Most parents spend an eternity convincing their children to get off their games consoles and on to their homework. And that is one of the primary reasons the youth of today are not engaging with their education system.
As a member of the Edge Learner Forum (a standing group of young people working for the improvement of education), I’m frequently involved in discussions about our education system. It’s clear that one of our greatest advances has been the use of new technology in almost every aspect of society; such as science, medicine, business, communication and everyday travel.
But education has been completely left off this list and yet people are still baffled as to why our youth under-achieve. We are completely over-stimulated outside school thanks to games consoles, MP3 players, the internet and mobile phones. Then we’re sent into schools to stare at text books and blank paper for five hours a day.
When implementing technology into today’s education system the professionals go from one extreme to another. The current situation in most of our schools is the increase of internet access as well as interactive whiteboards and various other accessories. But this is simply not enough. Interactive whiteboards may as well become blackboards if we are still copying information by hand into text books, and internet access is used for the very minimum of real learning.
Education is not making good use of the technologies that are available. Even the seemingly far-fetched developments of “virtual reality” and robots themselves are now being sold to address entertainment value or business needs, so surely implementing them into schools should be a step long overdue. The education system is a serious matter but young people should be given at least equal motivation inside education as they are in the outside world, if any of us are expected to stay focused and engaged.
'Poor training and negative preconceptions'
Many adults might be surprised to know that the majority of us think the structure, familiarity and relationships offered by the current system are a vital part of a successful education. We don’t want to lose these things. But poor teacher training and negative preconceptions of students are still dominating young people’s perceptions of the system.
Many teachers are not being trained to use new technology effectively, and few students feel they get the respect they deserve from teachers. These things need to be addressed. Some young people have suggested the potential of interactive online technology to increase the accessibility of learning. We have discussed the use of role-play games in building critical skills, such as survival skills. We have also talked about what virtual reality could do to change learning, as it would put the user within the given situation and thus create a better understanding in subjects such as history, which are hard to grasp just from text alone.
Viewpoints on the future
Technology should give students more choice, not just over the subjects we learn, but also the way we want to learn them.
Change the face of learning through technology, don’t just accessorize our schools! We want technology to bring our learning to life and transform the way we experience education.
Support our teachers to make the most of technology – we hate to see them stressed or left behind, because that impacts on our experience.
Use new technologies to boost interaction between students, teachers and parents. We shouldn’t let technology make learning isolated.
Take advantage of the potential of game technology to motivate students, build their skills and let them learn together
About Edge
Edge is an educational foundation dedicated to raising the status of vocational and practical learning. The Edge Learner Forum is an energetic and creative group of young people who meet regularly to discuss the education system and how to create more paths to success through vocational and practical learning for young people.
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