Education with technology in 2025

What would education look like in 2025?  There is a post relating to the use of Massive Open Online Education for K-12 education: in-2025-will-we-still-be-sending-our-kids-to-school. Here Matt Brett and Claire Macken remark:

From cradle to university, technology is present in childhood education and development. It can help children to develop literacy and numeracy. It can foster specific problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Much of this technology is already embedded in the classroom. Aside from the cost of maintaining functional computing and reasonable bandwidth internet connections, the massive online education experience can be achieved through open access approaches, for comparatively low cost.

At this point, policy priority for structured use of educational technology resides at the level of the school and the teacher. Technology is referred to in terms of a skill to be acquired, or as a cost driver for school funding.

The potential for educational technology as a disruptive force to the traditional models of schooling is absent.

However, as with MOOCs, the impact of digital technology and innovation legitimises questions about how the nature of schooling could, and should, adapt.

That is a wonderful vision!

I have shared here about the readiness of MOOC for k-12.  Though I think we are not ready as yet by now, it is surely a great idea to consider that for our future education.

The nature of school would surely be changing as I have also conceived here.

I perceive the future of education through a networked learning approach, though it could be centred around an emergent, self-organising and adaptive learning pedagogy. We have summarized the pedagogy and the associated principles – i.e. the social, cognitive and teaching presence that could support such MOOCs, in our paper on Pedagogy to support human beings – via MOOCs (the cMOOCs).

I am posting part of the conclusion here: “A challenge associated with the educational use of the Web, social networking, and media, based on the MOOC distributed learning model, is that the open, emergent, chaotic nature of online interaction might conflict with the rigidly organized social structure of formal education, which involves prescriptive learning, standardized goals and curricula, fixed schedules, age-based grouping, classroom-based organization, and examinations. This formal view of education is problematic for professional learning and highlights a tension between learning in everyday life facilitated by emerging technologies and the philosophical stance and the pedagogies adopted by universities. A change in the thinking, philosophy, design, and pedagogies of institution-based online courses may be necessary if the affordances of emerging technologies are embraced and adopted within formal educational institutions. Considerable efforts will also be required to ensure an effective balance between openness and constraints when an online institutional course is fused with social networks. The adoption of MOOCs in formal education institutions is challenging, though it opens up new opportunities to experience the co-creation of networks within communities and new and participatory forms of communication and collaboration for both learners and educators.”

It seems that we have come up with one size suits all sorts of Massive Online Education meeting with networking opportunity and technology affordance. I think a balance and connection between these contrasting pedagogy needs to be fully understood and made, to ensure the nurturing of emergent learning, not just prescribed learning in MOOC.

What sort of questions relate to the adoption of technology in education?  How about the nature of schooling?  These are critical questions that I would like to explore.

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Are you an introvert, extrovert or both?

Interesting talk by Susan Cain on introverts.

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

What does it mean to be an introvert?

Our culture extols extroverts. Outgoing, personable people are praised, while introverts are often derided as antisocial. But introversion is not what people tend to think it is. Introverts have skills that often are overlooked—and the challenges of introversion usually can be overcome.

Examples: Warren Buffett, Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi are among the introverts who have achieved incredible success.

Here I reflected on the significance of being an introvert or extrovert, though I think an introvert could behave like an extrovert and vice versa under different circumstances.

As a blogger who would prefer to meditate and reflect, I see myself more as an introvert, though when I am engaged in FB, Twitter, Google Plus, I could be behaving in an extroverted manner.

It seems that our society is encouraging its citizens to be more outgoing, being sociable, whether at school or at work, and thus lead a “good citizenship life” with good work.

Aren’t these the beliefs of many people in our society, not only in the US?

 People view extroverts more positively than they do introverts. Extroverts are people who can be trusted. People are more likely to choose extroverts as leaders and in other authoritative positions because they represent intelligence and authority. Furthermore, people perceive extroverts as possessing excellent people and social skills. Social scientists, especially sociologists and psychologists mandate that man’s national status as that of a social animal who needs constant contact with people in order to thrive.

Introverts, on the contrary, are viewed more negatively by modern American society. Introverts are seen as psychotic people who have a personality defect.

Introverts seem to relate more with the great book readers, and would love to fantasize and imagine more in such lonesome exploration with stories and adventures.  They may be closely related to professors, educators, researchers, librarians, doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, scientists, poets, certain artists (photographers, painters, performance artists), religious people, etc.

Extroverts seem to relate more with those great speakers, presenters, and social leaders and they would likely prefer to establish as many friends and connections as possible on FB, Twitters, various social networking or community platforms, and be perceived as sociable, friendly and admirable.  This may be more closely related to the politicians,  film stars, music legends, entertainers, and marketers, social activists, and social workers.

Photo: From Google image

In this post relating to introvert and extrovert, there are some interesting thoughts on how to get the most out of your introverted leaders and employees:

1. Don’t dismiss the quiet leaders

2. Think about the people they are leading

3. Make the office space and work day right for every one

What about your views and experience as an extrovert, or introvert?