Benefiting from Karim Khayat’s extensive experience of the education sector, Seeds Education provides bespoke print and digital publishing services, client-customised teacher training and development programmes, and award-winning educational materials.
As Seeds Education’s CEO, Karim Khayat recognises all too well the vast potential of integrating new technology into education to make learning more effective and engaging. This article – using information shared by AXIOMQ, and futurist and international keynote speaker Richard van Hooijdonk – will explore the variety of different ways that technological advancements can be used to innovate children’s learning.
Technology is driving a seismic transformation in learning environments, with emerging technologies like 3D printing, cloud computing and augmented reality paving the way for a revolution in the education ecosystem. More and more, teachers are coming to realise the value that the latest devices and technology can add, helping them to become more efficient educators. Emerging technologies have a variety of different applications in education, from communication with parents and lesson planning to paper grading and numerous other activities.
In the future, learning will not simply involve a teacher standing in front of a class. Instead, students will learn from home, communicating with their classmates via video conferencing software and providing feedback for learning providers, enabling them to customise course content to make it more immersive. Experts anticipate that, in some instances, students will never actually meet their classmates, with students from all over the world attending the same lectures remotely. In this new learning world, students will not only teach each other but their educators too, helping them to optimise courses to make them more engaging and effective.
To enable students to socialise via its online platform, many universities have already registered with the Second Life virtual world. Logged onto these networks, students can freely share content and ideas, with their teachers assuming the role of moderators.
Whereas in the past, teachers shared ideas via the blackboard, the students of tomorrow will be watching giant LCD touch screens instead, promoting interactivity and inviting input from several students at the same time.
Although largely limited to smartphone apps in the classroom today, augmented reality shows vast potential in the classroom, with next generation devices like Google Glass deeply enhancing learning experiences and providing an additional layer of supplementary interactive information to help students learn more about the history of a place or object.
One of the most exciting breakthroughs in learning tech is biometric eye-tracking, enabling educators to assess how well their students absorb content. In turn, this will help them to gage whether a course is effective and identify what they need to do to capture and hold the attention of their students.
Traditional teaching methods are steadily being relinquished as educators strive to find new methods that align them more closely with these fast-paced modern times. Whereas computer games were traditionally seen as a distraction from learning, they actually present huge potential for development of new learning methods that are as effective as they are fun.
Today’s generation is growing up with modern technology throughout their homes and lives, so students will need a technology enhanced education. After all, young people will only ever by excited by learning if it provides them with the same level of excitement as the hobbies they enjoy in their spare time.
