The Future of Education — How will Tech impact?

In the current digital landscape we currently find ourselves in, it’s very difficult to pinpoint one industry or institution that has not been flipped upside down by technological advances of the last 30 years. No sector has been free from the disruptive innovation caused by these inventions. The Entertainment, Transport, Sport, and Retail are just some of the sectors that no longer operate in the way they once did. Technology has changed everything.

One sector that has remained static to the technological wave of changes, is the area of education. Where the same core structure and systems shave been (mostly) unchanged for hundreds of years.

The classroom structure that remains in place today consisting of individual students obeying a single teacher dates back to the times of the Industrial Revolution were students who were being prepared for labor prepared for a routine of systemic superiority and discipline from a young age. Prussian techniques dating from the late 18th century are also still commonplace in classrooms worldwide.

Current global circumstances and the rise of remote learning have given us a possible glimpse at possible future trends and today we’re going to break down how we feel technology will have an impact on the future of education.

Tech Literacy & The Teacher-Student Paradigm

With our work here at Kano, we are constantly thriving to extend the barrier as to what it means to become Tech Literate. In the current age, we find ourselves in, having some level of Tech Literacy has become less of a choice but more now a necessity.

For young people who have grown up in a world where Google and the Internet have been ever-present, becoming tech-literate has nearly been second nature and the fearlessness of this generation has vastly supported this. On the flip side, it has been shown that many older demographics tend to find it more difficult to adapt and this may create a knock-on effect when we speak about the future of education.

As technology is more commonly adopted into the standard curriculum, it may be difficult for many teachers to adapt and there is a certain air of intimidation that may arise with the Teacher/Student paradigm when discussing subjects and areas where, a lot of the time, the student themselves may possess more know-how or knowledge than the superior. Whilst potentially daunting and disruptive, this could lead to an exciting new educational paradigm where the student not only learns from the teacher but they learn from each other in a collaborative way. Gone may be the days of the superiority complex that is found in most classrooms today.

Collaboration & Project-Based Learning

Above we spoke about a collaborative approach between the teacher and the student but the emergence of digital tools and devices in the classroom has given way for a collaborative environment between students themselves as many curriculums adapt project-based learning approaches.

We at Kano believe that collaboration and teamwork skills are incredibly important in any field and also in life. Whilst it can seem straightforward to work in a team, it can actually be incredibly difficult for many people to fully engage in a team environment and a lot of the time this can lead to negative productivity levels and groupthink.

Many people cite the individualistic approach taken in classrooms (every student for themselves) where working together is almost punished can have a negative knock-on effect on people’s ability to work together down the line.

Today, thanks to technology and devices being readily available in classrooms, many schools are now encouraging collaboration and are utilizing project-based learning methods to support this. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Creative and Entrepreneurial Skills

As we have previously spoken about new learning methods being introduced into classrooms through project-based methods has paved the way for the introduction of creative and entrepreneurial skills into learning environments.

For years, there has always been a passing opinion that schools sometimes might not teach you to pay your taxes, the introduction of practical yet engaging skills such as entrepreneurship and creativity can be defining and something we support and applaud.

A New Meaning For Examinations

Above we spoke about how project-based learning and collaboration methods have been utilized in schools across the globe and it’s important to discuss how this may potentially cause a domino effect on how we provide and also view examinations.

As of now, it can be argued that examinations are nothing more than a memory test. Millions of students every year spend so much time stressing and studying in order to regurgitate information onto a page only to forget it soon after or never use it again.

For thousands of years, this is how we have judged the knowledge or ability of a person, and thanks to the emergence of technology, new pathways, and new learning methods online, we can now clearly see that exams actually may do very little in allowing us to view the knowledge or potential of a student.

As we move into more engaging and collaborative learning methods, we must soon look at how this will affect exams.

Whilst we have said that before that education has remained relatively untouched as a core structure for hundreds of years, we are excited and anxious to see how technology disrupts the future of our learning!