The Progressive Teacher Vol 04 Issue 03

new trends
New Trends in Education
–Ragini Kaul
It’s an interesting tag line…
New Trends in Education.
Anything that is stagnant
rusts, we all know this. Similarly,
in the Education Industry as well,
if we prolong the same practices,
thoughts, etc. everything will
become redundant. We need to
have a progressive mindset and
keep generating changes that
time demands.
I have been in this industry for
three decades now and I have
seen many changes, but none so
robust as seen now.
We are entering the 4th stage
of industrial revolution, we
are moving towards an era of
machine learning. Globally the
trends are changing. Machines
are taking on humans. There
are talks about driverless cars,
robotic surgeries and so on so
forth.
Therefore, the focus has to move
to becoming lifelong learners,
keeping oneself equipped with
the changing technology. The
literary qualifications have to be
a part of the complete package.
The present day education that
the schools are imparting has
to be necessarily skill based.
The focus has to be on providing
the students with a basket of
skills necessary for survival and
sustenance.
Every individual needs to be
ready to handle the situations,
find solutions to problems,
critically think and introspect,
manage crisis and find means for
survival.
Another major change is that
the modern day education is
becoming technology driven.
Thirty years ago, it was a big
deal when schools got their first
computers. Today, students carry
their own laptops.
According to futurist Thomas
Frey, in fourteen years students
will, most probably, learn from
robot teachers over the internet.
In fact, Frey even claims that
by 2030, the largest company
on the internet is going to be an
education-based company that
we have not heard of yet. Google
has already started developing
DeepMind, a complex piece of
machine-learning software. IBM
is developing Watson-powered
robots. Amazon is developing
drone delivery.
‘Nobody has quite cracked the
code for the future of education,’
Frey contends.
Education has to be skill based, sans which it will not fulfil its purpose.
We need to stress on computational thinking. It is going to be useful for
young persons and adults who believe in being lifelong learners (LLL).
The future of education is
going to be bombarded with
the enhanced version of today’s
massive open online courses.
Machine learning too will
accelerate in a similar fashion in
the education space. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) will have the
same trajectory in the education
space.
Technology has revolutionized
every sphere and impacted the
education sector robustly and it
will continue to do so. Therefore,
only progressive minds will
survive.
Dr. Ragini Kaul has been in
the Education Sector for three
decades now, out of which 24
years she globe trotted on behalf
of DPS Society to several DPSs
across the globe. She was rightly
called the ‘Roving Ambassador’
by the erstwhile chairman Sh.
Narendra Kumar. In Delhi Public
School, she held several positions
of responsibilities like PGT English faculty, Coordinator,
Master of Ceremonies, Headmistress and Second in
command.
Presently she is heading the Sector 9 Rohini Branch of GD
Goenka Group of Schools, as Principal.
The school has grown not only in strength under her astute
leadership, but has created a niche for itself by becoming
one of the most sought after school in North West Delhi.
Dr. Kaul has bagged several State and National Awards
and believes in lifelong learning.
As Educationists, we need to
stress on technology and its
related components. Education
has to be skill based, sans which
it will not fulfil its purpose. We
need to stress on computational
thinking. It is going to be useful
for young persons and adults who
believe in being lifelong learners
(LLL).
About 10 years ago, Jeanette
Wing had proposed that
Computational thinking is a
skill that is required not only in
IT and computing but would be
valuable for many: Engineers,
Doctors, Scientists, Lawyers,
Managers…
In fact I am amazed at the
rapid advances in technology.
To keep pace, we all have to
keep ourselves abreast with the
skill set and more important is
to pass these skills to the next
generation under our care, in
a structured manner. Global
Education was earlier within the
reach of a select few but thanks
to advances in technology, we all
can and are benefitting from it,
be it the massive online courses,
which we can access and enroll
for while sitting at our home.
The Digital Libraries are within
reach, we all know. The world is
actually a global village and we
all can see it.
In future, I can clearly see
students walking to school with
just an I-pad that will open
a plethora in front of them.
Carrying heavy bags, will soon be
a thing of the past.
We all need to gear up for the
globalized processes, where
there is a tendency to search for
immediate results.Whether good
or bad, it’s become a kind of a
habit with all of us. I strongly
feel that future education
should be an amalgamation of
the best practices of the past
clubbed with the changes and the
required skills of the future.
Therefore, we need to gear up,
accordingly for the futuristic
education. There is a need to
revamp our systems and ring in
the new methodologies, so as to
prepare not only our students
but ourselves as well for this
futuristic trend in education.
46 The Progressive Teacher Jul/Aug 2017