In the past 50 years, education has enjoyed sound evolution, moving away from the rows of desks and blackboard, to a more informal group setting, with active learning playing a major role. Rudolph Steiner, an educator in the early 20th century, discovered that children learn best using a hands-on approach and he did not focus on teaching, rather on the learning process and how to optimise it.
The Seventies & Eighties
These were the decades when the education reform became a focus and developed countries joined forces and trained their teachers how to implement active learning strategies, successive governments were being told by educators that the students do not have the necessary skillsets to be successful in the rapidly changing world, therefore they made a concerted effort to update their curriculum to include IT and deliver the content in an active way.
The Digital World
The first kids who were born into the digital age are now young adults who know nothing of life before the iPhone; it is normal for a 12-year-old to help their parents understand their new mobile device and as for the aging population who remember telegrams and black and white TV, this digital world can seem a little daunting.
The Pandemic
Of course, the Covid crisis has impacted education around the world, with schools turning to distance learning, in an effort to protect the children. Yet the end is in sight and we hope that the children will soon be returning to school as normal and thanks to e-learning, every student is up to date. Groups of parents have created their own learning environment, with Grocorp’s preschool furniture and supplies that can be delivered to your door. Home-schooling is becoming more popular and providing your child can pass the state exams, there’s no reason why you can’t educate your child.
Learning by Doing
Pioneered by Steiner, learning by doing is the optimum learning method, which is why most schools use project-based learning, where the students work in groups and present their findings to the class, so everyone learns about every project. The students are also allowed to choose what they learn and the teacher is very much a guide and facilitator, rather than an instructor, which is very different from the traditional teaching style. If you are working from home due to the pandemic, here are a few tech tips to boost productivity.
The Digital World
Let’s face it, we no longer need to use cursive writing and we are not far away from this being dropped from the curriculum, being replaced by digital screens and keyboards. The way we do things is changing and future generations need to evolve if they are able to be successful in the modern world; the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G will further transform our lives, along with AI, which will play a major role in controlling digital systems such as urban traffic grids, where every vehicle is connected to the IoT.
Most countries are preparing the next generation with dynamic curriculum content that is relevant to new technology and the future generations will continue to develop humanity.
