Technologies in education are turning omnipresent. Technology is impacting every aspect of education. Be it imparting education to the students, enrolling new students, creating the class timetable, sending updates to parents on the progress of the students or any other aspect of education – technologies have been increasingly making their presence felt everywhere.
Table of Contents
Technologies in Education – Types and Impact
Technologies in Education can be three types
- Supportive Technologies
- Complementary Technologies
- Replacement Technologies
Supportive Technologies in Education
- Supportive technologies are the ones that make an existing task, easier to perform.
- They are the low hanging fruits in the curve of technology adoption
- They are low cost
- They have a low impact
- They come with a smaller footprint
- They rarely affect jobs
- Educational institutions can adopt them without too much ‘cost-benefit’ analysis
Examples:
- Library Management System (LMS)
- Timetable Creation Software
- CCTV in classes,
- Automatic Class Bell
Complementary Technologies in Education
- Technologies that are complementary to the task being performed – they add value
- They are non-essential but they definitely add to the user experience
- User demand drives their adoption
- Will need some planning before investing in these technologies
- Return on Investment will be spread over 5-10 years
- Regular updates and service become imperative.
- They can complement teachers but cannot not replace them
Examples:
- LED Smart Boards
- Teaching Apps on Mobile platforms
- SMS based Alerts for Parents/Guardians
- GPS Tracking of School buses
Replacement Technologies in Education
- Technologies that cause an upheaval and change the landscape
- Can completely modify the way things are done
- Can provide for new user experiences
- Have the potential to undermine existing roles and responsibilities while creating new ones
- Can blaze new pathways and create new demands
- Steep adoption curve and big investments necessary
- Entrenched educational institutions will find it difficult to make the transition.
- Outsiders will bring these technologies into the educational field and change the rules of the game.
Examples:
- Flipped Classroom
- Massively Open Online Courses
- Mobile Apps
- Tablet Computing
- Augmented Reality
- Game-Based Learning
- The Internet of Things
- Learning Analytics
- 3D Printing
- Flexible Displays
- Next Generation Batteries
- Wearable Technology
(Source: The Daily Riff)
Whether it is the future of education in India or elsewhere in the world, the technologies that will play a role in changing education will keep churning. Their effect will leave a lasting impact on the way education field gets transformed.
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