As the world transforms to embrace technological futures, how and what we teach in our educational system will be transformed to meet the expanding needs of the twenty-first century.
The Future of Learning and Teaching: Significant Changes in Education
As the world transforms to embrace technological futures, how and what we teach in our educational system will be transformed to meet the expanding needs of the twenty-first century.
Professor Tricia McLaughlin of RMIT School of Education talked with us about four significant ways education will alter in the near future.
1. Networking, cooperation, and co-creation
The idea of a teacher standing in front of a classroom full of kids who listen and react to instruction is becoming more obsolete.
While not a totally novel method, student learning spaces will eventually replace the traditional classroom. Students will become collaborators or co-creators of their own learning as a result of this.
“Experiences that enable all kids to collaborate, communicate, and work together often occur outside of the classroom walls.” “We must encourage these encounters in context, and our classrooms must reflect this,” McLaughlin adds.
They will be set up to enable individuals, small groups, and larger groups to collaborate on learning initiatives.
Classrooms will cohabit as both physical and virtual environments, turning the present learning paradigm on its head so that students may study at home and spend class time interacting and applying their knowledge to real-world challenges.
2. Learning at any time and from any location
As we ride the digital wave, it is getting simpler to connect with people all over the world. With the push of a button or a simple voice command, you may access a world of knowledge, and as technology advances, students must adapt their learning to keep up.
When it comes to learning, technology is no longer a motivator; it is a must. It is something that must be implemented into the future of education to guarantee that students are prepared to deal in a technologically reliant society.
While some say that using technology in the classroom causes pupils to become lazy and alienated, McLaughlin feels this is a misconception. She claims that technology has pushed the bounds of where, with whom, and why learning may take place.
“The fact is that classes may be located everywhere and at any time.” “At any one time, students may be collaborating on projects in virtual environments with students from all over the globe,” she explains.
With the push of a button, technological breakthroughs have allowed the interconnection of information and people.
Future education will need to illustrate how technology may be utilized to benefit students while also teaching future generations how to deal with difficulties that come as a result of it.
“Technology has the potential to revolutionize learning forever, and we must accept it and use it to our advantage,” McLaughlin adds.
3. Individualization for a learner-centered approach
Along with our shifting beliefs about what defines a classroom, our assumptions about how instruction is given must also evolve.
“Most professions approach each individual’s situation differently – each doctor’s patient has personalized treatment regimens.” “Education should be no different,” adds McLaughlin.
She claims that the conventional ‘one size fits all’ paradigm of teaching and learning is out of date and has no place on the agenda for future education. Teachers will become learning facilitators, and students will have greater influence over their own learning path.
“Previously, regardless of aptitude or talents, all children performed the same labor.” “We now know that this relates to disengagement, inappropriate behavior, and bad results,” she adds.
As a consequence, instructors will have customized learning plans for pupils, allowing each student to study at their own speed and interact with information that is most helpful to them.
These strategies will be effectively incorporated into the school system via a mix of evidence-gathering and feedback from parents, students, and other professionals.
Some parts of teacher-led learning will be retained to maximize the potential for individual success, which will supplement conventional learning approaches when paired with online digital material.
4. Subjecting tests to scrutiny
McLaughlin wonders, “What are we testing for?”
Today’s students are preoccupied with the ultimate result, whether it’s a high ATAR, a distinction in class, or acing those examinations. Future education will demonstrate what you have been taught many times before: outcomes do not define you.
McLaughlin feels that testing on its own may be hazardous.
“We overestimate the importance of exam results in isolation from what we need to accomplish.” “This might lead us astray from what is really essential,” she argues.
Grading is a waste of time if the only objective is to identify who is at the top and who is at the bottom. Assessments in the future will be evidence-based, including metrics that allow for the creation and personalization of learning programs.
“The major issue is ‘why are we grading and for whom?'” asks McLaughlin.
“Surely, we desire a society in which everyone is capable of doing the job and its components properly.” “Do our tests really prepare us for the future?”
Future teachers and educators
Curriculum teaching and learning already goes well outside the classroom and will continue to do so, and as education evolves to meet the requirements of the future, the job of the teacher must adapt and develop as well. It is the role of each teacher to encourage pupils to take chances, be inventive, and grasp each opportunity that comes their way.
Teachers of the future must be prepared to be data collectors, as well as analysts, planners, collaborators, curriculum specialists, synthesizers, problem solvers, and researchers, in light of a change toward a more personalized student experience.
