Technology, since its inception, has evolved and seamlessly blended into our lives whether personal or professional and we cannot deny its impact. As Fullen puts it, man against nature has never worked, neither man without gadgets. The individual of the 21st century cannot be imagined without gadgetry, neither the classroom of the 21st century can be imagined without technology. The current state of play requires schools to embrace technology. But do simply bombarding classrooms with fancy gadgets ensure higher levels of learning? This is where things go wrong. We do not see the difference between using technology for the sake of technology and using it as a tool to augment and facilitate learning. Schools need to understand that not all technology is good technology and mere integration of technology can never do wonders. Technology integration should be done by keeping the end goal in mind i.e. enhancing learning outcomes by making learning an engaging experience and not a mere liability.
Given the current scenario, both students and teachers are highly disengaged from the learning process. Traditional methods of teaching do not inculcate core cognitive skills such as critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving. It pays little attention to individuals student needs and student immersion and interaction. Whereas on the other hand, students show a great deal of ease with technology. Technology engages them well and their gadgets let them have a sense of ownership. So, what changes should be made in the current scenario? Two things should be done:
1. Looking for and choosing the technologies that best serve the students learning needs
2. Using chosen technology with effective pedagogic techniques.
Technologies like computerized grading, e-textbooks, gamification, flipped classrooms, active and collaborative learning tools and environments are the most promising for student learning.
Shifting content from traditional textbooks to a more dynamic and interactive platform i.e. e-textbooks. With e-textbooks one can access features such as quiz, commenting and animation all integrating in one place. They are cost-effective than traditional textbooks. However, a potential problem with e-textbooks is that publishers are yet unable to define and adopt a standardize approach for the creation of e-textbooks.
Flipped classrooms, as the name suggests, work opposite to that of traditional classrooms. With flipped classrooms, students are required to access the content online and study in advance. The classroom time then goes in discussing the content rather than delivering it. Both students and teachers are engaged in meaningful discussions and students become an active participant in the classroom rather than becoming a passive receiver of information. However, one challenge that comes with flipped classroom model is the student engagement with the online content. The responsibility lies with the instructor to deliver short yet engaging and informative online content and finding ways to effective ways to integrate online and in-class discussions.
Gamification, a relatively new concept, makes use of science of motivation, incentives and goal setting and attainment to engage students. It allows the learners, either individually or in group settings, to map their knowledge and skills into scenarios that mimic real-world situations.
MOOCs have changed the dynamics of the entire education system by its goal of targeting massive audience and providing learning experiences free of cost to anyone anywhere. They provide an excellent way to learn anything without having to go through rigorous selection and enrolment phases. Although they have caused disruption in that they have opened the opportunities of accessing traditional university level education to everyone, efforts are being to improve student retention rate in MOOCs.
Given the current emerging educational technologies, the future of learning is quite predictable i.e. teachers will be everywhere, content will be centralized, accessible and shareable among all individuals, students of both, similar interests and those possessing different skill sets can collaborate with one another and learn from each other. Knowledge will be spread across various classrooms without any physical or geographical constraints.
However, all these technologies require effective pedagogic strategies to work. Students, no matter what era they are in and no matter what fancy technology they are using, they will always need a mentor to guide their learning and motivate them.