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If you are considering a career in the education industry, then you should understand how technology and e-learning have changed the way students are taught today. The e-learning industry is expanding every day, and there are so many new things that, as a tutor, you should explore, learn, and adapt to.
Because students today are inclined more towards distance learning, here is the story of a student who discovers how e-learning is changing the traditional way of learning.
As usual, Harry packed his bag, dressed up for school, and patiently waited at the bus stop. But this time, he saw a different bus coming his way. This bus had a whole new exterior; it felt like it wasn’t Harry’s regular bus. The moment he stepped into it, he saw a tech-driven automatic bus with big size screens, in-built colorful seats, comfortable passage, gaming elements, and a complex interior. One could sense Harry’s excitement and also discomfort since everything flipped upside down unexpectedly for him.
Just like Harry, the class of 2020 had a similar experience. We were on a journey to upgrade to e-learning but none thought this fast and sudden.
As quoted by Donna J. Abernathy, “Online learning is not the next big thing, it is the now big thing.”
And it is evident seeing how this generation will experience a great change in the education system all over the world.
As we dwell deeper into the changes and the trends, there are several interesting things that have happened in the education industry especially post COVID era.
Digital Classroom Experience
The atmosphere of a digital classroom is affected by several elements. For example, there is an individual space for every student which adds more comfort, personalization, and potential for a student to nurture, grow, and create their own way of learning. The 1:1 interaction is keeping everyone hooked with this new, customized style of learning.
There are tools that make e-learning penetrable like Microsoft’s digital classroom. It’s one popular digital infrastructure that extends linking capability, power backup, projection system, and internet facility to enhance a student’s e-learning experience. Not only this, it’s well-managed and tracks extremely minute details, though there are many others like MOOC, Flipped classroom, and LMS.
Undoubtedly such an environment fosters personal choices as well. One can choose and connect with friends with similar thoughts, avoid unwanted activities and scale their performance to a better level. Such a study environment isn’t controlling rather provides a social stage to a student to take ownership of his decisions.
Student-centered Learning
Remember Harry’s new bus? It was built for Harry. In e-learning, the focus shifts from many to one and everyone individually. According to Statista, around 64% of American middle school students are using digital learning tools, and more than 30% of American students have enrolled in at least one online course. These statistics show that e-learning has the power to convince students and offer value, knowledge, information, and exposure to them at strength.
Every planning and execution in e-learning is inclined towards a student’s overall achievement. Over the years, there has been a surge in the demand and supply of online tutoring platforms, hence it’s very hard to make a decision on who to purchase from. You need to do proper research and align students’ learning styles and needs with what the platform offers. There are a lot of articles on how to choose a good e-learning platform.
Tech-driven Education
The driver of Harry’s bus is technology, and thus, it has some ownership and accountability to hold. And they say, trusting the driver is the most important thing that you should do as a passenger. But again, who will create that trust?
We’re living in a 21st century world where everything is tech-linked and so is education. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of major stakeholders in the edtech industry to navigate the driver towards aligned goals and achievements and let passengers make the most of this opportunity.
The e-learning ecosystem has no geographical, language, or socio-economic barriers. And the driver can lead all of us to collaborative success which is to educate with responsibility, improve user-accessibility, and make the learning process even better.
Gamification in E-Learning
Now, if you have read carefully, Harry’s bus had some gaming elements embedded in it. What were those elements, and how are they helpful to Harry?
If you ask what is the role of gaming in online education, then here is the answer. Gamification in education is the craziest yet most impactful modification to witness. Games form a community and that community eventually teams up to initiate different mutual levels of learning and help in:
- Setting up objectives
- Making a timeframe
- Measuring progress
- Identifying key players
- Making a task-oriented approach
- Monitoring key metrics to follow up with the process
There are different tools used for interaction. VR and AR are designed to enhance students’ and teachers’ online engagement and create more valuable learning processes. This type of learning incorporates feelings of excitement and improves the retention rate of students.
Not only this but also you can create stories and set a plot to curate interest among the players (i.e., teachers and students), which builds strong communication between them.
Now, let’s address this question of whether e-learning is a journey or a destination?
Well, it’s a journey that everyone is going to experience differently – at least for many years to come. Harry’s journey is not only his, it’s ours as well. It has just begun. It’s more about the milestones we set in e-learning.
The bus that Harry boarded is not yet completed. It requires a lot of implementations and improvements. But the best part is, Harry is going to experience and enjoy the whole change eventually directed by the tutors.
Because this change is necessary today, it’s a journey with multiple destinations and milestones to achieve for every stakeholder.
