Education is far from being the only aspect of our lives that is constantly changing under the influence of rapid technological development. Since education in many ways determines our children’s future, changes in this field will have the biggest impact on tomorrow’s world.
Recent generations are easily adopting new gadgets and using them for enhancing work and leisure experiences. Will adoption of advanced technology by educational institutions produce the same effect? Let’s talk about technology’s influence on education and possible changes rapid tech development can bring to current educational system.
Changes in the teacher’s role
From ancient times, until the beginning of 21st century, educational process was overly dependent on teachers and tutors. This influenced them to develop fantastic narrative skills and knowledge on many different subjects.
For several millennia, these professionals have been doing a great job and, among them, we can find some of the most prominent minds of human history including: Aristotle, Galileo Galilee, Sir Isaac Newton and Confucius. Now the time has finally come for the teachers to relax, because advanced technology can be used for multiplying the effect of their lectures and enhancing their student’s experience.
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In my elementary school, teachers used overhead projectors, cassettes players, VHS recorders and photo slide projectors. In high school, tech advances shift our attention to digital picture, audio and video formats, and enabled our teachers to use all of these media with the help of just one projector and a laptop, without carrying and connecting the old heavy machinery. Tech development also made teachers’ lessons more graphic.
Soon we will be able to use virtual reality simulations for teaching purposes. This means that students will be able to see volcano eruptions or atomic processes or deep space from first person view and with outstanding accuracy and graphics. Of course, this incredible technology won’t leave teachers jobless. Their teaching will just become easier, more graphical and effective.
The look of future classrooms
Today, almost all schools have their media rooms. In the near future, each classroom will turn into the media room equipped with top notch universal home theatres and powerful sound systems .
Wide use of augmented reality concept will also influence the look of future classrooms. It will enable teachers to take their students to virtual field trips. In the middle of lecture about Roman Age, students and teachers will find themselves on the streets of ancient Pompeii, or in the middle of CERN’s Hadron Collider if they wish to switch to physics.
Students will also be able to touch and feel objects they are hearing about because 3D printers will be used for making inexpensive and realistic models.
Free education for all
This is another great concept that is currently reaching its momentum. The Internet represents an unlimited knowledge base, and nowadays, even the most prestigious American universities are posting their lectures, literature and tests online. This enables people to gain knowledge without making tuition payments, or leaving their bedroom for that matter.
Free educational websites will also allow students to repeat lessons they missed. This means that student absenteeism will produce much lighter consequences in terms of knowledge, discipline and curricula.
Some experts worry that free online education will undermine the role of classic educational institutions. This might happen, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. Any kind of monopoly, even in educational sphere, can be disastrous for future generations.
Now when top colleges are posting free content online, all other market players will need to invest much more time and money in making their lectures more valuable because it will be the only way for them to attract students. This way we will get the top quality education, which is completely free of charge.
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In the end, it is easy to conclude that increasing influence of advance technology on education brings nothing but benefits. Although the question from the headline sounds a bit apocalyptic (because technology take-over is still associated with Terminator 2: Judgment Day movie), advanced tech solutions will be able to help teachers to spark interest and engage their students to learn more.