Over the past few years, technology has made inroads into many different environments including education. This tendency has brought heartache to many old-school academics. On the contrary, it has provided the education sector with essential tools to care for the academic needs of students, transforming technology from being seen as a luxury to an essential element in teaching and learning. Also, it is a mechanism for removing barriers associated with traditional teaching in brick and mortar schools.
We are in a global village where the utilization of technology in education has obliviated differences in time zones and physical distance into tiny irritations. Many people work across different geographical areas, sometimes far from their home country. Their working environment and physical location are often far from any suitable centers of educational excellence. A decent internet connection can provide the solution access to globally recognized online institutions of learning.
As with the changes in global employment patterns, access to physical devices and computers by the masses has impacted on the utilization of technology in the educational space. This landscape has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. A major role player responsible for this transition is the phenomenal development in mobile device technology.
Besides technological development in this area, a reduction in the price of mobile technology has also been instrumental. Many more people around the world are now active users of cellular devices than ever before because of these trends. This catapulted an exponential growth in the development of educational platforms able to run successfully on different types of computers and cellular devices. It is now possible to provide online education to groups of individuals formerly excluded as a result of their inability to afford cellular devices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the world into a frenzy the past few months. Education professionals had to look at different strategies for engaging with students. Travel ban made overseas education impossible. Attendance in physical classes was impossible in many countries. Everybody looked at technology as a magical solution to under the circumstances.
Many academics from different countries worked together to make continuous learning for students a reality. The irony is that there was never a shortage of suitable tools. Applications and computer programs have been available in the teaching and learning space for a very long time. Succesful upscaling and implementation of these existing platforms have negated some of the negative effects of the pandemic on the academic arena. A clear illustration of the important role that technology can play in promoting education.
Over the years, technology in education has always encountered resistance from certain sectors in the teaching fraternity. For many such educators, it has become a situation of “adapt or die”. One thing that these individuals cannot deny. Careful implementation and utilization of technology in education is a game-changer. It allows learning to continue in situations that were formerly seen as impossible. It has made the education more accssible and digital books are available 24/7 which constitutes to larger liabrary than the traditional ones. Big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence allows you to adapt according to the needs and requirements.
EdTech solutions offers various learning tools enabling students to access the contents, equipping them to learn outside the routine curricullum. It’s one of the possible solutions that connect educators, education regulators and educational institutions with students, learners, researchers and knowledge-seekers.