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2.0 Change in the educational world
Figure 2.1 Forces influencing learning Is education changing to reflect the equally radical impact of
information technology on its world? Or are the old modes
of learning still in place? I would say that, at the moment, everything
is up for grabs within the educational world. Technology, particularly
the internet, has fundamentally altered notions of place, time and
space. It has influenced where learning takes place, when it takes
place and how it takes place. It has led to new models for learning
and teaching that are based on what technology enables, but also
on improved understanding of how the brain works and how
people absorb information.
The impact of information technology is being experienced in
education in the context of other changes too. The notion that
people train once for a career and then stick in that career until
retirement is being replaced by the idea of continual training and
re-education throughout life, which also means that the population
Forces for integration
of education is changing. And the financial context for education
– Just-in-time/on-the-job learning
has changed, with factors such as competition for students and
– Interdisciplinary exploration for innovation
life-long learning. The trend towards the blending of learning, living,
– Internships and experiential learning
and leisure makes the situation yet more challenging and exciting.
– Fused learning patterns
The educational sector is also facing the impact of changes in
– Convergence of media and IT technologies
government policy; ideals about doing things differently have huge
Changes in learning styles ramifications for physical space – the learning estate – as well as
– Didactic to active learning modalities for learning processes across the sector. To sum up the situation,
– Individual to collaborative group work education in the UK is now facing major pressures. This diagram
– Problem-based learning indicates the ‘broadband’ of forces now influencing learning
– Life-long learning Figure 2.1. It illustrates the reasons behind a shift away from
– Virtual learning communities an unquestioning belief in the efficacy of classroom delivery and
– Game-based learning towards a range of learning modalities.
Learning tools and support systems In a way, we’re trying to predict the future and it helps to
– Podcasts, streaming video and web delivery understand what’s particular to this moment in history. For the
– Rich multimedia, image sharing first time there are four generations of people at the same time in
– Portfolios work and learning environments – Baby Boomers, Generation X,
– Simulation and augmented reality experiences Net Gen and now Neo-Millennials. We’re just beginning to
– Proliferation of mobile devices understand Net Gen, the iPod generation, who were beautifully
– Course management systems described by an academic we were working with as ‘students
– Wikis and collaborative tools in a state of continuous partial attention’. But how is the next
– Messaging and aggregation tools generation characterised – the Neo-Millennials born post-1991?
5 Change in the educational world
