Pratik Marwah tells you why many schools and universities are gradually implementing digital learning solutions and seeing smart classes as an option to enhanced learning among students
Information technology and IoT has truly reformed each sector and it is currently in the promising phases of altering academia. In the coming decades, education will be far changed, becoming more immersive and constructive to the people than it is today.
At present, the world is undergoing and welcoming major digital technology transformations. Emerging technologies are increasingly becoming a reality, opening doors to new and different skill sets, knowledge and expertise across all sections of society. It is on this premise that Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) hosted the 2016 Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium.
It is true that education has gone beyond the concept of bricks and mortar. Technology is digitalising the educational landscape worldwide, and many teachers are ready to accept the wave of digitisation but more effort still need to be exercised when it comes to its adoption. Outmoded teaching methods have merged with 21st Century teaching and learning trends. learning materials too have upgraded; new platforms are successfully involving and engaging students in methods that aren’t possible with stationary pages and content. Moreover, classrooms have become a platform supporting one-way communication, where students are highly disengaged from practical knowledge.
Also, the relationship between the student and professor is blurred. This is why many schools, colleges and universities are gradually implementing digital learning solutions and are seeing smart classes and digital programme platforms as a viable option to enhance learning and interest among students.
Knowledge and access
Technology is no doubt imparting education stress-free for both students and educators. Democratisation of knowledge and access is one aspect that universities of the future need to address. We live in the Google era, where there is a massive increase in the availability of ‘knowledge’ online. Universities will no longer be originators and keepers of knowledge. This fundamental change in the access and expansion of knowledge is a crucial factor here.
Digital technologies
Universities of the future will adopt various digital technologies that will transform the way education is delivered and accessed. Millennials, today, are tech-savvy and digital technologies can increase student engagement, self-assessment and accountability. The major shortcoming of our mainstream educational system is the lack of practical training and assessment/accountability. In the traditional model, there is a lack of standardised testing and assessment systems through which teachers or trainers and even students themselves can assess and evaluate the learning capabilities. Digital learning platforms can help build a holistic learning environment and explore ways of being accountable to progressive ideals, increasing the learning capacities and enhances outcomes for students. When talking about accountability, it is important to know that in this digital age, it is no longer possible to evaluate students with a paper and pen. New edtech systems will replace existing learning models that will help educators develop better ways of assessing students and school performance.
Gamification
Gamification in learning is emerging as an effective and innovative technique to engage learners. Using visual storytelling, feedback, and visual cues, it makes learning measurable and engaging. Essentially, gamification transforms learning experiences by implementing gaming techniques into educational topics. In this digital era, such interactive modes of education have augmented a learner’s performance and experience, finding its place under the sun. Today, the youth spend countless hours playing games and problem-solving, and tapping this, researchers and educators recommend this technique as a way to harness video-games’ power for motivation and apply it to the education. Meeting specified learning outcome, video games as a learning tool operates with a level of engagement that can be translated to an educational context towards the goals of facilitating learning. The adoption of this method has created immersive learning experiences for varied training needs like professional skills enhancement, soft skill enhancement, compliance, and behaviour change programs.
Artificial Intelligence
The impact of virtual reality and artificial intelligence on every aspect of our lives is grossly underestimated. The rate which technology is advancing is tremendous and its impact on our lives will be exponential in the coming years. Universities of the future will be leveraging virtual reality and digitised learning in innovative ways, increasing the standard of education for the future generations. Intelligent software and platforms can help enhance a learning experience of a student. These automated solutions respond to the specific needs of the student, laying greater emphasis on certain topic, repeating the process until they have truly mastered it. This helps students work at their own pace as well. Such personalised or custom tailored education with machine-assisted solutions can help students augment their learning capacity and skill building, with trainers and teachers facilitating the learning and offering help and support.
The writer is co-founder and COO of iAugmentor