Education in the twenty first century and beyond

Many global occurrences of which covid-19 is the chiefest have facilitated the new movement in education. Since after the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries have changed the mode of learning of students. Technology is currently wheeling education on a new path and this we can say have numerous advantages and unfortunately negative implications. In fact, even before the COVID19 outbreak, virtual learning enjoined incredible growth as the support of technology innovation. In western countries, the launching of online course provider platforms as EdX or Coursera has brought the concept of distance learning closer to learners across the world. The success of those platforms gives the right to EdTech evolution, which put the technology at the center of the development era. Hence, the probable future of education technology would run around electric connectivity and software integrated education. 

The integration of educational software no doubt is the latest and the future of education. These software have its basic purpose  being self learning and teaching. Not only that, these educational software are sophisticated enough that the parents can follow the progress of their children. The software tend to integrate multimedia content and provide the users with extreme interactivity level. The teachers also benefit from these online software as it allows to connect better with their students hence promoting productive learning environment.

Some of the major kinds of educational software that are making wave in the present day are listed as follows:

Authoring System.

This helps teachers in developing their own instructional software. They could build electronic flash cards of index cards for teaching children on specific concepts. Furthermore, they could build multimedia content such as lessons, reviews, and tutorials. One could even consider web alternatives, since web authoring systems help teachers in building multimedia content that could be used on a website.

Graphic Software.

Students could use graphic software for capturing, creating, and changing images that are available on the web, on the program itself, or online images available. It is particularly useful for building online presentations.

Reference Software.

Teachers could include reference software in research projects. Reference software allows students access thesaurus, encyclopedia, atlases, and dictionaries.

Desktop Publishing.

A desktop publishing software is used for creating and designing newsletters, handouts, and flyers. Teachers could use the software to inform students and parents on activities or events that are taking in place in school. Desktop publishing software use is a must-have skill for new graduates and thus high schools are now teaching students how to use desktop publishing suites like Adobe Create Suite and Microsoft Office.

Tutorial Software.

Through tutorial software, teachers could teach students new lessons and give them a platform through which they could learn the lesson at their own pace. Tutorial software consists of giving students new information for learning, giving them time to practice it and evaluate their performance.

Educational Games.

There are several educational gaming software available. Education software companies combined gaming and education into one. This kind of software is very effective for younger children since it motivates them to learn.

Simulations.

Simulations software lets teachers teach students via virtual experience. For example, students could use this software to acquire experience of flying a plane.

Drill And Practice Software.

Teachers could include drill and practice software for strengthening the current skill set of students. This software is beneficial when teachers prepare students for tests and exams.

Math Problem Solving Software.

This kind of software makes it possible for math teachers to strengthen the students’ problem solving skills. Furthermore, science teachers could use this software for doing science experiments.

Utility Software.

A utility software aids teachers in preparing quizzes, tests, and even serves as a grading book. Teachers who are non-tech would find this software easy to learn and use.

 Special Needs Software.

Online education software also includes special software that is developed for addressing the needs of a student who has special needs. The system is combined with assistive software that provide students with special needs an effective learning platform. Examples include speech synthesizers, computers that read text aloud, and multimedia software that targets certain learning disabilities.

Definitely, educational institutions have become more diverse and thus they could not risk being simple education temples. Using an educational software has become vital for schools at present.

Not only for students, some of these software are also designed for teachers. The most popular of these software are Edmodo tool which is an educational tool that connects the teachers and students , and is assimilated into a social network. In this one, teachers can create online collaborative groups, administer and provide educational materials, measure student performance, and communicate with parents, among other functions. Edmodo has more than 34 million users who connect to create a learning process that is more enriching, personalized, and aligned with the opportunities brought by technology and the digital environment.

Socrative which is designed to allow teachers to create exercises or educational games which students can solve using mobile devices, whether smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Teachers can see the results of the activities and, depending on these, modify the subsequent lessons in order to make them more personalized.

Ck-12 which is a website that seeks to reduce the cost of academic books for the K12 market in the United States and the world. To achieve its objective, this platform has an open source interface that allows creating and distributing educational material through the internet, which can be modified and contain videos, audios, and interactive exercises. It can also be printed and comply with the necessary editorial standards in each region. The books that are created in cK-12 can be adapted to the needs of any teacher or student.

ClassDojo which is a tool used to improve student behavior: teachers provide their students with instant feedback so that good disposition in class is 'rewarded' with points and students have a more receptive attitude towards the learning process. ClassDojo provides real-time notifications to students, like 'Well Done David!' and '+1', for working collaboratively. The information that is collected about student behavior can be shared later with parents and administrators through the web.

The21st century educational technology trend places focus on how the teachers, students and other parties can benefit from the emergence of technology advancement.

Here are the educational tech trends.

 

Classroom evolution 4.0

The concept of personal learning tends to be the heart of digital classroom 4.0 self-paced learning, becoming more and more popular these days, which empowers students with higher decision-making power in their own learning process. Following the student-centric approach, classroom 4.0 enable choosing their syllabus based on interest and self-ability.   

