Tech-ing the Next Step: Part 4 - The Education Ecosystem
Slow But Steady: Integrating Technology into the Education Ecosystem
With this final blog in our series, we take a step back and look at the larger picture - where exactly do education and technology intersect? If education is a delicate ecosystem, how best can we introduce technology to it? And what do we need to make this introduction not just possible, but sustainable and successful?
__
The world of education is a lot like an ecosystem - it thrives only when all of its individual components thrive. For education to succeed, each one of the people, resources and methods that go into the learning process have to succeed, and succeed together.
Like an ecosystem, education too has undergone growth and evolution over the years to keep up with changing circumstances. Its latest evolution has technology as its driving force and in a not-too-far future, edtech will have firmly embedded itself into the larger ecosystem of learning.
But for now, there is still a need for us to understand and devise strategies for this process - there is no room for brute-forcing into an ecosystem. So if technology and education are to succeed - and succeed together - our approach needs to be one of intention and sustainability.
Here is a look at three major principles to inform our efforts as we slowly, but surely, introduce technology into the existing structures of education:
1. Evolving Learning Environments and Roles
Edtech is sometimes approached as a means of technological replacements within the current classroom environment - such as replacing notebooks with digital tablets, or textbooks with online resources. But the scope of technology’s application within the classroom can go much farther than that.
The entire concept of a learning environment is now at a point of transformation. The tech-integrated classroom is an environment where virtual learning, physical resources and social foundations of education come together and work harmoniously. Technology is no longer just a model of substitution, but a source for creative learning solutions.
The designated roles of the traditional classroom have shifted, too.
After an extended stint with virtual learning, digital native students are now more informed and aware of their learning preferences. The identity of the teacher has moved from being a purveyor of knowledge to being a creative facilitator of the learning process. For school leaders, it is now more essential than ever to keep up with the evolving landscape of edtech, make bolder decisions and prioritize the digital skills that their students will require in the future.
2. Reimagining Education with Technology
Today, we have a better understanding of technology’s potential to enhance learning than ever before. But to welcome a truly tech-integrated future in education, we must look at more than just applications and substitutions for existing structures. We must re-imagine our whole approach to edtech.
A remarkable example of this principle in action is Finland’s HEI Digivision 2030, a project that aims to entirely “restructure Finland’s higher education by means of digitalization” in a decade. Its goal is to eventually move away from looking at individual tech tools and solutions, and instead work towards developing a cohesive and completely digital-integrated model of education.
It is possible to push and mould our existing education systems to accommodate technology. But a much more sustainable and impactful option might just be to reimagine education with technology factored in, and then rebuild it entirely from the ground up. It takes more effort and is certainly harder to achieve, but compared to the alternative, it is far more likely to pay dividends for decades to come.
3. Prioritizing People
Be it enthusiasm or hesitation, digital learning is certain to evoke some form of reaction in every member of the education system. But whatever the reaction may be, it is important to remember that above all, education technology is a tool, a means to an end. Its potential lies squarely at the hands of the people who use it, how they use it and what objectives they use it for.
That is why instead of spending entire budgets on technologies, it is much more prudent for educational institutions to invest partly in technology and partly in the technical skill development of their members along the educational structure.
At the heart of every transformation are people. Which is why the technological transformation of education is incomplete without the participation of the people involved in the learning process - school leaders, teachers, students and parents. If we can inform, educate, prepare and look after the interests of all these people across the entire learning ecosystem, we can utilize technology for our benefit and to serve our purposes, instead of being bound to it.
Our technology blog series ‘Tech-ing the Next Step’ is written based on insight gathered from interviews with some of our education team members: Stephen Cox (Chief Education Officer), Christopher Petrie (Director of Digital Learning), and Laura Luomanen-Jaakkola (Director of Professional Development).
Learn more about our Nordic Learning Platform - an all-in-one, simple to use solution that integrates everything needed for personalized, online, and face-to-face learning.
