Importance of Education Technology in teaching and learning!

Education has only one purpose. Equip the young for tomorrow.

Ten thousand years ago, this meant hunting or farming. But in today’s concrete jungle, things have changed.

There is only one variable that can solve the problems of tomorrow.

Creativity.Importance of Education Technology in teaching and learning!

Education has only one purpose. Equip the young for tomorrow.

Ten thousand years ago, this meant hunting or farming. But in today’s concrete jungle, things have changed.

There is only one variable that can solve the problems of tomorrow.

Creativity.

In today’s world, unpredictability is the only thing which doesn’t change. Things which were true yesterday is not true today and tomorrow is a whole different story.

The only way of equipping future generations is to help them tap into their creative wisdom. Here lies the importance of Educational Technology in teaching and learning.

Creativity is simply the ability to create solutions out of thin air. All you need is a powerful sense of imagination. And that’s one thing every child has, until schools kill it.

Those who manage to somehow preserve it (mostly by dropping out) turn out to be highly ‘creative’ individuals who are apparently cut out from different fabric.

So we live in a world where the society badly needs creative individuals. We also live in a world where children are immensely creative (until they join school). There is the demand, there is the supply.

Yet, there is a massive creativity gap in society.

So where are we going wrong?

The Factory Method of education

Invented by the Prussians, taken up by the US and now followed by the whole world is the factory method. While the industrial revolution gifted us awesome machines, it also gave us boring human beings.

During the 18th and 19th century, there was a huge need for factory workers and engineers. So education moved in that direction.

Students were not educated to reach their peak potential. Instead, they were trained to become obedient factory workers.

They even made children wear uniforms to prepare them for industrial life. Bells were introduced in schools only to make them accustomed to a factory environment.

Wait, a lot of schools still do the same, don’t they?

If you look at it, the whole system worked like a factory.

Students were segmented like a factory assembly line. Quality control was done by constant assessment tests. At the end of every year, or should I say batch, they would be standardized to a particular specification. In the end, the ones that don’t fit, will be rejected.

Works perfectly for machines. But for little kids, it was downright cruel.

Even though it was cruel, there was at least some justification back then. The society needed such people.

Today, not only is it cruel, it’s not even justifiable.

Education Technology, a revolution in the making

Over the last few decades, technology has made immense changes to human life. We are literally going through another revolution: the digital revolution.

It is slowly yet steadily, revamping our education system which seems to be stuck a few hundred years in the past.

While the Factory Method made ‘learning’ synonymous to ‘boring’, Education Technology is making the learning process fun and even addictive:

Creative Assignments

A lot of teachers these days are asking children to make animated videos and presentations instead of written projects.

Virtual Reality

Imagine students exploring ancient Greece or Mars right from their classrooms! This is exactly what Google Expedition does. Such virtual expeditions will make children addicted to geography and history.

Personalized learning

No two students are ever the same. Everything from the pace of learning to the difficulties encountered is completely unique. It just doesn’t make sense to teach them all the same way. This is where personalized learning comes in.

The application also gives valuable insights to teachers on where each student is facing difficulty.

Another example is Altschool, whose application helps teachers make a “learning playlist” for each student weekly. Their main philosophy is to do away with formal education and concentrate more on group projects and individualisation.

They began by starting their own school and have now started sharing its technology with other schools.

Conclusion

The Education Industry is the most vital Industry for the future of mankind.

Thanks to our unsustainable development methods, we have created serious threats like Global Warming, Pollution and much more. Our next generation will have the huge responsibility to not just face these problems but also solve them.

The least we can do is equip them.

Right now, a lot of children develop an early aversion to school thanks to the Factory Method. But with Education Technology, the tables will turn. We might see a future where children would rather live in schools.

Don’t forget that education technology is still a young industry though it’s growing at a rapid pace.

We haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet!

So before you tighten your seat belts and get ready for the ride, let us know what you think of Education Technology and its impact on your role as a parent or educator!