It is the era of futuristic education. Technology has transformed the ways we learn and introduced marvelous new ways of acquiring new knowledge. What’s impressive is that technology is the culmination of the efforts & innovations of educated and inquisitive minds and shares an intricate relationship with learning & education. It won’t’ be far-fetched to state that technological advancements are, in all practicality, advances in education.
Education Technology has been a buzzword across academia and the Internet for the better half of the last decade. Through the years, numerous educational systems have integrated EdTech, but there is still much work to do.
Many more need to recognize and realize the importance of educational technology.
Why We Need To Understand The Importance of EdTech
An article by OECD shows how the pandemic affected the continuity of learning across its member and partners countries. The World Bank highlighted the significant disruptions in education across Europe, Central Asia, the Americas, Australasia, South Asia, etc.
Developing and underdeveloped economies suffered drastically, and EdTech such as remote learning, online learning, educational apps, the Internet, and the like.
The Covid-19 pandemic is just one of many factors, albeit a highly potent one, that necessitated the need for EdTech. Many of us are well aware of another prominent reason, the widespread inequality, namely, the great socio-economic divide.
The ever-present income and wealth disparity among the developing and developed economies is a massive hurdle to holistic education.
Underdeveloped countries in Africa, Asia, and South America cannot make formal education equally available to all. Non-formal academic avenues such as MOOCs, online learning platforms can help fill that void. But, socio-economic disparity, lack of proper knowledge & training, flawed educational policies & systems, and poor governance are significant obstacles to the implementation of EdTech.
Besides resolving the other factors, all stakeholders in the education industry, from students to policymakers, must understand and realize the importance of educational technology. The following section highlights the importance and the need for proper EdTech implementation in 2021.
The Importance of EdTech in Our Society
Getting right down to business, we focus on one of the most common and indispensable technology among them all, the Internet.
The Internet- Making Information Accessible To All
The omnipresence of the World Wide Web is the basis of almost all educational technologies. This gigantic virtual highway of data allows instant exchange of any information in any format from any corner of the world. All anyone needs is an Internet-enabled device for access.
- The Internet is a boon to education simply because of its ability to connect people and resources. Students can access a wide variety of data on any subject and interact with their peers, friends, teachers & tutors in an instant.
- Online classes, streaming, tutorials, educational content & resources- anything anyone needs for studying any subject is at their fingertips.
- Remote learning, online learning, digital learning, and other potent avenues of learning and education exist only through the auspices of the Internet, a marvel of ICT that has now become indispensable to world education.
- Public and private network access are standard features of educational institutions in developed economies all over. Gaps in the implementation of widespread Internet accessibility are challenges in developing and backward economies, however. Circumstances and necessity are bringing about drastic changes gradually, as administrations realize the need of EdTech
Professional Online Writing Services: The Perfect Assignment Writing Assistants
Online law assignment help and academic writing services are proponents of Edtech that deserve a special mention. These services are the perfect assistants for students struggling with their assignments and offer professional writing assistance from subject matter experts at pocket-friendly prices.
- Online services that help with assignments recruit the creme de la creme of writers from across a country and abroad.
- Skilled and experienced writers possess the knowledge and intent to help with courseworkand assignments tools like paraphrasing tool of of any kind.
- The online nature of these services ensures that they are accessible to anyone with the ability to access them. Internet connectivity is necessary, but the proliferation of ISPs and net-enabled devices comes across as a boon.
- Online academic writing services are a shining example of EdTech and play a massive role in bringing about equity in education.
MOOC- Making Lifelong Learning A Reality
The rise of the Massively Open Online Course industry is a landmark event in the history of world education. First conceptualized through the Open Educational Resources initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the MOOC industry has become a vital resource of millions.
The importance of Educational Technology stems from the many benefits it offers:
- Learners get to access the best possible resources and experience the guidance of the finest lecturers, professors, teachers, etc. In addition, platforms such as edX, Coursera, Udacity, etc., offer courses designed & supported by world-renowned universities like MIT, Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and much more.
- Both self-paced and instructor-led courses are available for learners to wrap their heads around. Independence and flexibility are two of the most prominent features of these EdTech platforms.
