Education has undergone a significant metamorphosis with the onset of COVID-19. The pandemic has upended the traditional learning and training methods in academic classrooms or offices. Students and educators alike are looking at ways to accomplish the dual challenges pervading the sector.
They want to overcome the barriers raised by lockdowns and social distancing norms. Plus, they also want to see the best delivery of education and learning programs for students in the academic and corporate space.
How has technology enabled the quality of learning in the new times?
Fortunately, students can meet both goals with the help of advancing technology. Different aspects like modern tech tools (Microsoft Teams, AI, AR, and VR), data, and smartphones have gone mainstream. As a result, the education sector has benefited immensely from these tech enablers.
Let’s cover some of these in greater detail.
1 – Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We can understand the massive adoption of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence from data presented by various studies conducted globally. An eLearning industry research report says that almost 47 percent of the various LMS tools will be integrated with AI capabilities within the next three years.
And the good news is that we don’t even have to wait for the benefits of AI to be visible in the education sector. After all, a student has a simple objective to obtain a certificate or degree after completing assignments and tests associated with a branch of study. AI helps along the way in different ways as below –
a. Better personalization
With AI, students now have a personalized approach to education. They can customize the learning programs based on their own demands and experiences. AI-enabled learning programs can assess a student’s past learning history. Thus, they can pay attention to core areas that need a greater focus on the student’s part. This aspect can be different for different students. Hence the element of AI-based personalization comes in handy.
b. Generate better content
The aspect of compelling content has always been at the forefront as one of the leading enablers of academic objectives. Students get access to study guides, digital textbooks, and small digestible chunks of lessons with the help of AI. They can now look forward to interactive and visually stimulating avenues of studying online in a web-based environment. AI can also help in keeping information up to date and customize it for different learning objectives.
c. Automate administration tasks
Students can interact with educators in a quicker time with AI-based chatbots. Teachers get help with grading and assessing students the right way. When teachers entrust AI to carry out routine tasks automatically, they can focus on core teaching aspects. Doing so elevates overall teaching efficiency – another plus point for students.
2 – Use of data analytics
Educators and academic institutions are increasingly using big data to find out answers to complex questions and streamline the academic process. Here are some use cases of big data analytics.
a. Get answers to challenging questions
Education institutions can look at trends and patterns to come up with solutions to tough questions. For instance, they may see a decline in the number of enrollments. With analytics, they can try to find answers to the reason behind the pattern. They can check if the decrease in enrollment is around a particular department or for a specific educator.
b. Searching information is easy
Getting information from different files and racks of papers can be intimidating. But big data analytics uses a proven method to capture, store, and access huge volumes of information. It helps break down institutional silos. Companies and institutions can now use the Internet as a hub for gathering collaborative information across a bigger group of students.
c. It is Quick
Since your academic institution has a big data system in place, finding information for a particular student, a department, a subject, or a professor, becomes easy. You can save enormous amounts of time finding information at such granular levels. Doing so helps in quicker information discovery.
3 – Use of AR/VR
The concepts of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are increasingly applied in innovative ways to bring about many benefits in the field of training and learning. Students are able to retain and comprehend facts presented with the help of AR/VR. This way, they can be better positioned to score well in tests and meet expected learning objectives.
Here are four ways how AR/VR is radically changing the look and feel of the education sector in the age of COVID-19.
a. Immersive experiences
Students can learn the concept of planetary alignments and solar systems better with head-mounted gear. They are immediately transported to a life-like situation where they can see the planets revolving around them and know more factors about every single planet of the solar system. With such AR-related applications of geography, students can retain information better, all thanks to the unique immersive experiences offered by these technologies.
b. Virtual field trips
Parents are usually petrified of field trips simply because of the high costs and safety factors associated with an unknown place. With AR/VR, field trips become exciting and full of learning. Students no longer need to visit Paris to see the full glory of the Eiffel Tower. They can simply put on a head-mounted display (HMD) gear and experience the majestic building. Concepts like walking on the moon or seeing polar bears become more immersive as they can witness these situations in an ‘almost’ natural state (the chilling cold ice formations on which the huge white polar bears will walk ‘in front of your eyes.’)
c. Hands-on learning made more effective
Students who aren’t comfortable with hands-on learning of certain concepts (think dissection of a frog or chemistry experiments) can make use of AR/VR for this purpose. These ‘uncomfortable’ experiences can be mimicked using AR/VR. As a result, students get to better understand the concept and make the experience bearable.
d. Workplace training
Many concepts of operating heavy instruments, complex machinery, or fire and safety training are fraught with risks. AR/VR helps take away the ‘danger’ associated with such training situations. The VR technology immerses the person in potentially dangerous situations. This way, they become adept at countering these situations and use the tools properly. This effectively decreases the danger revolving around such situations.
Take the example of wildfires which involve extremely hot and unsafe training situations. Firemen will find it difficult to train on putting out the wildfires in real-world scenarios. But with AR/VR apps, it is different. The element of harm and danger goes down dramatically without impacting the learning objectives of such training programs.
4 – Use of Microsoft Teams
Probably, learner-trainer interaction is the one facet that has undergone a radical change with the onset of everything online and everything virtual in the field of education, circa 2020 and beyond. And it is apps like Microsoft Teams that have been at the forefront. It helps centralize collaboration and learning from a single window.
Educators get a lot of flexibility in preparing quizzes, assignments, and tests, in addition to streaming lectures. Sharing course materials or the chapters between the students or from the educator to the learner becomes easy.
They can teach the class, share notes, create live events, talk via chat, or even set assignments from the app itself. As a result, teachers can create and deploy customized learning experiences for their own coaching centers or for their own learning purpose from within Microsoft Teams itself. They don’t even need any coding experience to enable this USP within the app.
The app has easy connectivity with many apps like Prezi and Flipgrid. This ease of use makes Teams one of the more complete LMS systems. The presence of user-defined access and control further strengthens the efficacy of the app. In terms of insights and performance, Teams provides immense flexibility here as well.
Teachers can track all students logged into the app. They can identify potential low performers and set course correction methods to bring up the overall class performance. This way, educators and the academic institution get to discover trends, check patterns, and uncover areas of improvement for the students.
Students, too, get many built-in features like dictation, immersive readers, and live captions. This way, they can better manage their education and strive for higher performance in the class overall.
To sign off
Global adoption of technology is one of the most radical changes we are seeing in 2021 and continue to see in the next few years. The above post showed us how different tech enablers like AI and AR/VR have helped enhance the impact of education imparted to the modern-day students of today’s times.
What other tech-led examples can you think of which is highly impacting the education field? Do write to us and let us know your opinions.
