Education in 50 years; A futurist's perspective

It's an essay actually

Education is the key to life. It can be considered as any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. It frequently takes place under the guidance of others, as in schools, colleges and universities, but learners may also educate themselves. Aristotle once said 'Education is an ornament in prosperity and refuge in adversity.' 

The world is constantly evolving and this has led to an evolution of education. Education today is much different than it was 50 years ago. In the past it was very difficult to get quality information on a given topic. In an interview a high school teacher said. 'Through the 60s schools were much more about teacher directed activities and there was less autonomy for students'

Apparently all this has changed and now there is much more collaboration among students and teachers. Research has become much more easier with the advent of many new technological devices and the internet.

Similarly, education in the coming 50 years will take a new turn. It will be less about what you know or can remember and more about how you can interpret, reformulate and implement what you have access to. The 21st century is setting higher standards than ever set before. Future demands creative ideas. Schools will have to reformulate their curriculum to prepare students for the evolving world. Many new subjects and fields will emerge and we will see certain subjects slipping from the agenda. There will be a need to prepare people for jobs that don't yet exist.

It cannot be denied that technology is inseparable from education. It all started with over-head projectors and then computers, laptops and smartphones. Just how calculators replaced humans doing sums on paper, tabs and laptops will replace copies and books.

Education will become more digitalized. Computers will be used with hand gestures, voice recognition and touch screens. Field trips to the moons will be possible. Old books from the shelves of libraries would be removed and will become freely accessible digital edition. Electronic-paper will be introduced which will be light-weight, flexible and extremely thin. These would replace ordinary paper. 'My dog ate my homework' won't cut it with the teachers in the future because all the home assignments would be completed on tabs.

Models of assessments that currently exist in schools will completely disappear and formative assessments linked to practical application of knowledge will be favored.  

Future classrooms will solely be run with, but not by, advance technologies. The role of teacher will be as important as it is today. Without collaboration, understanding cannot take place. You will still find a teacher in front of the class lecturing, even if behind her is the latest interactive white board technology. Physical space arrangement is very important for learning. Teachers will be able to control the class arrangement with hand gestures making them appropriate for different situation; lectures or group discussions. It will be an era of virtual realities. It would be possible to completely convert classrooms into suitable environment i.e from the Jurassic period to travel to Mars.This way students would be able to live through history and travel through space. Some concepts like the concept of molecular structure and configuration maybe hard to grasp. Holographic 3-D images for such topics would be used to teach students.

A future student will be one who is actively engaged in different activities. He will be practical, creative and challenging. He will be much bolder, outspoken and sharper than present students. Students will be seen with laptops and tabs instead of big heavy bags. Many of them would start wearing glasses or lenses from a very young age.

In the coming 50 years, self education would be on the rise. Students will have the ability to take online courses elsewhere and have them automatically count towards degree requirements at their home institutions. Although education would start from schools, many students would prefer self education after high schools. It will also give rise to flipped classrooms and hologram lecturers. People will attend live classes from anywhere the might happen to be. The only requirement would be a camera, a screen and a WiFi connection  A class may consist  of students from different areas of the world; Japan, China, Pakistan, USA, Russia etc. This will give rise to a society of mix culture, as students interact with other students belonging from different corners of the world. Globally people will perceive benefit of sharing a space with other learners, learning and sharing experiences. The world might transform from a global village into a global classroom.

Along with formal and informal education, the importance of physical education will also develop. It is true that a sound mind lives in a sound body. New innovations would help kids become physically active while playing video games. It would be possible to exercise in a virtual world.

Future education will be much cheaper and easily accessible leading to a higher literacy rate. The dream of no child left behind will finally be true. For those who don't have WiFi facilities at home could easily complete their assignments and study at internet cafes. 

Every new benefit to mankind provides also its dangers either as unexpected consequences or by deliberate abuses. Future self education may also lead to students isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Social programs may decrease but hopefully they would not disappear. People may forget about the importance of interaction and teamwork. A digital divide in the society may occur. It can be minimized if education authorities are prepared to invest in ensuring technology in homes and public places, where needed.

Whatever may be the case, the future of education is as bright as ever. Content for education will continue to evolve. With the help of different devices better understanding of different concepts would be achieved. Many ideas and projects will be brought to the region of realities from that of fantasy. The real difference will be the availability of multiple approaches and the acknowledgement of multiple goals after secondary education. The world will be faced with many new challenges but real challenges are not solvable via technology. Technology will only play a supporting role in education. The human brain will be the controlling unit.

Reviews

[Abderrahmane Dakir]

Good subject, great idea. I think the managers of schools should be brave to give orders in order to share knowledge.

[Valentine]

Education is completely different now than when I went to school. The computer and the printer have totally erased cursive writing. Cell phones have everyone texting in abbreviated languages. For the better or for the worse, I think in ways the changes are good but pushing a button for answers should not replace reading. Valentine