eLearning - are we there yet?
having two teenagers in two of Singapore's top schools, friends providing eLearning solutions and interesting conversations led me to a lot of interactions with schools, teachers and other educators. The education space is getting more and more attention from technology companies and passionate educators:
Speaking to teachers I can sense as much excitement as angst. After all teachers are most impacted by the changing landscape of education. Online education brings globalisation to their work: from being a monopoly (this is your Sec2 math teacher) they jump with little notice to global competition, where they need to match the best (recorded) teaching lessons on the planet. Recordings come with a pause and a rewind button, teachers not so much. The teachers role is changing rapidly:
To make this transition successful, more focus needs to given to empower the dedicated educators to adopt the new roles. I'm certain, if done right, their job satisfaction will grow, students will like school more than they do now and the skills for the next generation can emerge. LKY knows this, he reminded us: What worked {for Singapore} for the last 30 years, will not work in the future.
- The Khan Academy provides an ever growing K12 syllabus, that rivals top schools
- Coursera offers higher education as does ED/X (I still would love to work at the MIT)
- Intel buys Kno and becomes a eTextbook champion
- Sugata Mitra wins the TED price and wants to build a classroom in the cloud
- Microsoft flogs off surface to students
- The Common Core standard is machine readable (nevertheless it is controversial) and others advocate a more individualistic approach (Google English version) echoed by great minds on both sides of the pond
- Flip Teaching is becoming popular
- ... and many more
Speaking to teachers I can sense as much excitement as angst. After all teachers are most impacted by the changing landscape of education. Online education brings globalisation to their work: from being a monopoly (this is your Sec2 math teacher) they jump with little notice to global competition, where they need to match the best (recorded) teaching lessons on the planet. Recordings come with a pause and a rewind button, teachers not so much. The teachers role is changing rapidly:
To make this transition successful, more focus needs to given to empower the dedicated educators to adopt the new roles. I'm certain, if done right, their job satisfaction will grow, students will like school more than they do now and the skills for the next generation can emerge. LKY knows this, he reminded us: What worked {for Singapore} for the last 30 years, will not work in the future.
Posted by Stephan H Wissel on 10 November 2013 | Comments (3) | categories: eLearning
