rise of robotics and with robotics, what emerged out as a rising trend is that of coding, coding programs and programming. So you see, all these trends are not only interlinked with each other but are taking students to a deeper level of thinking process. Most of the maker movement activities are run by coding. The best thing is that, students of all ages are keenly taking interest in computational thinking as coding has been integrated across the subject areas.
7. Coaching Best Practices and Professional learning Models
New and revised professional learning models are adopted to revolutionize the education sector. Hence, what’s accompanying it is the focus on the role and responsibilities of the instructional technology coach. Both teachers as well as administrators need to fully understand how to effectively integrate technology and technology resources in the learning space and this is only possible with a professional development and support from competent coach. Thus, best practices of instructional technology are adopted by all institutions.
To conclude, as more and more technology advances, it is likely to improve the learning approaches to another level altogether, helping students to widen their intelligence and make better use of it to build a better society.
So, what are your views on it? Do let us know on it through your comments and if you have more information to share about the edtech trends shared above, please feel free to share with us that too.