- MOOC platforms offer courses on a wide variety of subjects. From AI and aeronautics to language and psychology, well-defined courses on every discipline are accessible to anyone with the will & resources to learn.
- Free resources are galore on every platform. (Khan Academy, an online learning platform, offers ALL resources, materials, and more, absolutely for free. Learners can pay for a complete course or audit a course together.
- Assignments, assessments, and capstone projects ensure that those willing to learn do so in the best way possible.
- Accessibility to MOOCs and integrating online learning with existing curricula should be a priority across countries. MOOC will play a massive role in making education available to one and all in the upcoming future.
Education Technology-Enabled Learning & Management Platforms: Better Immersion, Better Effectiveness
Blended learning, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality, Game-based learning, Hardware & Software Assisted Learning Sessions, Classroom Management Apps & Academic Administration Platforms- the list of tech-enabled learning methods is full of EdTech that are revolutionizing education as we speak.
- Virtual reality& game-based learning paradigms are excellent ways to improve attention and boost student motivation & understanding.
- These techs offer immersive experiences that engage the senses and allow the brain to grasp things faster.
- EdTech isn’t just limited to helping a student learn better. Official websites, tutor portals, and academic management platforms are other kinds of educational technology which help teachers & administrators control everything better.
- As evident from recent times, online and remote learning apps & services such as Google Classroom, Zoom, Edmodo, ClassDojo, etc., have been instrumental in helping schools and universities continue education despite the pandemic.
- These EdTech apps prevented an entire generation of students from the curse of knowledge & career gaps.
Better Teacher-Student & Student-Student Collaboration
Communication and interaction, anytime, anywhere- is one of the most prominent attributes of the information & communication technology that lies at the heart of EdTech. So naturally, EdTech allows for better & more fruitful collaboration between educators and their wards.
- Remote learning platforms, global assignment help services and apps offer options for teachers to pay individual attention to students. Unfortunately, traditional classroom environments do not allow so.
- Online learning activities bring students and teachers closer. Students work together towards a common solution, and teachers can guide them all the way. As a result, distractions are less, and effectiveness is much more than traditional classes.
- Classroom & team management apps enable better assessment of student performance and feedback delivery. ClassDojo, Kahoot!, Google Classroom, etc. Offer numerous effective options to scrutinize arrangements minutely, keep track of progression, and give feedback to students & their guardians.
Education Technology In Building Tech-Ready Talent for The Future
According to an article by Microsoft, labor economists predict that nearly 77% of all jobs will require in-depth & specific tech skills in less than a decade. What’s more, current learners and future generations may end up working in jobs that have not been yet established.
The future is tech-heavy, but the education sector needs to be more tech-ready. World-renowned universities and tech giants aim to fill this massive demand for tech-skilled labor by providing learning platforms to build future-ready skills, reshaping the very structure of modern education through educational technology.
- Microsoft, Linked-In, and GitHubhave joined hands to provide an array of resources, courses, and programs for both students & professionals to help them acquire and upgrade future-proof technical skills.
- Google has Google Developers, Skillshopfor the education of professional Google app users, Google Cloud For Students, Code With Google & Grow With Google platforms for students, developers, creators, and the like. Building future-ready tech skills is now a whole lot easier thanks to EdTech.
- IBM Skillsand IBM Skills Academy are tech-skill building platforms for students, job-seekers, businesses, and professionals offered by the computer and software industry pioneers. IBM’s initiatives help learners build & develop critical tech skills through free online courses, programs, etc., in partnership with academic institutions, governments, and NGOs around the globe.
Understanding the importance of educational technology is as important as its implementation. Educational systems and their policymakers must realize how EdTech helps policies & strategies come to fruition. Teachers & instructors need to understand how EdTech helps them teach better, and students must understand how EdTech can help them learn better.
Only with such definite and broad understanding can the world achieve better implementation and eventually better education.
That rounds up this blog. Hope it was an exciting and informative read for everyone.
Author-Bio: Tao Davin is the head of the computer science department at a public university in Washington, the USA. He is also a part-time tutor at MyAssignmenthelp.com, a leading global instant assignment help service.
