A New Approach to Teaching and Learning

The dream of completing a university degree and practicing a profession remains the engine of those who attend school each day and somehow contribute to the educational landscape in the country. Given that the world is constantly changing, both educational models and the demands of society itself are required to meet the demand of institutions and companies that, after all, are an essential part of this virtuous circle.

The idea of a new approach to teaching and learning centered on students and their needs has become indisputable for education. It is currently essential to build new products and formats in teaching, in such a way that we have seen the birth of a new way of creating knowledge.

The wealth of new opportunities

New generations of students are different from those of a few years ago, among other things because they use more technology in traditional classrooms. Technology has become second nature in the daily life of students and they rely on it to manage their lives, so they do not conceive that studying should be done differently. If every aspect of their lives can be operated with a manual control device, then they expect their education to be done in the same way.

For this reason, it is essential to explore new teaching models to improve learning and in this endeavor new technologies have injected dynamism to online education. With the technological options available in the industry today it is possible to have alternatives to learn, connect and advance education in the broadest sense of the word. Data from eLearning Industry.com indicate that in 2015 it is expected that the global eLearning market will reach $107 billion, representing a sustained growth of more than 9% during the last 5 years.

Some of the main obstacles to travel the long and arduous path of education are factors such as time, distance and the demands of every day (demanding jobs, little job flexibility, etc.) In this regard, mobility becomes an issue of primary importance, because today it is essential that students can continue their professional training from virtually any place, anytime and anywhere in the world.

This phenomenon is called “inclusive education”, which is a concept that becomes more important globally each day. Again, technology, – particularly information technology and communication– is positioned as the main factor of change, provided it is used as the guiding principle of the new strategies in education.

Technological solutions

While the industry offers various technological solutions, it is important to consider the characteristics of existing tools, so that they will solve the educational needs of institutions seeking to step into this trend of digital transformation. Therefore, some of the qualities that are positioned in the market and that different universities of the world now place as a reference globally are listed below.

• Learning Management System

It is essential to have a Learning Management System (LMS) that involves all aspects of education, i.e. offers people new ways to interact and connect. There are applications that offer unparalleled optimization time, as sorting and sending tasks are activities that can be done simultaneously virtually anywhere.

• Real-time collaboration

Collaborating and interacting in real time are essential to practice this new educational model. Virtual Classrooms, offices and spaces in which the possibilities are almost endless, are now a reality. It has never been possible to live an educational experience so closely despite distance as it is now.

• Reliable connections

To connect with confidence you must take into account the ease with which a platform facilitates communication anytime, anywhere. Notifications and applications to extend the community to create instant messages become essential in this new scheme. Quality, speed and reliability are key features, in addition to security, privacy and data protection.

• Integrated educational solution

A robust platform requires all services and user data to be concentrated in one place: content sources, apprenticeship programs, student-teacher and student-student interaction. That’s why applications in this regard should provide certainty and comfort to control resources, protect assets and reduce costs generally.

• Connected communities: loyalty and Lifelong Learning

To know the real needs of users and succeed, we must consider a solution guaranteeing the commitment of use of their students. It must be capable of connecting the various groups that make up the community, the institution, classes, teams, alumni, so that everyone can communicate securely and efficiently and continue training throughout life.

• Efficiency and Analysis: Learning Analytics

To understand the correct use of information and identify improvement opportunities, an effective solution must be capable of storing data and allowing analysis as a whole to provide a constructive way and to improve the project. In addition, ease, convenience and security in use should not be a problem.

• Mobile Learning

Finally, mobility could not be exempt from this new educational model, since the solutions in this area should ensure an interactive experience here, there and everywhere. Having access to all aspects of this educational experience on mobile devices might not even be considered an option, but an obligation.

In short, implementation of technology in educational institutions and companies will not transform education itself. Technology has to be understood as a facilitator of innovation in education and training in a broad sense. Technology is the engine of innovation for learning from the point of view of connectivity, ubiquity, multi-channel and mobility, among others.

Technological advances will allow democratization and access to education, as well as globalization and internationalization of the education sector by encouraging attracting talent from around the world and enriching the community of students who may come from different cultural and social profiles.

References

The Top eLearning Statistics and Facts For 2015 You Need To Know http://elearningindustry.com/elearning-statistics-and-facts-for-2015

By Katie Blot

Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development for Blackboard.