What Will Education Look Like Decades From Now? (Blog post 3)

 

After going through a global pandemic, I think that it's extremely unlikely that education will go back to the way it was pre-Covid. Honestly, I don't even think that we should try to go back. This past year and a half, no matter how horrible it was, has taught us so much about the future of technology in our lives. From jobs, to leisure, to shopping, and to schools, the way that we navigate the world has fundamentally shifted. 

In schools, we've learned what is necessary for education to work successfully online, and we've also learned what things are completely unnecessary to do in person. This class has given me a new perspective on how we can make technology meaningful in the classroom. The SAMR model really helps to frame whether or not technology is being used to do things that were previously impossible pre-technology; it has made me ask myself if there is a purpose for using a specific technology besides just convenience. 

I think that the future of technology is allowing students to have a learning environment that reflects the world that they live in. We don't just live in a world of print books nowadays; we don't just write physically on paper. The way that we educate our students needs to be in a way that prepares them for the future world, not impedes them. We as teachers need to be open to new ideas and technologies, and learn that the way we were taught isn't necessarily the best way for the students of today to be taught.