Today, as never before, education is becoming the most important sphere, because the acquisition of knowledge takes on the character of a routine (in a good way), a necessity on the path of a successful existence. Therefore, educational technologies, with the help of which teachers convey this or that material to their listeners, are acquiring special relevance. Let’s see what kind of technologies are used today, what are their features. But before that, let’s look at the main trends that prove the need for continuous learning.
In the modern concept, lifelong education is seen as a permanent form of a person’s entire life from an early age. In the process of human education, not only special educational institutions are involved, but also the family, scientific centers, informal associations, the media, the church, etc. Moreover, adult education and the effectiveness of teaching children are closely related, no special evidence is required that that cultural, socially active parents, educated teachers are a prerequisite for the successful development of a child. Conversely, in a situation of an illiterate environment, a child cannot receive a real education.
Continuing education is a holistic process, consisting of successively successive stages of specially organized educational activities that create favorable conditions for a person to live. Currently, lifelong education is also interpreted as a unified system of state, public educational institutions, which ensures the organizational, meaningful unity and continuity of all links of education. The solution of the problems of education and training, professional training of a person should, on the one hand, take into account current and future social needs, on the other hand, – to satisfy the desire of a person for self-education, diversified and harmonious development throughout life.
Initially, the idea of lifelong education was developed as a problem of adult education. At the same time, the theses of modern psychology were taken into account that human development is not limited to the framework of childhood, but continues throughout life, and the more successful, the more qualified the help he receives from the outside. It was assumed that lifelong education would make it easier for a person to change social roles at different periods of life, support and improve the quality of individual and collective life through personal, social and professional development.
Why study today?
So, the following statements will show you the main trends in the field of education in modern life:
Trend 1
As noted earlier, learning will turn into a routine, which will make our intellectual life richer and more dynamic.
Think for yourself, technological progress is gaining momentum, new areas of activity appear, priority areas of development are changing, many professions are dying out, new ones appear, and we are forced to adapt to these conditions of a rapidly changing society. You’ve probably noticed yourself how in just five years your daily activities have become more “digital”. We invite you to think about these changes and suggest which ones are coming next.
Trend 2
Education will become lifelong. Compared to the past, when most of the education fell on the age period from 6 to 25 years, in the future it will be necessary to receive education throughout life. And the bad (though hopefully good news for someone) news: it won’t depend on your wishes. If you do not feed yourself with knowledge in a rapidly changing environment, you will simply be left out of life. Therefore, educate yourself!
Trend 3
As new areas of knowledge appear, new educational technologies appear. Education is moving from the format of ordinary lectures to project and problem-oriented methods. This means that work during training is becoming more open today, the field of interaction between teachers and students, as well as students among themselves, is increasing. Teamwork, consideration of cases, creation of entire projects to address certain issues – this is what is relevant today.
This, by the way, changes the student control system. Instead of testing, control papers, students are more often offered to defend a project, to come up with an idea to solve a problem. If you are a student, it is possible that your institution is already practicing such techniques.
Trend 4
The introduction of interactive methods into the educational environment seriously changes the process of acquiring knowledge. The modern schoolchild (student, any learner) perceives visual information better using the online environment. Instead of listening to a teacher’s lecture for an hour and a half, the student will prefer to watch a video on YouTube, learn almost the same amount of information in an informal and interesting setting, and explaining some material without a presentation to the student becomes less interesting.
Trend 5
Globalization has penetrated absolutely all spheres, including education. Hence it follows that the ability to perceive and accept innovations, to learn languages, to be mobile, and patient in relation to other cultures is of particular importance.
This also results in increased competition in the labor market. Remember that your competitors are not only national specialists, but also foreign candidates. Therefore, continue to develop, improve your chances in the ranks of the labor force.
Let’s now take a closer look at what the teaching community has to offer to create a more fun and effective classroom environment.
Modern educational technologies
At the moment, there is a huge number of educational technologies, but we will consider the most interesting and popular of them:
STEAM
This abbreviation stands for S-science, T-technology, E-engineering, A-art, M-mathematics (maths). The set of these areas of knowledge (science, technology, engineering, creativity, mathematics) together constitutes the methodological basis of this technology. Its meaning is that schoolchildren study these disciplines within the framework of some practical tasks, projects, for example, in robotics, programming, engineering, design, etc.
The well-known LEGO company has created the LEGO education project, in which children are invited not only to assemble a construction set, but to create a whole project called SPIKE Prime (small robot). While working on it, children learn both design and programming. According to the company’s research, 65% of current students will work in these specialties, so STEAM technologies are now actively being introduced into the educational process.
By the way, earlier this abbreviation was called STEM, without taking into account the creative criterion. However, later the Art criterion was added, showing that even in the exact sciences, creativity and creative thinking are required.
In general, STEAM educational technology is focused more on practice, it makes children and adolescents understand that the knowledge gained can and even should be applied immediately. Also, the methodology allows students to open up, express their position, communicate and work in a team, create creative and innovative products. You can read more about this educational technology here.
Fishbone
More precisely, Fishbone, which means “fish bones”, “fish skeleton”, respectively, imagine that there is a fish in front of you, with a head and a tail, a vertebra passes in the middle, and ribs go up and down.
Where do you think this scheme came from? Yes, of course, this is Japan! Where else are they so fond of fish? Nevertheless, this technology has managed to spread throughout the world. Professor Kaoru Ishikawa, a prominent Japanese management theorist who worked on the Toyota team, created this diagram back in 1952 in order to schematize the process of finding cause-effect relationships, as well as intensify the critical assessment of events and factors associated with it.
As you can see from the image, the head of a fish is a problem, the main question, an event or phenomenon under investigation, an object of study. Further from the “vertebra”, the reasons that follow from the descending facts move upward, that is, a number of accompanying facts caused certain reactions of the object, broadcasting the appearance of the reasons. Accordingly, the combination of these facts with the reasons leads to the conclusion, the final result, the consequences.
Of course, when this or that phenomenon is subjected to such an analysis, literally “dismemberment”, students more clearly see the work of cause-and-effect relationships, learn to analyze and subject the question under study to a detailed analysis. This is an indisputable plus of this technique.
Singapore methodology
We are used to the idea: the fewer students in the class, the better the material is assimilated and remembered, because in small groups the teacher’s control is better, and the children are less tempted to talk, play pranks, and you can ask more students about their homework. But here’s the fact: Singaporean students, with about 40 students per class, are recognized as some of the strongest in functional literacy (math and science) in the world. In addition, Singaporean schools, which are not particularly different from each other, have a young teaching staff. What’s the secret?
Sure! In learning technology! The entire learning process consists of so-called structures, which together represent the essence of this modern educational technology. Its main principles are: communication, team building, changing roles, changing the role of the teacher (he becomes a kind of moderator of the learning process, a guide for the execution of the algorithm), partnerships between students, their cooperation.
