JPED Research Institute is committed to summarizing and sharing teachers’ teaching insights, cutting-edge educational ideas, and research reports. It is hoped that through this form, we can think more deeply about international education and exchange, and helpthem tounderstand educational information, and look into the future.
Today, we are pleased to present the 19th installment of articles from the Dara-Je Research Institute. The content of this article is derived from a recent research report on the future of education released by Google Education. This report was the result of a two-year, large-scale study exploring the role of education in a “completely different future” and what it might look like.
Rapid advancements in technology and the constant evolution of the world we live in raises important questions about the role of education and what it might look like in a completely different future.
In order to address these questions, Google for Education partnered with research collaborator Canvas8 to conduct a study on the future of education in 24 countries/regions. The study incorporated insights from nearly 100 education experts, two years of peer-reviewed academic literature, and analyses of media narratives related to the education sector.
The study is a three-part report on the future of education that brings together various perspectives from policy experts, academic researchers, regional representatives, principals, teachers, and education technology leaders.
Jennie Magiera, Global Head of Education Impact at Google, said, “Google for Education initiated this project to better understand the complexity and current challenges that the education system faces after the pandemic, so that we can better position ourselves not just as thought leaders, but as partners to educators.”
01
Preparing for a new future
The future is taking on a very different look than today. As educators struggle to equip students with the skills and mindsets they need to cope with massive change, industry experts share how and why they are rethinking the role of education.
Trend 1: Growing demand for global problem solvers
As the world faces a new set of global challenges, such as equitable access to education, digital literacy, sustainability and economic volatility, education systems will be a central part of the solution to help future generations adopt global thinking and skills.
Trend 2: Changing Skills Needed for Jobs
As technology advances, education will focus on providing students with the high-demand skills needed to thrive in the new world of work.
Trend 3: Shift to a lifelong learning mindset
As longevity increases and social change accelerates, the idea of lifelong learning is gaining popularity, with more tools available to develop skills and progress.
The report said the biggest barrier teachers around the world face in teaching new 21st-century skills is “lack of time in a tightly regulated curriculum.” Finding simple ways to help educators effectively identify and teach these skills will be key to progress, and will require greater collaboration between education providers and the private sector.
The report also highlights the importance of exposing students to future career options earlier:
“Changes in the workplace will also open up new ideas about how vocational education should be conducted. Currently, by the age of 15, most students are not talking to career counselors at school, attending job fairs or internships. Experts believe exposure to this new world of work should begin earlier, giving students the opportunity to shape their career paths and ambitions over time, rather than simply focusing on their first job after formal education.”
02
Constantly evolving the way we teach
Over the past few years, education has changed faster than anyone ever imagined. Learn how recent technological advances have changed the way we think about teaching and learning, moving from a one-to-many model to a more personalized approach to learning.
Trend 1: Personalize learning
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and adaptive technologies allow educators to meet the needs of learners, tailoring experiences to their needs.
Trend 2: Reimagining Learning Design
As new technologies become more accessible, the goal for educators is to understand how they support engaging and enriching learning experiences.
Trend 3: Promoting Teachers
As the educational landscape has changed, teachers have transformed from “gatekeepers of knowledge” to “choreographers of learning.”
While efforts to make education more personalized have been underway for a long time, advances in AI make it possible to develop at a pace and scale we can only imagine. Today, AI is able to give students immediate 1: 1 feedback on their work. As technology becomes more sophisticated, virtual learning partners will become more capable of actually providing guidance and challenging students to think through problems.
AI support for students goes beyond the designated learning platform. For many students, digital assistants have become an informal homework aid.
When we talk about making learning more personalized, it’s not just about providing students with targeted, immediate support, but also about making educational content relevant to the individual learner. Research shows that when students better understand what is being taught in school, it has a positive impact on student engagement, fun and performance.
03
Reinventing the learning ecosystem
What will the future of education look like? Industry experts share their vision for reimagining the education ecosystem around learners, using data to help inform decisions about teaching, learning and measuring student progress.
Trend 1: Upgrading the learning environment
Investment in digital infrastructure helps create a new vision of learning environments that fuse technology, teaching and physical space.
Trend 2: Empowering educators with data
Better access to data and insights helps educators determine which tools and practices are likely to have the greatest impact.
Trend 3: Re-evaluating Student Progress
The growing need for more meaningful ways to track and drive student progress has sparked a shift towards faster, fairer and more effective assessment models.
The report notes that while each model is slightly different, all share a belief that technology can optimize and enhance learning environments in new and meaningful ways. Governments’ investment in digital infrastructure over the past two decades has made this possible – many schools have access to more devices, greater bandwidth and new software systems than ever before. In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, every high school student now has nearly a computer.
While access to equipment and high-quality Internet at home and school is uneven, the digital divide continues to narrow, providing new opportunities for different types of learning environments to flourish.
