Transforming Learning: How Digital Technologies are Reshaping the Education?
“ Has the digital revolution been overhyped as magical pixie dust that can cure all teaching ills?’’ Jisc on Medium questioned.
The digital technology of the current era is quietly infiltrating every aspect of people’s daily lives. Education, as an ever-evolving sector, has been swift in keeping pace with this trend. According to Statista, the worldwide e-learning industry is predicted to approach nearly $400 billion US dollars by 2026. In the education industry, the emergence of opportunities is invariably accompanied by challenges, and how digital technologies are used to address these is our focus.
Flexible Learning
As Maisie Dickens on Medium pointed out, one of the biggest challenges facing the education industry during the pandemic has been ensuring that students can access lectures from anywhere around the world. Particularly during the lockdown period, in-person classes at schools were completely impeded. Even without the pandemic, traditional in-class learning often follows a rigid structure, with fixed schedules and predetermined learning materials. The approach may not account for the diverse needs of students, such as work or family obligations, geographical barriers, or different learning styles. As a result, some learners may face limited access to education.
To some extent, the use of digital technology including zoom, online teaching videos, and virtual classrooms can remove physical location barriers for students and has a great potential to provide opportunities for learners who may have previously been unable to attend in-class learning due to financial, time or other constraints. Flexible e-learning options, like learning management systems and asynchronous learning, enable learners to adjust their learning schedules to better suit their individual needs and preferences.
Based on Rohan Gaddu on Medium, even from the perspective of early childhood education, flexible digital communication options can enable parents to keep up with the development of children, thus promoting a responsive and dynamic parenting method. Also, empirical evidence suggests that the implementation of intelligent tutoring systems will improve students’ academic performance, whether used independently or in combination with traditional teaching methods.
Student Engagement
In classes without the aid of any digital technology, access to information beyond what is presented in class may be limited, which makes it difficult for students to explore topics in-depth. The monotonous teaching mode may lead to a lack of engagement. An experiment of 381 higher education students by Professor Christine Wekerle found that the implementation of digital technology in the classroom resulted in increased engagement in constructive, passive, and active activities compared to when technology was not applied.
The incorporation of digital tools into course materials can provide students with more interactive and engaging learning experiences. For example, through multimedia formats like videos and animations, students can develop a deeper understanding of complex concepts while also maintaining their motivation throughout the learning process. Also, gamification techniques involving points, badges and leaderboards can further motivate students to promote their studies and achieve learning objectives.
Kahoot, as an example, is very commonly used in bigger classes with little interaction in universities. The main benefits are that it helps to identify topics that need further study and turns incorrect answers into teaching opportunities. Additionally, it aids students who struggle with exam-related stress in building confidence.
Inclusive Practices
Approximately 240 million children worldwide are affected by disabilities. They encounter persistent barriers to accessing education, largely due to discriminatory attitudes, lack of policy attention, and a range of other complex factors. These children constitute the most marginalized group and are disproportionately excluded from educational opportunities. The best approach to ensure that every child has equal opportunities to attend school, acquire knowledge, and achieve their potential is through inclusive education.
“I was the student who had no chance in the world and today I am employed as a teacher’’ said a blind teacher in Grenada
Digital technology has the potential to promote inclusive practices for disabled children in various ways. For example, examination papers that cater to the needs of learners with disabilities have been digitally formulated. Individuals experiencing visual or reading difficulties are equipped with text-to-speech software, which allows for the audible reading of the paper. For learners struggling with writing or spelling, response submission can be done by utilizing digital devices such as on-screen keyboards and speech recognition.
One-size-fits-all Solution?
Gladys Sung on Medium argued that continuous use of digital platforms is not the optimal approach towards achieving effective education. Yoshiko Iwai’s blog post, referenced by Gladys Sung, highlighted the fact that excessive use of digital technology easily leads to an emotional move and thus decreases efficiency.
The uses of digital platforms may not always be suitable for all learners. For some people, traditional methods of learning, such as reading physical textbooks or taking notes by hand, may help them to be more efficient and concentrated. At least this time, they will not be attracted by pets in the video panels.
Academic Dishonesty?
Digital technology has made it easier for students to cheat during online assessments, including fraudulent activities such as impersonation. The consequences of academic dishonesty extend beyond the unfair distribution of marks to students. It also undermines the integrity of the learning process, leading to demotivation amongst students who expect rewards commensurate with their efforts. To some extent, the development of digital technology negatively affects the quality of the teaching-learning process in this particular aspect.
Conclusion
To sum up, while digital platforms can certainly enhance and support learning, it is important to recognize that they have potential drawbacks and are not the one-size-fits-all solution. Especially for students in rural areas, there may be barriers to accessing digital platforms, which creates further inequalities in learning. Teachers need to consider more factors, including student preferences, technical capabilities, and specific learning objectives when deciding on the most appropriate tools and methods to use in the learning process.
