Changes that took place in the education sector will continue to impact 2017 as well, says TEAM AVENUES
The impact
The year 2016 was a vibrant one for the education sector. Several new developments took place and a gamut of themes and issues gathered pace to further transform the education landscape for the better. The two biggest beneficiaries of these changes have been the learner, who is at the centre of the learning eco-system, and the teacher, who is the principal pivot in this eco-system. Below are the top themes that we believe dominated the education landscape in 2016 and will continue to impact the sector through 2017 as well.
Integrated and theme-based learning: Integrated learning solutions that seamlessly combine print and digital modes have made their presence felt and will potentially disrupt the school education sector in a big way this year. In addition to print and digital integration, it is important for such solutions to be teacher-friendly, assessment-enabled, theme or activity-based, among other things. Theme-based learning modules enable contextual learning through a cross-disciplinary approach which aids conceptual clarity for the learner.
Assessments: Assessments are today established as a potent tool to not just measure the learner’s performance but also modulate the overall teaching strategy, especially with the help of analytics in formative assessments. Integrated and more developed assessment solutions that provide detailed analytics on student performance should get further traction in 2017.
Professional development of teachers: There was a lot of focus on professional development of teachers in 2016. Shortage of trained teachers is a recognised hurdle in improving learning outcomes in the country. A continued focus on the professional development of teachers through a combination of online and offline learning modules is critical, given their pivotal role and contribution in the education eco-system.
Bilingual as medium of learning for young adults: In order to expand reach, it becomes imperative for learning organizations to develop content that is either in the native language of the learner or bilingual recognising that commerce and industry uses the English language. Given India’s young demographic and their linguistic characteristics, bilingual learning material is probably more relevant than ever before!
Digital proliferation in education: The Internet and its proliferation, and affordable and accessible devices have redefined learning ability unconstrained by factors like time and place. Digital highways that are being created as part of the Digital India Mission will play an important role in connecting India and Bharat. We do believe that the full impact of digitisation in education will play out even stronger in 2017 and beyond.
| Sivaramakrishnan V, managing director, Oxford University Press India
IT is in Education
In today’s tech-centric environment, keeping abreast with the latest trends is critical for a student’s continuous learning and development. More so, because technology today is disrupting all walks of life, education included. The top three trends that will impact education include—
· Flipped learning: It is a form of integrated learning, where the students access concepts and subjects, outside class, often through online channels. This concept repository, is interactive in nature, imbibed with videos, visuals and audios, and group assignments, which facilitate an immersive, experience-based learning rather than the conventional classroom type teaching. With limited teachers in our education system, this solution enhances the effectiveness of the teachers!
· Data Centric Decision Making: Data centric decision making is extremely critical, for schools, teachers, parents and students, when they have to make life-impacting decisions. Decisions like making a career choice or personalising/designing a curriculum, will be driven by data. The beauty of it is that decision making is extremely personalised, and based on validated and accurate metrics which is devoid of human bias. Given the need for customised quality solutions for mass audience, leveraging AI along with strategic human interventions is the way forward.
· Gamification and Virtual Reality: Is the concept of applying game-design thinking to real-life situation, to build critical problem solving. Coupling this with virtual reality, promotes immersive learning, amongst students, and challenges them to overcome an obstacle, with creative problem solving. With shorter attention span and increasing pressure on students the need for making learning fun is the need of the hour. Education is not just about grades, but to hard wire practical applications of concepts, and to facilitate a surreal learning experience.
|Prateek Bhargava, CEO & Founder, Mindler
Information Management will dominate
Given the Government’s regulatory upheaval and recent initiatives like Digital India, especially around land reforms, there exists huge opportunity for information management to come to the fore and simplify the way works gets done.
The ubiquitous nature of data and the countless formats it is embedded in, has resulted in the coinage of the term data chaos. It is evident that businesses are relatively unprepared in the realm of data chaos. Businesses will need to focus on managing the data and information in a way that harnesses the value and enables them to better serve customers, improve decision-making and have a positive effect on the bottom line.
The Association for Information and Image Management outlines engagement, automation and insights as core issues for enterprises when it comes to information and data. Companies will make concerted efforts to overcome challenges in these areas by way of evolved IT implementations.
The regulatory landscape in India and across the globe has seen considerable upheaval in the last couple of years. As enforcement agencies enhance their collaboration, there is a growing need for the corporate space to adhere to a heightened level of compliance with regard to storage and formatting of data. The increasing efforts on this front, demonstrated in the form of stringent eGovernance stipulations and more recent judicial acceptance of electronic formats in the form of eDiscovery, has propelled organisations to ensure that data is captured and stored in appropriate methods.
Organisations going forward, will consider compatibility and integration capabilities to be a basic requirement of any technological implementation.
Today, the systems of engagement and insight have moved to the edge and it is crucial to have automated tools, which are web-based. This way businesses can integrate and leverage data regardless of the edges — where it is created.
Today, organisations have begun to realise that the management of every facet of information management, plays a substantial role in impacting client satisfaction. Categorically gauging the impact of any solution is therefore becoming more distinct, with organisations taking concrete measures to ensure these are identified at the outset.
| Vivek Naidu, VP, Information Management, KodakAlaris India
At the workplace
Some of the workplace trends that will be reflective of the changing dynamics in this industry are:
Employee engagement: This year the HR applications, services and third party connects will become integrated under one common platform to ensure that employees get the maximum benefit of the facilities provided by the company making "employee experience" an important factor to provide effective talent mobility strategy and control attrition.
Appraisals: With connectivity going to the next level and social media platforms becoming centres of conversations and idea exchange there will be a demand for real time and instant feedbacks.
This will gradually phase out annual reviews replacing it with regular feedbacks
Working without borders: Flexible workforce will increase in demand and there will also be an increase in freelance workers hired by the company for select work profiles. Thus companies cut on costs and get the best of talent when the need arises. Thus remote management of employees’ and remote offices will increase globally.
Data and technology: Digital is in and data analytics will play a major role in analysing employee performance. This along with the use of augmented reality will assist in forming HR policies and decisions in 2017.
Virtual reality hardware and people analytics will increase engagement; get the job seekers attention and influence newcomers as well as potential employees during hiring or training.
Wellness focus: Companies are focusing on continuous wellness engagement in order to create a relaxed healthier work environment, reduce stress and increase productivity.
| Anupam Jauhari, vice president HR, Infogain