They say that if you offer a person fish, they would eat for a day. On the other hand, if you teach them how to fish, they would eat for their lifetime. Education is a fundamental requirement for us as humans to grow, evolve and prosper. Education paves the way for our future and it is through education that we will be able to care, protect, nurture, uplift ourselves and people around us, ultimately making the world a better place to live in.
With that said, education still remains a dream for a major chunk of the global population. Because of aspects like unaffordability, lack of access or other reasons, a lot of children and adults around the world are yet to lay their hands-on books that would change their lives.
But with evolution in technology, this is no longer a concern.
How?
This is exactly what we are about to discuss and bring out on our Digital Transformation in the Education Sector guide series. To make education more accessible and shape the lives of people who would take the world forward in the future, we need to offer the right education to them today.
And this guide will act as the fulcrum of how you as an educator, teacher, school trustee, or an institution stakeholder can go about offering better education to those who seek through optimal use of technology.
Over the course of the series, we will identify diverse ways education is imparted (and can be imparted), the associated challenges, Education tech-based solutions, future and more. All these insights will help you get a better idea of how you could run your institution in a more ideal way, preparing in the right ways for the minds of tomorrow.
So, what are we waiting for?
Let’s get started with the first aspect where we delve into the different models of education, simultaneously understanding how digital education has evolved over the years.
- It is anticipated that by the year 2025, the EdTech global market will be valued at $404bn.
- The growth rate of EdTech between 2019 and 2025 will be 2.5x.
- Online learning is expected to surge in 2020 which is further propelled by the global pandemic.
- Way back in 2017, close to 77% of the institutions in the US incorporated e-learning methodologies.
- Retention rates in e-learning ranges between 25% and 60%.
- Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are expected to take e-learning forward in the coming years and months.
Models For Education
While learning is universal, there are tons of branches that stem out from the generic term. From a vocational program a graduate pursues to a kid’s first day at school, the common thread that connects everyone in the spectrum is learning. But at every stage in life, learning gets a new meaning and purpose, simultaneously giving rise to the need for different models for education.
To understand concepts like edtech and e-learning better, let’s take a ground-up approach and quickly get an idea of the different types of institutions.
These are the institutions that lay the foundation for the greater things children would seek in their future. The teaching methodology is a mix of fun, creativity, learning and retention aspects that allow children to cope up with new things they encounter.
Private Schools
Schools that are run by non-governmental organizations and authorities are called private schools. Such schools could receive funding from non-profit companies, churches, for-profit companies and more. There are close to 1,541 private schools in the US.
Public Schools
Conversely, public schools are funded and run by government organizations (federal, state or local). These schools offer K-12 education and other extracurricular programs as part of the curriculum.
Traditional Universities
Traditional universities are institutions that foster an environment to pursue higher education and get corresponding degrees. They offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs across a range of academic disciplines. The word traditional, here, attributes to the conventional way of imparting education which is in-person classes and learning.
Corporate Universities
Corporate universities are run by corporate companies to help their talent pool upskill and stay relevant in their respective industries. They offer highly specialized and niche courses and programs in tandem with traditional universities or other institutions. Statistics also reveal that by 2026, corporate e-learning will be worth close to $50bn.
Online Universities
Online universities are the virtual counterparts of traditional universities, where students and aspirants can enroll in an online program of their choice and learn from wherever they are. For instance, a student in the UK can enroll in an ivy league university in the US.
Virtual Schools
Similar to online universities, virtual schools offer online classes to students to make education more accessible and interactive with the help of the internet. Devices and tech concepts like web cameras, video conferencing, VoIP and more are used to enable seamless learning.
Open and Distance Learning
If online universities are powered by the internet to impart education across geographical barriers, open and distance learning make use of offline mediums such as postal and mail services to impart education. In this methodology, students can enroll in an institution of their choice and learn via postal services through books and compact discs. Emails are being gradually introduced as well.
Charter Schools
Charter schools are public-funded schools but differ in the fact that they offer education without any tuition fees involved. They experience more autonomy and are held accountable for student achievements. Because they are devoid of fees, selection processes are quite rigid, where students are wait-listed before they could be offered an admission.
