The communication evolution
Possibly the greatest impact on education and learning has come from the
development of a myriad of new communication methods, made possible by the
Internet. This has gone hand in hand with a variety of new communication
platforms, similarly enabled. The most impactful of these have been social
media platforms like Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. Along with these have come
new ways of interacting and conversing, most notably what can be termed
“text-speak”: a virtually new truncated dialect complete with its own spelling
conventions and short cut abbreviations for phrases.
Allied to these
developments in communication is a plethora of peer-based communities. These
include discussion forums and other web-based platforms. Learners now find
themselves able to access a variety of other interaction opportunities around
the work they have been given in the classroom. They can discuss it with others
on social networking sites and forums, they can post assignments for marking
and they can get involved in syndicate groups at university.
All of this deeply changes the education model. Whereas previously it was a case of doing class work and assigning homework in a more or less closed system, with the relationship between teacher and learner virtually the sole learning relationship, nowadays learners have access to a much wider network of what can broadly be called “learning resources”.
All of this deeply changes the education model. Whereas previously it was a case of doing class work and assigning homework in a more or less closed system, with the relationship between teacher and learner virtually the sole learning relationship, nowadays learners have access to a much wider network of what can broadly be called “learning resources”.
The deluge of information
While enabling a richer
learning experience, this simultaneously poses challenges that learners need to
learn to overcome. With such a deluge of information, which can be accessed via
the Internet, comes the task of learning to evaluate the information. It cannot
be consumed too quickly – the learner needs to digest, think about and apply it
meaningfully. Similarly the learner needs to be able to sort good information
from bad, to verify sources and to follow logical threads from one source to
another. This places a serious responsibility on the learner – it’s not simply
a case of finding information and immediately applying it. It needs to be
thoroughly evaluated first.
Interactive textbooks and tools, and the Internet
No longer are learners confined to printed textbooks, possibly supplemented
with visual documentaries. Today there are thousands of websites that offer
videos, e-books, interactive study tools and assessments. Not only this, but
the ways of accessing this information and these tools are numerous. Learners
have laptops, tablets and smartphones.
The introduction of
tablets into the classroom has had a significant impact on teaching methods. It
is now possible for both teachers and learners to access vast resources quickly
and easily, in real-time. Lessons can be supplemented by visual, multimedia and
interactive elements instantly sourced online. Additional learning and
study aids can be introduced into the live environment of the classroom, making
it much easier for teachers to reach the learners at whatever stage of information
processing they are during the course of a lesson.
A double-edged sword
Of course all of this technology can be both a good and not
so good thing. At the same time as it enriches and expands the educational
experience, it also poses brand new challenges for both educators and learners,
which we need to become very familiar with to find inventive and responsible
ways of overcoming. As much as technology can streamline and simplify the
educational experience, it can also make it more complex and challenging. The
solution lies in gaining complete familiarity and experience, and applying it
as judiciously and appropriately as possible.
