Education digitization — Meet challenges and Seize opportunities
— The education industry is one of the most concerned industries in today’s society. However, the education industry has faced many challenges in recent years.
Education in the digital era
The continuous popularization of digital technology has more rapidly promoted the development of the education industry. From the perspective of the application of digital media in education, how can digital technology help analyze the challenges faced by the education industry and seize opportunities?
Online education has become a key field of education!
According to data from the British higher education data agency HESA, more than a quarter of the number of students in the UK in 2020 have used online learning platforms. Meanwhile, the number of online degrees awarded by UK higher education institutions has grown by more than 30% from 2019 to 2020!
Some of the challenges faced by traditional education models are also being addressed through digital technologies. Digital technologies such as video conferencing, online collaboration tools, and learning management systems are making it easier for educators to deliver content and engage with students in a virtual environment.
Challenge in Education sector- Inequality in educational resources
Inequality in educational resources is a long-standing problem in education. It is especially prominent in some developing countries and some economically underdeveloped regions. Taking China as an example, high-quality educational resources in urban areas are relatively abundant, while educational resources in rural areas are relatively scarce due to geographical differences.
It seems that this not only leads to the backwardness of some people, but also causes the backwardness of the education industry of the whole country. So how does the advent of digitalization solve such problems faced by the education industry?
Digital technology — sharing of teaching resources.
Using digital technology, teachers can share course materials and videos online, and students can watch and learn materials online independently.
During the early 1960s, China tried to use digital technology in educational Television to carry out high-quality distance education across the country. This form of education can be transmitted through the network, allowing excellent educational resources to cover every corner of the country, so that students in need can obtain high-quality educational resources. It shows the use of digital technology can narrow the gap between urban and rural education resources and promote education equity.
Challenge or opportunity？ — COVID-19
Since 2019, the rapid spread of Corona Vir s Disease2u019 has caused great alarm. “The COVID-19 crisis has forced school closures in 188 countries, heavily disrupting the learning process of more than 1.7 billion children, youth, and their families.” Many students feel anxious and worry that it will affect their grades and future job choices.
But the good news is that schools were rapidly changing their teaching style, then switched to distance learning through digital technology！
Promote the development of the era of distance education
Because of the covid 19, online classes and online learning have become a unified way for teachers and children across the country to start the new semester. Students are at home, cannot close communication, using the network online teaching is the first choice. It should be said that “online teaching” has effectively alleviated the urgent need for school education under the background of the epidemic.
Taking the University of Manchester as an example, through the website established by the University, many teachers and students interact through video conferences and online discussions. The course can be watched in real time through zoom, and students can also watch the recording at any time. Many students including me even feel that online learning is more convenient in some sides because we can watch the recorded courses repeatedly!
Digital technologies for personalize learning
The application of digitalization enables many educational platforms to develop their own learning programs for different students. An example of a practical digital technology platform is Knewton — an adaptive learning platform. Knewton automatically generates a learning plan for each student by analyzing each student’s learning history and behavior patterns, and dynamically adjusts it based on student feedback and performance.
By using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, students can receive personalized learning advice and feedback, which can help improve learning efficiency and performance.
Other examples of the use of digital technology in education
Digital technology has been widely used in education. For example, online education platforms such as Coursera and edX can provide online courses and degree programs for students around the world. Since its inception in 2012, the Coursera online course platform has attracted more than 60 million users worldwide, with more than 4,500 online courses; platforms such as Khan Academy provide rich subject knowledge bases and learning resources; teaching management tools such as Google Classroom can help teachers be more effective Easily manage course and student information.
Digital technology is a double-edged sword
Digital technology brings many opportunities and challenges to education, but it is also a double-edged sword. Reasonable use of digital technology can bring more innovation and progress to education, but unreasonable use may bring negative effects. Among them, the issue of security and privacy is a huge challenge. Educational institutions collect and store large amounts of personal information that can be accessed and misused by hackers or unauthorized third parties.
Through more advanced digital technology, encryption and authentication can prevent illegal access and theft. In addition, security updates and security training are also being improved by digital technologies.
Future development prospect！
The application prospects of digital technology in education are very broad. With the continuous development of technology, digital technology will further improve the quality and effectiveness of education, enhance students’ learning experience and outcomes, and promote education and technology integration. Digital technology will make education more accessible and equal, enabling more students to access high-quality educational resources and personalized learning methods.
We can see digital technology will bring more opportunities and challenges to the education field, opening broader prospects for future educational development!
