It is certain that technology will drive the future of education. The new teaching tools that have come up in the wake of the pandemic have proven to be effective for the new generation of learners and educators. With an education that fits in the palms of a student’s hands, it’s now a matter of gaining mind space, in the form of effective lesson retention. Interesting trends have risen in the months that followed the sudden shift to digital education. We explore some of them in this blog.
Personalized and paced learning
Even though most subjects taught at school aim to increase a student’s ability, the road to achieving success can vary from student to student. In the traditional classroom setting, we are familiar with the instances where some students are able to grasp concepts faster than the others and vice versa. With the modern learning tools, all students will be able to personalize their learning journey with challenges based on their skill levels, without causing disruption to their peers or educators. This personalization and pace of learning styles can be adopted with ease and help students gain confidence with additional practice and learning methods. Apart from the techniques, the availability of using different devices for learning is also available to students.
Unified learning experiences
Progress cards, marksheets, in-person group discussions and college interviews.
This is what the end of a school journey looked like. With the power of technology, it is now possible to chart a learning path right from school to college. Consolidation of all information pertaining to assessments, entry requirements and college details enable students to carefully consider the course they want to take after school. The availability of such details to potential college recruiters also help them make an informed decision on student intakes and the admissions process. Platforms such as Ken42, offer institutions to design their education architecture and customize it per student and faculty requirements. This trend of easily available information in the form of a single platform to access any student information across their academic paths is revolutionary and unimaginable pre-pandemic.
Vocational learning
Thanks to the New Education Policy of 2020, another emerging trend in education is the emphasis to deliver a vocation-based education and techniques. The job opportunities in today’s world are adapting to the massive digital audience and remote-work setups therefore, students will have to inculcate a project-based learning mindset to dovetail into the new stream of jobs. The practical solutions that they can apply to different challenges need to be taught to build their skillsets. Since the mandate of the education policy, institutions are working towards bringing in industry leaders and subject matter experts to coach learners on these aspects and give them a rounded education. Soft skills such as team collaboration, time management, and organizational skills can further help students excel in their academic career.
Usage of deep technology
A lot of new learning strategies have been introduced to cater to the evolved needs of digital learners. Technologies like gamification through augmented and virtual reality is one of the emerging trends of 2021. Courses designed around these technologies as a base tap into the intrinsic motivation to learn and develop concrete skills outside the setting of a classroom. With appropriate use, lesson concepts are retained better through engagement with the student, and turns them into an active learner over a period of time.
Social and emotional learning
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. There is increasing focus on this aspect of learning in today’s school curriculum due to the pandemic’s effects on children’s social and emotional lives. Aligning learning outcomes keeping the social and emotional learning benefits in mind is paramount to educators and the presentation of such learning offerings presents the educational institution favorably amongst parents and higher education students.
Remote assessments
Experience-based assessments will be used to test acquired knowledge and skill sets. The current trends and issues in education revolve around maximising lesson retention and minimizing assessment bias by incorporating advanced testing methodologies to give examiners a near-accurate picture of progress. Application-based testing methods to gauge critical thinking are what educators will turn to.
Policy support
More directives on curriculum by Governmental and Non-Governmental bodies such as the UGC, CBSE, NCERT and many others, to ensure standardized methods of education delivery as first witnessed in the New Education Policy, 2020 might come about. With many educational institutions in the country, having a system in place will help with better planning and delivery of curriculum subjects, quality of the faculty and other institutional activities, key to providing a holistic learning environment to students.
Digital literacy curriculum
Having a digital literacy curriculum weaved into the mainstream school curriculum will be imperative for students as well as teachers, going forward. Based on the students’ developmental stages, appropriately designed lessons which cover the range of learning tools along with potential risks of overuse or misuse are to be covered by the educator.
Modern education settings have found to suit the digital natives better than intended, even though the challenge of bringing basic education to the rural parts of the country amidst the shutdown of schools still prevails. It is predicted that more efforts, from the government, industry and institution, will be directed towards providing equal learning and job opportunities to all students with vocation-based training as the main focus.