Conventional education has largely been a one-way street of information. The teacher imparts his or her knowledge onto the student and it is up to the student whether they deem the information worthy of memorizing and remembering. It is not interactive or dynamic, but rather flat and traditional in the sense that the student is passively learning instead of seeking information out actively and hence being part of the learning experience. With the rise of education technology challenging these tired old methods of teaching, what is the perfect balance of online and offline education?
Creating the perfect personalized course
Everyone learns at different speeds and with different methods. As the famous saying goes: “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”. Edtech allows students to cultivate their own learning style and really make the most out of their course instead of being forced to use the same syllabus and to learn at the same speed with everyone else.
Throwing a teacher into the mix
While this learning method is beneficial to each individual but might not be the most practical when put to use in a classroom. Teachers might face challenges of having to switch up their teaching styles or struggle to recall where the student left off – one might be 10 chapters ahead while one is still on the first few pages. This may also encourage competitive tension to develop in the classroom and make the learning environment unpleasant on a whole.
Everyone gets a virtual tutor
A better way of utilizing this idea of having tailor-made curriculums is through the use of a virtual tutor. The platform will be able to assess each student and determine how fast or slow to go and whether there are any adjustments that need to be made. Teachers will be able to access this data and with the help of the virtual tutor, determine how best to approach the student.
Fun and games can be a good teacher if used correctly
Toddlers and children learn through play and the reason many students lose interest in their academic studies is because learning stops being fun or they are simply not interested. These are two problems that need to be tackled when tutoring primary school students. Technology might be able to intervene by providing a new platform for students to learn on, making it fresh and fun for students, piquing their interest by being interesting.
Listening to a teacher drone on and on about chemistry in the classroom is not as interesting as playing a matching game of elements on an iPad. There are many ways to create a fun environment for learning: designing a pair of butterfly wings for biology on a design software, as opposed to dissecting a frog, for instance. This could teach the student functionality of the wings and allow those who are more creatively inclined to express their imagination, keeping it fun for the whole class.
Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash
