Technological innovations are often outcomes of ideas. However, innovations can also be outcomes associated with the need of the hour. COVID-19 has accelerated digitisation at a pace that we never imagined. Similarly, the impact can be witnessed in the form of emerging trends in education.
Classroom learning model may no long be able to sustain solely or effectively. That said, e-learning is here to stay and thrive. Moreover, there is a growing inclination towards “learn by doing” approach. The focus is on developing learning methods that are more experiential and hands-on.
In this blog, we have enlisted 5 upcoming trends in education that everyone should know about:
- Education & Gamification
- Importance of Art
- Norms of the Digital World
- Impact of 2D & 3D
- Blockchain & Trends in Education
So, let us go deeper into understanding how these emerging trends are making some bold changes:
1. Education & Gamification
One of the core principles of the current trends in education is to make use of the platforms where children are already spending their time. The concept of gamification is no different.
Children spend a lot of their time on online games. In gamification, the syllabus or learning concepts are packaged in the guise of games. The central idea being that the children will show high-level interest and involvement. Unlike a normal video game, they won’t be wasting their time, instead, they would be gaining knowledge out of it . (Quite similar to a mom feeding broccoli to her children from a pack of potato chips, isn’t it?)
Talking about gamification, we just can’t miss Minecraft: Education Edition by Microsoft. It is an interactive gaming platform including activities like building, farming, mining, cooking, and engineering. It has features like a locator map, which allows everyone to see where their classmates are, and what they are doing. To ensure that teachers still lead the class, the teachers are given central control. It also has a camera, through which children can take a photo of their final project and share it.
Moreover, there are many more similar learning platforms like ClassDojo, Gamekit, Google’s Read Along, Kahoot, etc.
Games have an important trait needed in learning i.e. reinforcement. When a child scores well he/she wins points and badges, which in turn, acts as a positive reinforcement. Similarly, he/she also gets negatively reinforced through the repetition of the levels.
In addition, games have an interesting narrative to them. We can choose different themes, avatars, locations, and a lot more. It widens the imagination of a child, and at the same time, keeps their interest level high.
2. Importance of Art
For a really long period of time, the world has viewed education in a mechanical manner. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) model of education has been given precedence over the rest.
While the model focuses on scientific learning, it misses out on abilities related to problem-solving. However, now STEAM, where A stands for arts, is a holistic model of education that is gaining recognition rapidly.
Steve Jobs once said, “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”
Yes, such a cross-disciplinary intersection is important to create innovations that are outside the box.
A perfect example of this cross-discipline is artist and designer Leah Heiss, who works with nanotechnologists in biomedical industries to develop jewellery that can assist diabetics to administer their insulin.
In other words, education is no longer about mugging up facts. Trends in education have shifted towards thinking creatively. The STEAM model helps to acquire necessary skills that are needed in real-life scenarios.
In other words, as we move towards a skill centred economy, the STEAM model is sure to prove pivotal.
3. Norms of the Digital World
Technological advancements have always had a flip side to them. We have anything to everything at our fingertips. The scale of the reach is so wide that it becomes difficult to regulate and monitor.
An increase in suicides because of social media, the ability to access adult content, depletion in attention rates, etc. are some of those negative outcomes.
One of the most vulnerable considerations here are the kids. They need a formal education to be able to handle these resources more responsibly. Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) teaches children how to use digital technologies in a manner that is safe. In addition, creating awareness against potential harm and danger.
DCE acknowledges that the digital world is itself a society of its own. In other words, we need to prepare ourselves for the digital society the same way we learned to function in the actual society.
This also helps in reducing the digital gap between developing and developed countries. It imparts knowledge on how to use technology to advance in both career and/or business. In the long run this will help people in getting access to opportunities and education.
4. Power of 2D & 3D
The future of education is contextualised learning. This is the core reason why methods that involve interactive experiences are gaining popularity. Augment Reality, Virtual Reality, 3D experiences, etc. are just some of the elements included in the upcoming trends in education.
Augmented Reality offers a two-dimensional view of objects, and provides an immersive add-on to the textbook knowledge. Teachers explaining a topic based on visuals that include graphical images, sound effects, etc. is an example of an AR teaching methodology.
The other advantage is that it is fairly easy to bring AR to the classroom. A stable internet connection, mobile phones and AR applications are more than enough to begin with.
Virtual Reality takes this experience a step forward by bringing in a 3D experience. Like reading what Thailand looks like vs getting an experience of walking in the Patong Beach? (Which one will you pick? We assume the latter.)
The power of 2D & 3D learning is substantial when it comes to changing trends in education. The earlier the adoption, the better the possibilities.
5. Blockchain & Trends in Education
When we hear the word blockchain, our mind tiptoes to its uses in cryptocurrency. However, it is emerging as an upcoming trend in education, as well.
This trend focuses on the management side of education, and not the learning practices. It can be a revolution in the “record keeping” part of education.
Any academic institution creates multiple records like certificates, grades, credentials, etc. The records have to be verified and updated at regular intervals of time. However, using blockchain technology, information can be stored in the format of distributed ledgers. (A distributed ledger is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronised digital data, spread across multiple sites, countries, or institutions.)
In other words, blockchain technology will allow making a copy of the information uploaded, and verifying it with just a few clicks. In addition, bitcoin technology also ensures consistency between the previously recorded information and the new ones.
Blockchain technology can substantially contribute as a part of the emerging trends in education by reducing manual intervention, and improving authenticity.
So, what do these changing trends in education teach us?
1. Upskilling & Reskilling for Teachers
Since the technologies are evolving, teachers would need to upskill themselves, too. Upskilling and reskilling would be centred around adaptation to these changing trends in education. A change in approach as well as content delivery is inevitable.
2. Changing Attention Span
Attention span has reduced to 8 seconds in millennial and generation z. Naturally, the previously preferred course material needs a change, too.
Bite sized learning, which involves packaging information in small bits, would be the way forward. Video content, creative learning, digitisation, etc. are some trends that cannot be ignored.
3. Understanding the Importance of Soft Skills
Remote learning might hamper the development of soft skills in children. Some of the skills like effective face to face interactions or public speaking would require additional efforts. Hence, prioritisation of soft skills is surely going to be important as we move forward.
4. Emphasis on Personal Care
Mental health is one of the growing concerns in today’s time. More leverage is being given to learning life skills from an early age. Hence, subjects like stress management, developing coping skills and optimistic ways of thinking is important. Hence, the involvement of counsellors and prioritisation of self-care is vital.
Emerging Trends in Education: The Final Statement
It is exciting to see the growing advancements in ed-tech. However, we can’t completely rule out the fact that sometimes it leads to inducing unrealistic expectations on children.
However, the good thing is that people have started to realise this. There has been an increase in the understanding of the inefficiencies of traditional learning. Above all, the need for changing trends in education is being rapidly recognised.
Lastly, it is important that we keep ourselves open to changes as we grow with balance.
