(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mohammad Shoeb / The Peninsula
With rapid advancements in digital technology every industry is witnessing massive transformation, and the education sector is no exception.
The growing application of digital technology in educational institutions, including schools, the conventional methods of class-room teaching and pen-paper assessment system are expected to disappear much earlier than anticipated.
The future for summative high-stakes examinations is digital and schools and other educational institutes need to prepare for the future of digital technology, suggest tech experts and educationists.
The rise of digital technology allows teachers to introduce new ways of effective learning. It is allowing teachers and facilitators of education to focus on individual support for students.
'Technology is a great enabler in every field, including the education sector. What this necessitates is the re-alignment of the curriculum, teaching and assessment so they are aligned towards deep learning and transferrable skills, Jonathan Shellard, an educationist told The Peninsula in an interview.
He added: 'Over the next decade examination papers (as we know them now) and pens won't exist, the future is digital on-screen assessments. Many internationally examination boards are already introducing digital components with on-screen alternatives for some paper-based components.
Shellard, who is serving in Doha as a Principal at Newton British Academy (NBA), also said that the parenting paradigm is also fast changing. Schools engagement with parents is becoming a matter of great significance.Parents need to be recognised as co-educators recognition that they are the most important influence in a child's development and that in the new digital age learning takes place 24/7, where ever children are.
'Parents expect a personal relationship with teachers, they want a personal touch, they don't want a client type relationship that you might have with a bank manager, he said.
He further said that with the use of technology parents expect daily updates, in real time, of what their child is learning and how they are learning, they expect photos and videos showing how their children are spending their time, for which the NBA and other leading international schools are doing through digital technology and mobile apps such as ClassDojo.
Julia Wood, the Deputy Principal at NBA, echoed similar concerns, and added: 'Parents expect to be consulted much more and involved in decision making when it comes to matters that affect their child's learning. They expect to be involved in planning and the delivery of school events, to observe lessons, and other activities.
Julia highlighted that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of parents requesting for ‘parent workshops' to learn about not just what is being taught but how topics are taught the pedagogy--, which is creating new challenges.
Another big challenge is equipping the children of 21st century with skills and global competence for the 22nd Century as children borne today will live into the next century.
'To make the current generation future-proof, we need to give children opportunities to develop key skills of critical thinking and collaboration, communication and creativity, to allow them to be self-evaluative, self-directed and reflective in order for them to self-mange, Julia said.
The right selection and use of new digital technology as tools to engage learning is also an important issue.
Schools need to look to new technology to re-ignite past times, where classrooms were places students could discover and experience new technologies, for this is what children want.
'As studies show, we retain around 10 percent of what we read yet 90 percent of what we experience ourselves. It was Albert Einstein who said the only source of knowledge is experience. So the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology can deliver experiences and interactions for students, that are either not practical or not possible in the classroom, added Julia.
VR technology helps students feel immersed in an experience, gripping their imagination and stimulating thought in ways not possible with traditional books.
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