Why Traditional Education is Failing to Prepare Students for the New World
When you think about any industry throughout history, almost all of them adapted and evolved with the times. The ones that didn’t almost certainly died out. This theory does not solely apply to industries. It applies to other sectors as well -economics sectors, service sectors, and the educational sector.
Once you take a look at the education sector, you notice innovation and evolution within its ranks. However, widespread innovation is lagging. In fact, it wasn’t until a worldwide pandemic occurred, that we finally saw the vast adoption of EdTech solutions within education. If it had not been for the pandemic, the use of e-learning sites and technologies may have continued in trinkets and singular cases.
That is only one reason why traditional education has failed to prepare students for the new world as of late. There are others. The lack of proper alignment between new world needs and demands with the educational process as a whole has left students ill-equipped to venture off on their own. It has also left a huge imbalance with the job market, as employers are opting for alternatives to human capital through technology and artificial intelligence.
Here is why traditional education is failing to prepare students for the new world and what can be done to solve it.
Not Enough Usage of EdTech Solutions
It is a foregone conclusion that technology has made its way into every known sector in our day-to-day lives. Healthcare, transportation, agriculture are all examples of sectors that rely on technological support in their application.
However, when it comes to education, the proper and sector-wide use of EdTech solutions has lagged. The use of EdTech solutions like e-learning sites, e-learning tools, and e-learning software has not been a complete lost cause. As mentioned earlier, the pandemic plays a part in propelling the use of EdTech solutions as a form of learning support. Students opted out of in-classroom learning and received online academic support. But the usage of EdTech solutions has not been enough. This shift, although at a cost, has been fruitful.
The goal now is to continue to use EdTech solutions as a proper pillar of learning support for students worldwide. A reason why is because of the effectiveness EdTech solutions have on students. Growing investment in EdTech solutions points to the fact that
technology helps with literacy. This is only one way how technology aids in providing academic support for students and teachers alike.
A Need for Collaborative Learning
Unlike the classroom, the workplace is dominated by partnerships and people looking to collaborate and cooperate with one another. Information, ideas, knowledge, all flow horizontally and vertically within a company’s departments until the final end product is born.
In traditional education, hierarchy and bureaucracy hinder the student’s academic growth and academic support. They are victims of strict rules and boundaries put in place to teach discipline and respect rather than creativity and collaboration.
However, EdTech solutions like Peer Square offer an alternative by promoting collaborative learning to students via an online platform. Through Peer Square, students can gather and participate in peer-to-peer learning, a method of learning support where students learn from one another. This form of collaborative learning is what is required. Whether in the classroom or via e-learning sites, students must receive this form of education if they are to excel in the new world today. Several
studies have shown how collaboration is the key to success in the workplace. The
ability to work in a team is a crucial skill to have and must be taught early on in a student’s life.
More Room For Creativity
As mentioned previously, oftentimes what hinders traditional education are the rules and practices that have been put in place. These rules and practices work to hinder a student from expressing their creativity, which in turn harms their ambition to learn, putting an overall dent in their learning support.
For example, a teacher assigned a student to select a specific animal, research it and provide a report. The student goes home and begins his assignment, researching the different animals, only to get lost in their beauty and mystique. The student returns to school the next day, and when asked to present, provides an encyclopedia worth of facts on the various animals and species they read about the night before. However, they are stopped short of their enthusiastic presentation. "The assignment was to research one specific animal, thank you," the teacher says. The student’s newfound interest and initiative go unrewarded.
The problem here is two-fold. One, the lack of varied instruction, and the lack of involving the student in the decision-making process of what the subject, or assignment should entail. The second issue is with the system itself, and how actors of that system, like the teacher, are limited in their role, because of the rules enforced on them.
Traditional education focuses on the ability of students to find one solution to one problem. This is obviously not the ideal solution for real-world usage. In fact, the world of EdTech solutions and e-learning sites is a world of vast possibilities and combinations. Students access and connect to other students from across the world.
The point is to allow students to think freely and openly, to express themselves. To hone the skills that positively translate into the work environment or any future endeavor they will venture in. Academic support in that regard is crucial. Personalized learning allows students to grow and express themselves.
Studies show that personalized learning also improves their academic performance. In terms of traditional education, it evolves and enhances it, bringing it up to speed to the needs of today.
How To Better Prepare Students for the New World
It would be irresponsible to allow education to fall behind as the new world dives deeper into technology. As a sector, education needs to be revitalized and revamped through the widespread use of EdTech solutions and technology. However, this is only the beginning. Further innovation is needed. Collaborative learning and peer-to-peer learning are needed to enhance the student’s social skills while offering academic support, and enhancing their academic achievement.
EdTech solutions, e-learning sites, e-learning software are just the tip of the iceberg. Through this, students can be better prepared for their future, early on in their lives. Instead of pursuing the tired approach of learning with boundaries and borders, students must have the proper tools and technologies to be better equipped for a world increasingly immersed in those same technologies.
Meta: Traditional education has not prepared students for their future, or for the New World. Here is why that is the case and what we can do to fix that fault.
