Technology: Enhancing Future Workforce & Economic Competitiveness

Most technologies can be shaped to have more benefits than negatives. The highest beneficiary of technology is the education system today.

It is advancing learning and improving performance by creating and using appropriate technological processes and resources.

The Role of Social Media in Learning

Social media has gained credibility as a source of information and a platform for organizations to communicate with audiences. Educational systems are rapidly adopting it as a communication tool where students can interact with their peers and faculty members. Embracing social media in education is making students access useful materials to connect learning groups and other educational systems making learning convenient.

Social media giants like Google, Facebook, Youtube have enabled educational institutions to communicate campus news, announcements, useful information. Hashtags on social media and engaging students in online discussions is also the latest trend.

The Power of Visuals

Visuals are helping learners grasp the concepts efficiently by stimulating imagination and affecting their cognitive capabilities. Besides, the visual language also has the potential to stretch ‘human bandwidth’. The learning analytics created by digital learning content has been most exciting and potentially impactful so far.

Students and teachers have unanimously agreed upon the positive impact on the quality education delivered and the benefits of introducing e-books in education.

E-books have enabled students to easily highlight, annotate and share their notes with friends, tutors or study groups. E-books are streamlining and enhancing the overall learning insights making the learning process more interactive and engaging.

E-books are proving to be an educational reform helping students to imbibe and recall the information better and faster.

Also, SmartBoard technology which displays the content in the form of animations, videos and previews are making the learning experience fun among students.

Transforming Classrooms

AR integrates digital information that makes us feel like a real-world environment which increase the participation, immersion, and interaction with the topics whereas VR creates an artificial environment. AR is making deep inroads in education making studies more interesting and contextual.

Media and Digital Literacy

The development of mobile apps for education unlocked a new way of need-based learning.

Students are collaborating on group projects using technology-based tools such as google docs and Trello.

To name a few apps that are helping out the learners are Hologo, Netflix, edX, Coursera, Brilliant and Youtube are the best platforms for formal and informal learning.

Beyond The Walls of School

Through technology, educators now are no longer constricted to collaborate with students in schools, instead they can connect with other educators and experts across their communities or around the world.

They can now connect with real-world concerns and design learning experiences that can allow students to explore local needs and priorities. This makes classroom learning more authentic and relevant.

Additionally by using tools like video conferencing, online chatting, social media sites, people from urban and rural areas to rural can connect and collaborate with peers and experts around the world to form professional learning communities.

Aiding the Specially-abled

Technology is been pivotal in the life of specially-abled people by working around their disabilities and providing them a suitable learning environment. Technology does not necessarily require a large amount of funding but a great talent to invent it.

Adaptive computing is overcoming challenging tasks. A remarkable example has shown how technology can become the game-changer of the specially-abled by making use of telepresence robots; at a school in Copenhagen, Denmark which is a k-12 school for the specially-abled.

It has made the students virtually attend the classes. The telepresence robot is a FaceTime connection on two wheels that is WiFi-enabled iPad or tablet and controlled by a controller or smartphone.

Moreover, screen reader applications like JAWS with specially designed Braille keyboards are enabling visually challenged students to use computers.

Augmentative communication that uses pictures, charts, books, and specialized computers provide functions for word-prediction with more effective communication helping the students to tackle the communication barrier.

Tech Grooming Seniors

With advancing technology, those are the senior citizens that stay behind in house and far away from their brood. They fear something might go wrong if touched an iPad or a laptop and remain reluctant to modern advances. But now a growing number of ageing older are embracing digital and trying to learn new things.

Many times there are debates on how technology is spoiling relationships but it has undoubtedly helped in sustaining relationships for the older who are far away from their loved ones.

Studies have found that today baby boomers and senior citizens form an important percentile in smartphone ownership using it for medication alerts, fall detection alerts, ordering books, and leisure.

Need for a Guide

Regardless of the advancements in technology, the presence of a teacher will not be hampered. The biggest factor in the achievement of a student is the teacher-student relationship. You can have a personalized device approach, continuous internet connection and avail the latest software but the fact will prevail. Unless a teacher is on hand to engage the students and enquire them, learning is limited.

The Foreseeable Generation

Providing higher connectivity to mobile phones, tablets, and e-readers can be a solution in the global effort to give high-quality, multifaceted education for the people everywhere, especially for the people living in the most isolated and poorest countries.

In the years to come, digital literacy will be deemed more important than academic literacy. The education cost offered now will see a decline and numerous options will be available on the internet.

Upgraded tools will emerge for measuring the text complexity. Diverse learning forms will begin to supplement the schools including business learning, invisible learning, and open-source learning.