Language schools are specialized schools that are specifically set up and established to offer language courses. These could be primary, secondary or tertiary languages prevailing in a region or a completely different language school that aspirants intend to pursue for their educational and professional requirements. Goethe-Zentrum is an ideal example of a language school established to teach German to aspirants.
Like we mentioned, learning and education have different purposes at different stages of our lives. Since learning never stops, there are several supplemental education service providers that offer niche courses and programs to those professional aspirants. These are different from university or K-12 programs and methodologies.
Let’s look at some of them.
Business Schools
Business schools are institutions that offer degree courses on management and administration programs. Subjects in these institutions involve finance, economics, management, communication and more.
Vocational Schools
Vocational schools offer technical education to aspirants who want to enter a workforce or an industry with specific skill sets. They are also called trade schools or career schools and offer courses like carpentry, welding, electrical maintenance, plumbing, automotive repair, hotel management and more.
IT & Computer Schools
Institutions that teach computer education to aspirants are computer schools. Now these schools could teach anything between the basics of computers and technology to some of the most advanced concepts in web designing, graphic designing, coding, tech infrastructure, cybersecurity and more.
Learning Centers
Learning centers are environments that provide learners and aspirants with everything they would need to enrich their learning such as lab facilities, books, reference materials, tools and more. A coding lab is an example of a tech-specific learning center where students will get access to everything, they require to develop software applications such as testing devices, server accesses and more.
Programs that are designed to assist potential tutors, educators and mentors across industries and segments fall under the category of tutoring services. With a different teaching and evaluation methodology, they offer specialized courses to aspirants.
Assessment Services
Assessment services are third-party evaluation services that KPOs and edtech companies take up to assess student paper, examinations and more of specific institutions to optimize the learning process.
Overseas Studies
Studying abroad is a complex affair as it involves tons of regulations, protocols and procedures. To simplify the process, especially for first-generation immigrant aspirants, overseas studies services help students understand their strengths, counsel them on their ideal courses and programs, recommend universities abroad, assist with paperwork and application processes such as SOPs and help in the seamless admission process.
Educational products are tools that help students learn better. In today’ scenario, educational products are software applications and programs that offer systems and mechanisms that are lacking in conventional education systems. Apps like Duolingo or portals like Coding.org are all educational products that help people learn specific skills better. There is an educational product for every course or discipline you can think of.
On the other hand, education publishers are those that specialize in rolling out academic content and material such as books, journals, assessment and supplementary content and more across diverse streams and disciplines. From books for competitive exams to those on quantum physics, education publishing covers them all.
Educational Consultants
People with teaching or institutional experiences evolve into education counselors, providing advice and counselling services to teachers, parents, students, administrators and other stakeholders for an ideal education impartment. They help bring about changes in curriculum, assist with assessments, study the effectiveness of existing methodologies, design training programs, involve in admission processes, guide perplexed students and more.
Education Information and Research
An essential segment in the education sector, the education information and research wings assess multiple aspects involved in education such as classroom dynamics, teaching methodologies, teacher training and more. They are also advisors and consultants who play a crucial role in growing educational institutions by keeping up with the increasing demands surrounding the industry.
Education Investment Services
Inclined towards the finance side of things in education, educational investment services take charge of activities or tasks such as funding assistance, equity issuance, mergers and acquisitions, financial debt management and more. These services also work on minimizing education cost per child alongside maintaining the revenue of institutions through extensive research and planning. With increasing costs in the education sector, the inputs of investment specialists are crucial.
Education Policy Specialists
Educational policy makers or specialists are inevitable entities in education who influence diverse aspects of an institution’s operations, teaching methodologies, pedagogy and more. Some aspects of their work revolve around minimizing overcrowding in classes, managing funding, improving teacher standards, planning academic curriculum, establishing school communities, making subjects relevant and more.
