Same as in business, digital transformation in education is not about innovation or technology. Rather, it is a question of culture, values and habits. Digitalization can help teachers and students to communicate in a streamlined manner, share experiences, work in groups, learn differently, allow for students with learning difficulties to feel entitled to learning as well.
In the end, digital in education can secure a more engaging and effective education process. But a critical aspect to highlight is that it is not sufficient to have access to technology in the education environment to enable these new ways of interacting and learning.
Luckily, educators around the globe are grasping the benefits of technology in the classroom. The picture of a daily class these days is very different from the one we could have seen 30 years ago. Today, educational technology can make learning collaborative, interactive and engaging. In our days, artificial intelligence, gamification, augmented and virtual reality enhance the teachers’ work and create immersive learning that is engaging and fun for students.
Today, classrooms use smartboards and other devices to encourage collaboration instead of the traditional chalkboard, where the teacher is the one who is expected to know everything and share with the class. Today students can travel virtually to visit a place during their geography class instead of merely reading a book; they can create a video to share an experience with their fellow students and an extended audience outside of their classroom versus writing a text that only their teacher will read. In doing this, students are using the technology and learning how to interact with it to complete their work.
"Digital transformation must be a people-centric journey; with a sharp focus on helping students unleash their talent, celebrating the critical and growing role educators play and preparing school leaders to harness possibility".
Anthony Salcito, Vice President, Worldwide Education, MicrosoftIn higher education, artificial intelligence allows the use of chatbots to help answer students’ questions about homework and help them navigate through various administrative processes, thus supporting teachers and administrative employees who can focus on higher value-added activities. Furthermore, the use of AI in education is currently enabling personalized learning for students with specialized-learning needs and supporting teachers in building an inclusive learning environment.
These new trends allow students with different learning needs to learn in the way most appropriate to them. Voice-to-text and text-to-voice transcription technologies that are available in current times are particularly helpful to students with dyslexia and other learning issues. In addition, gaming technology makes learning difficult subject matters more exciting and interactive in various disciplines. This technology is designed to provide immediate feedback, so students are easily motivated to keep playing them, as they refine their skillset.
Digital transformation and modern classroom management will help young people develop the skills needed for the future, namely critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity, co-creation, coordinating with others and managing change. As we move towards this new approach to education, we do need to remember that what is key is to transform the culture in the classroom and not only the technology.
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