Can Technology Transform Education? How?

'Education' seems to be the new buzzword these days. Everyone's talking about transforming education and wondering how it can be changed. Lot of people have been advocating the use of technology to bring the much desired change to technology. There are several startups operating in the space and I had an opportunity to listen to the founder of one such startup at TiEcon Nagpur 2011. What I found out that most of the startups working to change the education are actually working on the 'technology' part of it - or say how the education is delivered to students. While I agree that audio/video and presentations could be effective they fail big way in transforming what's being delivered.

Think about it - changing the way we show information in textbooks to the world will not change the 'education' we're trying to change. Technology may enable us deliver the content in innovative ways but is it the thing that need to change?

I think the content taught to different age / intelligence groups has to be changed. Technology alone cannot bring the desired change to education.

What's your take?

Replies

  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    The_Big_K
    I think the content taught to different age / intelligence groups has to be changed. Technology alone cannot bring the desired change to education.
    What's your take?
    Learning is a process of going from a state of knowing less to a state of knowing more. Analogous to thermodynamics, this requires a motive force, a higher level, i.e., or a teacher. Technology may permit the teacher to be far away or even be electronic (data bases, books, video lectures or whatever). It is the content and the way it is imparted alone that can bring the change, not bringing the teacher and taught together other than in a class room.
    Otherwise we will only haveAuthor:Alexander Pope “Alexander Pope: The bookful blockhead, ignorantly”
  • Saijayadeep
    Saijayadeep
    we can still have an other option 'may be'...
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    Saijayadeep
    we can still have an other option 'may be'...
    Didn't add it on purpose. 'Undecided' leads to nowhere.
  • CE Designer
    CE Designer
    My belief is this:
    At the foundation level (beginning) of learning technnology should be used as least as possible. Then technology can be gradually introduced into the teaching system. As you get older you mind will mature enough to accept new data and information in different ways, but key word here is "gradually". The foundation level to me the most critical and at this stage in learning technology should be used as least as possible. Young minds should not be bombarded with technology because instead of grasping the basic concepts and values being thought, there young minds will be easily distracted by the marvel that is technology and their focus will stray from the real lesson.
    Leave technology for secondary and tertiary level teaching, use minimally at the infant and primary levels.

    With all that being said, i vote yes, technology can change teaching but if done strategically. Adding to what Ramani said, i believe technology is only a medium. Like a wave as it travels through a medium it may become distorted before it reaches the receiver. The same wave (lesson) may perform better in other mediums (verbal discourse, technology, experimentation and direct observation) and it will reach the receiver (student) with maximum efficiency.
    We are talking about delivery here, with technolgy being so advanced and always on the rise, at some stage, we would have to use technology to teach technology. But I stress again - at higher levels of learning.
  • CE Designer
    CE Designer
    Technology can change education because it is changing mankind.
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    CE Designer
    Technology can change education because it is changing mankind.
    The question is - How? As far as I can think - technology just changes the way education is delivered. It does not bring the fundamental change in the education; which is the need of the hour.
  • PraveenKumar Purushothaman
    PraveenKumar Purushothaman
    Yeah, to an extent, we cannot quantify the measure of change. See, how things and lifestyle has been changed from the dawn of smart phones? Even those earning less than their food allowance would possess one! Was it possible before?
  • CE Designer
    CE Designer
    K, i do share your view to some extent, nothing is better than an excellent text book. Even with bad teaching, provided with an excellent text book, a student who is devoted can teach himself. We need to get children into reading from early. Reading is paramount to good education. A textbook is better than the internet. You just have to like reading. The advantage of using technology in teaching is that it appeals to the sense of sight. Some people, like me, learn better by seeing. Creativity and innovativeness is being lost in schools. Technology can help awaken the creativity because technology is itself innovative and creative.
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    Is iPad an education tool?
    No idea.
    Get iPad - seems to be what this study found:
    #-Link-Snipped-#
  • gupta.roshan
    gupta.roshan
    my opinion is that technology cannot transform education system by replacing textbooks upto some extent but when it comes to the teaching of the professors no technology can beat it. consider a student gain technological knowledge and a student gaining classroom professors knowledge, there will be a vast difference between these two guys. the classroom student will be full of practical knowledge while the other guy will not have that type of practical knowledge.

You are reading an archived discussion.

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