4 Keys to Understand the Future of Education

The education industry is constantly changing. With the constant development of new information and communication technologies over the last two decades, the acceleration rate has become even more intense.

After a short blink, we suddenly had access to all human knowledge in our pockets, as well as a means to communicate with anybody in the world in real-time. This changed everything, especially the way we learned, and what we wanted to learn. In this article, you’ll discover four key points to understand what the future of education holds.

Social-emotional Education in the Technological Era

Daniel Goleman, a scientific reporter for the NYT, published a piece on Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, which sparked the social-emotional movement in education. He makes the following case, which he supports with preliminary evidence:

• It is important to have a good character.
• Character is something that can be taught.
• Academic, social, and professional success are all enhanced by character.

Social-emotional education is becoming increasingly ingrained in school curricula. If educators make academic lessons more personal and accessible to students, they are more likely to participate and less likely to mentally check out during their topics.

Teachers all over the world have reported difficulties incorporating social-emotional education as a result of the virtual switch in recent years. Teaching human competencies in person is not the same as doing so remotely. However, many institutions, including the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are actively researching ways to incorporate social-emotional education into online programs.

Skill-based Curriculum for a Skill-based Market

In the future, individual competencies will be more valued in education and in the workplace than content knowledge itself. Practical skills such as public speaking, using a tool like Analytics, or coding are becoming increasingly important in the professional environment.

Getting SMART’s comprehensive overview of competency-based education reveals the future student model: students who construct their own learning paths in a flexible and adaptable framework.

The goal of a competency-based system is to produce professionals who are prepared for facing future problems resiliently. Students must master defined and measured learning objectives as part of their skills. They receive differentiated support based on their learning requirements in this educational method.

Online Training For Employment In Growing Industries

In an increasingly technological labor market, companies are demanding professionals capable of meeting the challenges of a digital society. Cyber security, software engineering, web development, and digital marketing are some of the most growing careers according to the 2022 Global Talent Trends report.

Vinton Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet, sees a clear evolution towards the use of online materials in learning. The Internet offers endless opportunities and facilitates access to information from anywhere as long as we have a network connection.

As Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, says, online learning is valuable, but it is of little use without job opportunities. She states that until the pandemic, work was primarily local. The value of learning depended on local job opportunities. Now with remote work, if you have education and connectivity, there are millions of opportunities.

That is why coding bootcamps such as General Assembly, Springboard, Thinkful, Coding Dojo, App Academy, and others have become so popular. These online learning platforms provide employment-oriented programs with a focus on in-demand skills.

Learning To Solve Global Problems

In the context of transformation in all sectors of society, it is essential to train young people to face situations of uncertainty. Problem-based learning is a methodology that seeks to promote the development of empathy, critical thinking, and communication through the resolution of real-world problems.

An innovative teaching method aims to train problem solvers and is based on the development of emotional intelligence. Teachers would emphasize activities to solve problems using this approach. Problem-solving is a teaching and learning technique that requires analyzing, discovering, hypothesizing, confronting, reflecting, arguing, and communicating ideas.

Thus, it is necessary to provide students with the knowledge required to solve the problem with didactic strategies that stimulate their minds. Therefore, the use of STEM subjects is crucial. Teaching young students about computer literacy is essential. Many schools are now implementing the use of programming languages apps to help students upscale their potential.