Technology has shaped almost every part of our lives and perhaps the most important sphere we are still waiting to see take shape is education. The promise of a revolutionary online education changing the way students learn has been with us since the dawn of the internet.
Although tech hasn’t entirely uprooted education or disrupted it yet, there are subtle ways learning has changed. Here are the top five positive impacts technology has had on education.
Research
Believe it or not, there was a time when research involved going to the local library and picking out as many books as you could find on a select topic. Things have changed substantially with the availability of information on our fingertips. Research online has become so easy that a lot of institutions have moved physical books onto their electronic libraries. Students have, undoubtedly, benefitted with this content driven media.
Globalization
Learning languages and cultures involved taking a flight out to a far off destination. Of course, that’s not the case anymore. Ideas and research can be exchanged very easily online. Video conferencing has made it remarkably faster to connect with people who may live on the other side of the world. There could be a need for some tutoring help online and there are teachers from across the world available to help you whenever you need. It’s like a techno-utopia.
Gamification
Learning while playing a game may seem like science fiction, but in many ways it’s a reality that is shaping the modern world. People in developing countries may lack access to some basic amenities but they have their smart phones and can learn a number of things by playing educational games on them.
This is especially handy for teachers who want to introduce young kids to coding. What better way to learn to code than to fiddle around with a computer to try and design your own?
Distance Learning
Education doesn’t really stop at graduation and many professionals find it hard to travel to their nearest university to learn skills that can help them develop in their careers. The problem is most people are simply too busy to be able to upgrade themselves. With distance learning students can enroll in courses from around the world and achieve work-life balance like never before.
Web Seminars
Seminars and field trips allow students to learn from the best in an environment that resembles a classroom. The basics have always remained the same, there’s an industry expert on-stage that delivers thoughts on the cutting edge in the field. These seminars can now be broadcast to millions of online followers who may not be able to make the trip out to the institute.
Being able to attend seminars with experts from your industry is a phenomenal shift in the way our education is structured. Even NASA is on board with this and allows students to talk to astronauts in space. Such experiences can have a lasting impact on a student’s future.