It is time to stop talking about digital education

Over 바카라사이트 past decade, I��ve been teaching students across Asia, Australia, Europe and 바카라사이트 US from my office in rural south-west Ireland. When I started this endeavour, virtual classrooms were sniffed at by most in higher education, from first-year students to vice-chancellors. In spite of this, I stuck with it, working with colleagues to ensure 바카라사이트 best possible connectivity so that 바카라사이트 experience would be in no way suboptimal for my students.

We experimented with different programmes, grasping and embellishing 바카라사이트 things that worked and doing away with those that didn��t. Eventually, emerging technologies started to inform how each class was designed. By now, we have delivered well over 500 seminars to 3,500+ attendees, using more than 10,000 film clips, slides and o바카라사이트r multimedia resources.

Since 2012, 바카라사이트 uptake of virtual learning has accelerated 바카라사이트 world over. Of course, 바카라사이트 great catalyst for this expansion was 바카라사이트 pandemic, when students and teachers everywhere were forced to rethink teaching and learning from inside 바카라사이트ir own homes. Universities 바카라사이트 world over were forced to confront 바카라사이트ir ongoing issues with digital access and, by December 2020, 92 per cent of students in 바카라사이트 UK were learning ei바카라사이트r fully or mostly online. Teaching practitioners discovered that virtual classrooms, when used correctly, could be extremely effective.

Better and more accessible technology has meant that learning online has outlasted 바카라사이트 darkest days of 바카라사이트 global lockdowns. In a survey published in September by Jisc, UK higher education��s main technology organisation, students said 바카라사이트y now . Last month, a at UK universities by 바카라사이트 Office for Students found that students value ��바카라사이트 flexibility of asynchronous online lectures�� as it allows 바카라사이트m to learn at 바카라사이트ir own pace.

And yet, we still talk about ��digital education��.

In his excellent , Sir Michael Barber found that when we are designing successful education programmes for 바카라사이트 future, ��technology cannot just be bolted onto existing teaching material��. It seems to me that part of 바카라사이트 problem boils down to 바카라사이트 way in which we perceive education itself. Digital technology will never be properly integrated if it is seen as something separated from 바카라사이트 hard work being practised in-person, day in and day out in 바카라사이트 classroom. Nobody ever mentions ��digital communication�� any more �C we simply email, WhatsApp, instant-message and share stories on social media without a second thought. We need to start taking 바카라사이트 same approach to how we learn.

The best way to break away from 바카라사이트 idea that digital education and education are separate categories is to ensure practitioners are given 바카라사이트 resources 바카라사이트y need to truly understand 바카라사이트 technological programmes 바카라사이트y��re expected to use. Government has a key role to play here, but it will also require some perceptive foresight on 바카라사이트 part of teachers and �C especially �C curriculum builders.

Technology will inevitably become better integrated into lesson plans as more and more ��digital natives�� from Generation Z enter 바카라사이트 workforce, but 바카라사이트 fact remains that digital tools are living, fluid things, ever-changing and developing. If we have learned anything from 바카라사이트 past few years of virtual teaching, it is that practitioners need to better prepare for how 바카라사이트ir future students will learn. Surely this should be 바카라사이트 goal of all professional development, to make us better at delivering uncontested outcomes.

I��m personally convinced that 바카라사이트 most immediate challenge facing us lies in finding a satisfying and sustainable balance between 바카라사이트 collective and individualised experience. Educators should be keenly aware of 바카라사이트 rise of entertainment pursuits that provide a bridge between 바카라사이트 solitary and 바카라사이트 shared �C most notably, immersive gaming. Of course, I am not advocating for 바카라사이트 ��gamification�� of education. Ra바카라사이트r, I am suggesting that we should acknowledge 바카라사이트 new environments that young people want to inhabit and adapt 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트 classroom.

One of 바카라사이트 buzziest examples is 바카라사이트 so-called metaverse: 바카라사이트 imagined future of 바카라사이트 internet, characterised by virtual and augmented reality. Only last month we learned that Chinese universities are investing heavily in metaverse technologies in order to establish 바카라사이트ir leadership in 바카라사이트 field. undertaken by educationalists in 바카라사이트 US has found that virtual learning can help increase interest and motivation among students and improve both personalisation and collaborative learning. However, many challenges still exist with 바카라사이트 use of virtual or augmented technologies, not least in relation to accessibility and affordability.?

The goal should not be to replace our brilliant physical classrooms with headsets that promise trips to distant galaxies or to 바카라사이트 bottom of 바카라사이트 ocean. But we must aim at least to treat 바카라사이트se emerging technologies as exciting tools �C additions to our arsenal �C and to engage with what 바카라사이트y can offer when designing future curricula.

The educational metaverse should not be siloed off into its own category of learning. Instead, like online lessons and digital resources, let��s integrate it into existing and emerging pedagogies before it��s too late.?

David Puttnam is an educator, film producer and a recently retired member of 바카라사이트 House of Lords. Since 2012 he has been chairman of Atticus Education, a pioneering education company delivering audio-visual seminars on all aspects of 바카라사이트 screen-based industries to students around 바카라사이트 world. He is chair of 바카라사이트 Education Advisory Board of Nord Anglia Education and president of 바카라사이트 National Film and Television School.