Web Technologies, Games and The Future of Learning

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We understand how technology has affected the business landscape. How about education? Are whiteboards, PowerPoint slides and projectors the best that we can do? I doubt so.

So, how have educational thought leaders and organizations embraced technology? And what are the implications towards the future of learning? In this article we’ll explore three different ways how different technology is affecting the future of learning.

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1. Search, Don’t Memorize

Let’s start with something that we used everyday – search. Search has become an integral part of education. We often find ourselves saying ‘just google it’ – to the point that we would rather refer to information garnered from a quick Google search rather than flip to that in our textbooks. There isn’t a need to memorize since facts are easily available on the web. Google makes us lazy and being lazy is bad. Or is it? I’m inclined to think Google helps us to be more efficient.

“Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates. It is enough that they know about the Battle of Hastings, without having to memorize that it was in 1066. They can look that up and position it in history with a click on Google,” said Don Tapscott, author of ‘Wikinomics’ and ‘Growing Up Digital’.

He doesn’t feel that method of learning is anti-education since the information we must all digest is coming in at lightning speed. “Children are going to have to reinvent their knowledge base multiple times,” he continues. “So for them memorizing facts and figures is a waste of time.”

The impact on future of learning: Google is available during work and what we usually painstakingly memorize in school is quickly forgotten after graduation. A traditional exam is often a test of how much information a student can regurgitate. But in practice, that usually isn’t the smartest way to get things done. Schools should redefine how exams are structured to better prepare students for the real working world. Thus, instead of memorizing, we should embrace technology in education. Of course, certain things such as language rules should be remembered. This will be a constant struggle for the education sector, as students become more Google and Internet reliant.

2. Learning Through Epistemic Games

Games are fun and they are usually well received by students. Epistemic games are games created to introduce real-world challenges into public education. Through the games, students are able to experience the problems faced by an urban planner or business owner. The key is to instill innovative thinking to solve problems that usually don’t have standardized answers.

“Creative professionals learn innovative thinking through training that is very different from traditional academic classrooms because innovative thinking means more than just knowing the right answers on a test,” explains The Epistemic Games Group’s website. “It also means having real-world skills, high standards and professional values, and a particular way of thinking about problems and justifying solutions. Epistemic games are about learning these fundamental ways of thinking for the digital age.”

The impact on future of learning: The future of learning is built for the future generation. We have to predict what their needs are to better prepare them for future challenges. One thing for sure, the world gets more competitive as time passes. Education has to evolve to meet these challenges. Introducing real world problems through games not only spice up learning but it is also more relevant to real world application. In the future, we might see Epistemic Games as part of the grading criteria to judge a student’s application skills.

3. Social Media Boosts Classroom Interactivity

Classroom shyness is an apparent problem with little solution. Professors are disappointed with their students but can’t think of ways to tackle the problem. This isn’t the case for Dr. Monica Rankin of the University of Texas at Dallas. She experimentally incorporated Twitter to promote more discussions during class. It was a great success. Students who were usually shy engaged in discussions through tweets. A hash-tag was used to ensure all relevant tweets are connected for easy reading. Catch the video below:

I actually had the chance to attend one of the courses in my university, which used FriendFeed as the discussion platform. FriendFeed allows you to syndicate all your updates from Facebook, Twitter and even Digg. It makes sharing even easier. All you have to do is to tag the relevant updates to share with the class group. It was refreshing experience and it did encourage more discussions in class.

The impact on future of learning: The future generation is made up of tech savvy kids who are naturally more inclined to share their thoughts through social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Incorporating such web technology into the classroom would inspire interactivity. Besides Twitter, Facebook could also be another possible avenue for classroom discussion. It could even be a better choice since Facebook allows threaded conversations and is also the most commonly used social networking site. Or maybe it’s time to have a dedicated social network to facilitate classroom discussions?

Feel free to share with us if you discover any other technologies that might change the future of learning.

[Reference: Mashable, RWW]

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