Reforming Education: Ways to Ensure a Brighter Future

In recent years, we have seen a breakthrough in education, or maybe not. The problem with online learning platforms is that that they are limited according to one’s own time. For example, a kid in elementary school is typically not going to be using Udemy or Duolingo to learn how to design or learn a foreign language unless he or she is really committed to learning a certain skill. Even when online learning platforms are relatively cheap or even free to use, there is also the problem of having enough time to use them. In my opinion, this is the area that needs the biggest reform in the new era of education.

For most students, and even adults, it is theoretically much easier to make a link between interest and skill than it is to make a link between skill and monetary compensation. In reality, the link between skill and monetary compensation is also becoming easier to realize. First, however, we must realize the need to connect learning and performing as well as investment and earning.

When in elementary school, I learned math, science, history and English. But what were the ultimate objectives of my time investment in learning? To get good grades? To build a so-called “educational foundation”? If we are going to thrive as a planet and as individuals, we must begin to think about what roles we want to play in the world from an earlier age and constantly connect these concepts to the things we are are learning. If a student is interested in painting or coding, for example, why simply tell him or her to make this an extracurricular activity or wait until the homework for the so-called “more important subjects” is completed?

The truth is that the students who have already found an interest will naturally give more time to learning that subject that is interesting. With the time invest comes the development of skills. Once students develop these skills in an area that is interesting to them, there are many online platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, etc. where they can utilize tangible skills and turn them into a profitable freelance career or find work for a company that appreciates their talent.

If we want to raise the level of global education, we must first bring it into the modern era of technology and make courses in physical schools that use the structure of existing virtual platforms and give each student individualized attention so that they have opportunities to explore their interests and find their future careers.

— Delton Rhodes