Classroom 4.0 evolves with technology integration for skill improvement even outside the class. According to McKinsey insight, roundly 60% of teachers and students have been familiar with at least one automated self-paced teaching or learning

 

Applying machine learning and artificial intelligence  

One of the most motivations for classroom 4.0 is AI in education. When it comes to the custom curriculum for each student, many people suspect it is a real possibility that design learning structures. Obviously, the traditional method needed extreme effort and money to create common curricula. So, how can we get customization suitable for each individual?  

The answer is AI- Artificial Intelligence. AI-driven technology reduces tons of effort in detecting students’ talent and interest that automatically generates a fitted curriculum for each of them. One typical example named Duolingo damaging the effect of traditional learning. Some studies proved that by spending roundly 35 hours learning with Duolingo, students would get all the knowledge of a whole semester in school.   

Obviously, virtual learning or self-learning highly depend on each individual, but it somehow proved the possibility of AI-driven application.  

Virtual learning or video learning platforms  

Current and future of education technology put virtual classroom app and e-learning portals at the heart that video learning would soon dominate the way of studies. A survey done from 2020 revealed that roundly 98% of students in the US used video-based learning as the pivotal component along their learning journey. Besides, almost all schools and universities confessed to using video to support their curriculums in many ways.   

Although there is no chance that the future will see the fading away of classroom education but one thing is sure that it will look more different than the boring one we know of today. In the future, we expect a smart classroom full of digital advances leveraging both smart Hardware and education software development in delivering lessons. From kindergarten to higher education, technology in education is sneaking into every corner of the classroom.

Some of the components of high tech classroom in the recent times and those expected in the future include but not limited to creative space which provide tiered sittings for each student for internet connection, projectors for displaying interactive Virtual Reality  and Augmented Reality Videos, Smartboards which can enable several types of markers that have the ability of recording writing history, Smart tables which are replacements for tablets and desktop or laptop computers, control centers which are centralizes remotes to control digital devices for smooth lecture operations, Networked learning systems which allow students, teams, teachers to collaborate more efficiently with the networked learning environment. It makes sure all are on the same page.  

Educational software as listed before have numerous benefits compared with the traditional orthodox components

 Organizing Content And Giving Access To It

You can store all the materials and structure them in one safe place. This way, you keep all the vital information and can easily create different courses. Moreover, all the team members can access it if you use a cloud-based LMS It is an ideal option for teams who work together at the same school or other educational institutions. Team members also have unlimited access to the materials from any device to perform the necessary tasks or learn new information. Moreover, even the international teams and audiences can use eLearning as the time zone difference is eliminated.

Tracking Student Progress And Behavior

Tracking and reporting on the learner’s progress is another key function of online education software. It enables offering more personalized content based on the experience and achievements of a particular student. It also helps you improve the course or program content to make it more suitable to the needs and expertise level of most students. If you provide the reports to the learners, it makes your online school look more responsible and professional.

Education Cost Reduction

This is probably one of the most substantial benefits of educational software for schools. In times of economic crisis caused by a pandemic, cutting costs is a priority for any business. And going online is the most popular way to achieve it. Businesses save costs on rent, taxes, learning materials, etc. The innovative technologies let the users learn from home, and the only expense is the internet access and the course or program price.

 Reduced Teacher Workload

The software can automate many processes of secondary importance and help teachers focus on their key activities. For instance, special tools provide access to student information, give grades for test assignments, check the homework, and handle other time-consuming processes.

 Enhanced Student Engagement And Performance

Cutting-edge technologies like AI, AR, and VR are a trend in the educational industry. Mobile learning software is an ideal solution targeted and designed according to the needs and interests of different student categories. There has always been a problem with pre-school and primary school learners, but the gamification of the process and use of various activities improve interest. Out-of-the-box assignments improve creativity and keep the children engaged and motivated longer.

Like I have said before, it is easier to list the positive impacts of this modern trail that the education is taking towards automation but there are negative implications which cannot be overlooked.

Misguiding Information

Websites have become more focused on getting better rankings than actually providing the information they need to. Many sites are putting up misleading information online to earn more visits, even if the information is not accurate.

As a student, you are likely to stumble upon some of these sites that provide false details or wrong information. Other sites copy content from other websites without authenticating the information. Either way, the readers are misled, which is bad for students.

Makes Cheating Easier

Cheating used to be a lot harder when phones could not be used to access the internet during tests. Students have taken advantage of new technological advancements to outsmart the system. It has become harder to detect pupils are cheating, and even proving it becomes more challenging. So, a good number of students get away with it and acquire their degrees. They go on to become actual professionals in the fields without being deserving of these positions academically.

Conclusively

Technology will impact education more in the future but care should be taken that the essence of education shouldn’t be eroded by this storm of technology and modern day innovation.

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