Stop printing books, start collecting data!
This morning, I saw a group of primary school children on the bus, each carrying around five kilos of school books. These analogue storages of (more or less) structured knowledge have been around for centuries and are most likely going to stick for years to come. I do not criticize the books in general, I am a great fan of reading paper-based novels. In particular, I criticize school books due to their lack of opportunity to let us improve the learning process through data. Data has without a doubt become the leading commodity in creating economic growth. Companies of the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon have successfully collected and analyzed user data to improve their product offering and to target their customers in a more efficient way. The education space seems to lack behind, even though the collection and analysis could greatly improve learning outcomes.
Constant feedback helps improving the curriculum
Leading eLearning providers, including EdX, Udacity and Coursera offer interactive learning platforms, in which the usage of each student is closely monitored. Making their courses interactive and constantly collecting and analyzing user data enables them to gather immediate feedback on their course elements. How much time does a user spend with a certain task? What pass rates are achieved in an exercise? How often did students watch a text or video until they moved on and what parts of the course were skipped? Collecting and analyzing these rich data sources helps to constantly improve the learning experience and leads to a more pleasant learning experience.
One-fits-all is not enough
Based on the individual user data that is collected, the curriculum can be specifically tailored to the student’s needs. “You did not understand how to solve the equation the way it was explained? Let’s try again with a different approach”. A more visual learner should not be bothered with textual explanations and vice versa. Adapting the learning method to the student’s learning preferences leads to better results and is more rewarding for students. MOOCs are already able to detect the learning type of a student and will adapt accordingly. This helps the student right away to solve the problem instead of waiting for further semesters to finally find their best matching learning strategy.
This is an interesting idea for the classroom. I wonder how much of the class time would be spent on individual time with the kids verses group time? Would everyone be able to do a lesson at the same time if everything was so individualized?
ReplyDeleteTechnology certainly has grown a lot and has the ability to help students continue to grow. There are certain things that technology will never be able to substitute. Things like actually understanding the student, seeing learning difficulties, etc. Homeschooling was one way in which I was able to learn based on my own idividual needs. This is not something that is possible for each family, but is also a good option if the student is not able to learn in the classroom setting.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how often there will be real 1-1 social interaction with actual people. I feel like the world and education is moving so much into the technological world that we will one day lose all connection with real personal interaction and conversation, but rather, everything will be done through text and videos and silence! We won't know how to use our voice anymore and solve problems in group settings.
ReplyDeleteCollecting and analyzing data helps students to learn , which is a good idea. Elearning is a future trend. More ane more people,including me, learn through Moocs. However , I think the point is not how to teach but how to motivate students.
ReplyDeleteeLearning is definitely a significant milestone of education. One concern I have is that does it suitable among different ages and groups? School is a place not only to learn knowledge, but also to develop socialization, such as communication skills and teamworks, which require face to face interactions. Also, staring at the screen for such a long time might be harmful to eyes, especially for children whose eyes are still developing. The balance between eLearning and regular learning method is something we also need to concern.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that most of our time is already spent in front of screens, I don't think the impact of elearning on your eyesight would be high. However, I agree that elearning for children should be an addition to classrooms. We should never lose the social factor of learning
DeleteAdapting the learning method to the student’s learning preferences leads to better results and is more rewarding for students.
ReplyDeletewell said, definitely agree!
DeleteThe pattern of self-study in these years has flourished in Taiwan, reflecting the notion that people are dissatisfied with the knowledge provided by the school. But this type of learning is, after all, a minority, requiring economic conditions and family support. If mooc's learning style can continue to develop, it will meet the needs of more students, and perhaps solve the problem of students' knowledge seeking in the phenomenon of economic resource inequality, so that knowledge can be more popular.
ReplyDeleteVery true, elearning is more cost effective and therefore more available, independent from one's financial background
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea which not only save paper resource but protect our environment. Besides, we can bring lots of datum without taking any books. How convenient !!!!��
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, elearning > books
DeleteIt's an interesting topic .Good learning method leads to better results.l think it's a good idea for students to study.
ReplyDeleteElearning has showed up for 10 years or more. Maybe it's a different way to get the knowledge.But computer cannot really compete with real 1-1 social interaction. In my personal case, i like reading books and taking notes more than on computer.
ReplyDeleteDo you think a coexistence of both books on online learning could lead to higher learning outcomes than one the two forms of learning in isolation?
DeleteElearning is a brilliant way to improve our education for sure, however, there are something more need to be concerned withing the current society. First thing is that we are human, modern technology is not capable of understand the need of the student instantly, no matter how specially tailored the curriculum are, a computer or an online course is still unable to outperform a human teacher when determining the need, the mood or whatever the students are needing or showing. Second, people may not yet be ready to accept and adapt the new way of learning. The time we live in is fulled with norms and traditions that limit the boundaries we can possibly achieve, highly-educated or younger minds are easily to take technology for their, our own good, but those who are not fit in the description above may find it hard to use technology to improve their education.
ReplyDeleteYet, don't get me wrong, I love paper-based readings but I stand for techs in education, in classrooms, just, we need to find ways to make everybody willing to embrace the evolution, to be more open-minded toward something new, to a better future.
Very valid points!
DeleteI think elearning is a good way to motivate wstudents learning by themselves. But I’m convinced that technology can’t subtitude for human interactions, from which we can learn more.
ReplyDeleteTrue, elearning and the classroom experience should go hand-in-hand. Did you check out our post on blended learning? http://tech2classroomie.blogspot.com/2018/10/blended-learning-glimpse-of-enlighted.html
DeleteIn this era full of technology, the book is not the only way to learn knowledge. E-learning is a good idea for students to learn efficiently, which makes learning more interesting and powerful.
ReplyDeleteAnna Chiang
ReplyDeleteELearning seems an interesting way to learn more. I think eLearning can be a powerful helper for people. We can learn whenever we want to learn. It is convenient for us.