Future changes with new technologies

Khussainova R.S.

Astana city

Forget devices, the future of education technology is all

about the cloud and anywhere access. In the future,

teaching and learning is going to be social

Matt Britland

Technology is everywhere--entwined in almost every part of our culture. It affects how we live, work, play, and most importantly learn. With mobile and other wireless devices like the IoT becoming an increasing requirement across every industry today, it only makes sense that our schools are also effectively deploying mobile technology in the classroom. However, for many schools, implementing the latest technology is a difficult strategy to navigate. Integrating technology in education helps students stay engaged. Most students today have been using mobile devices like tablets and smartphones to play and learn since they could crawl. So it only seems logical to align today's classrooms with the way that your students want and are used to learning. Using technology in the classroom gives teachers and other faculty members the opportunity to develop their student's digital citizenship skills. It's one thing to use mobile devices, it's a completely other thing to know how to use them correctly and responsibly. When mobile technology is readily available and performing correctly in the classroom, students are able to access the most up-to-date information quicker and easier than ever before. The traditional passive learning model is broken. With technology in the classroom the teacher becomes the encourager, adviser, and coach.

Technology has the power to transform how people learn - but walk into some classrooms and you could be forgiven for thinking you were entering a time warp.

There will probably be a whiteboard instead of the traditional blackboard, and the children may be using laptops or tablets, but plenty of textbooks, pens and photocopied sheets are still likely.

And perhaps most strikingly, all desks will face forwards, with the teacher at the front.

The curriculum and theory have changed little since Victorian times, according to the educationalist and author Marc Prensky.

"The world needs a new curriculum," he said at the recent Bett show, a conference dedicated to technology in education. "We have to rethink the 19th Century curriculum."

Most of the education products on the market are just aids to teach the existing curriculum, he says, based on the false assumption "we need to teach better what we teach today".

He feels a whole new core of subjects is needed, focusing on the skills that will equip today's learners for tomorrow's world of work. These include problem-solving, creative thinking and collaboration.

"The teacher teaches as normal. Teachers can offer pupils points for good behaviour, asking questions, or working well in their teams and it gives them access to real life powers," Mr Young says.

Those powers are decided by the teachers and may include handing in homework a day late.There are also penalties for those not concentrating in class, turning up late or being disruptive.Children play the game in teams, which means a lost point affects the entire group, and encourages them to work together.It is being used in a school in Texas which has a mix of white, Mexican and Afro-Americans. They would never normally speak to each other.Teachers using the system - some 100,000 have signed up since it launched in August - have noted not just better interaction between pupils, but better classroom engagement and motivation.

"As in other games there are sometimes random events, which could be something like everyone having to speak like a pirate for the day or the teacher having to sing a song in class. The kids love it."

References

1. Wakefield, J. (2015, February 2). Technology in schools: Future changes in classrooms – BBC News. Retrieved September 5, 2015

2. ISTE https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=884&category=In-the-classroom&article