Technology Service Providers
Technology service providers are those that translate ideas on papers into reality through deployment of appropriate gadgets, devices, software applications, portals and more. They are an integral (and indispensable) aspect of the ed-tech sector, where they work on digitizing content and offline study materials, roll out videos, develop programs and applications for devices, design online assessment programs and more. They also work on implementing smart classrooms in schools and institutions.
Evolution of Digital Learning
The concept of digital learning is close to three decades old but it became a household name only in the last decade with the wider reach of the internet and availability of computers and gadgets. Similar to distance and open learning, the purpose of digital learning is to ensure education for all by eliminating barriers such as geographic, language and more. The only difference here is the deployment of technology such as the internet, software applications, computers, smart devices and more.
The seeds for digital learning were sowed in the 80s, where educational compact discs were rolled out to help learners and aspirants have more study resources in minimal space. These systems eliminated monotony in learning and brought in graphical and digital elements even in the most redundant topics like the working of a digestive system.
Then arrived the 90s with its fancy internet. By connecting computers and servers together to form a single entity, the internet laid the foundation for e-learning or web-based learning. This, to an extent, eliminated the need for compact discs, where people could access information at any time without having to store them for access.
Adding another layer to interactive learning, the Learning Management System (LMS) was rolled out during the dawn of the new millennium. With this, institutions had a unified system that could be used to update and roll out content, study materials, assist with student onboarding, assessment, reports, reviews, certification and more.
As technology gradually became more advanced, LMS portals and interactive learning evolved in terms of their functionalities and purposes. Machine learning and artificial intelligence systems seeped into education and e-learning methodologies, allowing educators to automate several aspects of learning.
But the best part about this integration is the aspect of personalized learning, where students can not only learn at their own pace but be provided with relevant study materials that would help them work better on their weaknesses and optimize their strengths.
This is the benchmark today with several ed-tech companies rolling out highly specialized platforms and applications to make education and learning as interesting and fun as possible for aspirants across all age groups.
The Potential Impacts of The Digital Disruption Wave in Education
We are at a peculiar phase in human evolution, where we are witnessing a transition from conventional learning and education to tech-driven education. The transition is being seamlessly assimilated by the younger generation, who have an innate advantage of being surrounded by tech gadgets. However, for the remaining generations and population, this transition is not only overwhelming but daunting at times as well.
While the pandemic has shown that digital education is the norm for the future, several aspects such as affordability of gadgets, devices, applications, subscriptions to portals and more are still questioning that await answers.
While these are implementational challenges, the benefits of digital education include the creation of a new world with highly skilled workforce and freethinkers. The population with access to digital learning has the ability to become anything it dreams of. An engineer could be a marketeer or an investment banker could become a baker in less than six months. With such abundance in resources, study materials, mentors and portals, kids have unlimited access to their potentials as well.
The digital disruption has allowed us to revisit our calling and work on our interests to become better at what we do and equip ourselves with tech that would complement our visions.
Why Digital Transformation Is Vital For Educational Institutions Today
Like we mentioned, the pandemic has answered a lot of questions on the future of education. With lockdowns and the fear of contagion prevailing across the globe and the fact that such incidents could be unprecedented at times, ed-tech or digital learning is the only element that can ensure that learning never stops.
Another angle to why digital transformation is inevitable is to raise a generation of achievers for a better future. Today’s technology has given rise to newer job roles and opportunities that never existed before. As this evolves, the world would need relevant people to join the workforce of tomorrow and need visionaries who could further push the limitations of human thinking.
And to make that happen, we need newer teaching and learning methodologies. We need interactive systems that tell us about our strengths and weaknesses and help us (children through adults) become better learners and ultimately people. And for that, we need to do away with conventional ways of learning with obsolete assessment mechanisms.
We require artificial intelligence systems, machine learning algorithms, smart devices and more to get to where we deserve and these are all elements of digital transformation in institutions. From smart boards to an efficient LMS portal, educations certainly need to revisit their teaching operandi currently and embrace the future.
So, if you’re someone who intends to transform the classroom in your institution, you need to get in touch with us now. From developing ideal learning tools and software applications to completely setting up smart classroom facilities, we would help you in all.
Just talk to us with your vision and leave it to us to turn it into a reality. Call us today.