21 century

How can the integration of technology in education enhance learning outcomes and prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century? Please provide specific examples of innovative educational technologies and discuss the potential benefits and considerations in adopting such tools within the traditional educational framework

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Ranajack45

I could probably write extensive essays on what I think about the education sector in multiple countries, as probably many people on TSR can vouch.
I'm also a little wary that the way the question is phrased almost makes it seem like a homework/essay question in itself, but I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt since it's under "educational debate".

To answer the above question though, it would depend on the learning outcomes and what preparations the sector want to educate students on, both of which are completely different cans of worms to the current question.
Tech such as ChatGPT and search engines like Google are here to stay and they should be fully used by all organisations should they want to maintain a competitive edge, stay relevant, and minimise costs. Not integrating such tech into education and teach students how to fully utilise the tech to their full potential would not only hinder the progress of the next generation of students but also be detrimental to preparing them for the "challenges of the 21st Century" i.e. it sets them back to the metaphorical stone age.
I get that excessive reliance on tech can deter essential learning and skills in some areas such as mental arithmetic, map reading, and forming arguments. However, these skills wouldn't be used as extensively if the technology is available, as it would likely be the case. And skills are like muscles, the less you use them the less they stick or form.

In terms of how you can integrate tech into education, I have found the following particularly useful:

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Programming for data science and machine learning - if you have stats and a lot of data to crunch, you can't ignore the benefits of using programming languages and their libraries, such as those for Python, to help with getting the information

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MetaVerse - despite what it currently seems the main purposesof VR is for, the potential for education is quite big. At the very least, it helps with visualisation, re-enactments, those with special needs, and creative thinking

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ChatGPT - despite what is said in the media regarding its effects on education, I consider it a great tool for planning, research, and summarising findings. Sure, it defeats the point in writing essays if you did everything with ChatGPT, but then again you're not exactly going to write many essays in the world of work if you use AI effectively.

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Microsoft Office - I don't know how innovative is "innovative" for the context of this debate, but basic Office tools should already be used to enhance learning e.g. I wouldn't do stats homework without using Excel; using PowerPoint is often better than drawing ideas on a board; I wouldn't analyse various different economic scenarios using anything other than a spreadsheet - too many cumbersome calculations to do

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Maths problem solving apps - in th future, it's not about you doing the calculations or maths, it's about the computer doing it for you at a fraction of the time you put your pen onto paper.

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Digital art and music - whilst I am not saying the traditional mediums of producing art and music aren't great, the digital versions can produce significantly more variations and ideas in the fraction of the time of an artist in producing one piece. In the future, if artists are to stand out, their work need to go beyond just being nice to look at or listen to - because the digital versions can often outdo the traditional versions; there needs to be substance.

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AI art - this is something that recently emerged in the AI landscape. This in itself is an artform, and the art lies in how to enter the right prompts to get the sort of results that you want. I can see how music can later adopt something similiar if the technology is good enough.

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Film production - it shouldn't be an excuse anymore that you need expensive equipment to produce a piece of film when you have most of the necessary technology in a smartphone. Sounds, editing, music, etc. can also be edited using the phone, albeit to an extent although I can see this changing with more technologically advanced phones coming out

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Lanaguages - be it programming or modern languages, translation tools are abundant although many with their own inaccuracies. Without sounding like a futurist, we should expect to see translation tools being used in real time conversations in the near future, very likely using phones and portable tech. Education should accommodate the technology in its teaching.

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Design technology and graphics design - AutoCAD has been around for a few decades, and with the rise of AI, design using computers should be more and more mainstream.

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Sports - although tech isn't something that is commonly associated with sports, I recommend using tablets/phones to record matches and practice sessions so players can review their strategies and forms; it's very difficult to review what you did in first person just from memory.

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Any subjects that uses a lot of books - it makes significantly more sense to offer access to ebooks as opposed to using hard copies. For one, it's significantly more economical; second you save space; third, it saves you getting new versions of the book. Sure, it doesn't feel the same as holding an actual book, but you can't argue with the economics

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Using legos and tech in physics and engineering lessons - it has been around for a few decades, but not many schools have this and many still rely on traditional teaching methods and abstract thinking.

As much as I hate seeing people glue to their devices and communicating solely through text, they should be prepared with the challenges that they will face in the coming decades. The tech is here to stay and the education sector should accommodate it.
Then there is the side issue of whether you have teachers who are trained to fully use the technology or be able to teach using the technology.
Understandably, a lot of schools and unis wouldn't have the budget to handle much of the above. The politics also makes it difficult to implement any suggestions (often for the wrong reasons). Having said that, I would very much doubt they wouldn't change their minds if the cost savings are significantly big enough for them not to ignore.
In an ideal scenario, schools would at least be able to offer access to tablets to every student (along with a keyboard accessory). However, it's not always possible and this can potentially be a hindrance to how much students can keep pace with the anticipated changes in society in the future.
New technology can also come out at later point, and if it proves to be useful, can make current tech obsolete further incurring extra costs and training, as is the nature of the tech industry.

Of course, I am not saying certain forms of teaching should be changed. For example, nothing can really replace face to face interactions and social skills (another can of worms that I would save for later), and I would struggle to imagine anyone teaching food tech using AI. You can't simply replace a teacher with an AI bot. However, I think there's ample room for integrating said technology in the education sector.