Key idea: Harnessing the benefits of digital tools will help us go beyond just preparing our young digital natives for work, and instead equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of life.
Original author and publication date: Vinay MR (Telegraph India) – May 9, 2023
Futurizonte Editor’s Note: New generations are the future and, therefore, their education would and should be useful.
From the article:
For years, the educational system structure that we taught and learned from was designed for an analog world, created and cemented before the internet revolution. In most parts, what we learn today in school was built to meet the requirements of the industrial revolution; designed for productivity, not creativity. It is a linear, procedural way of learning that is based on knowing facts. In the past, the accumulated knowledge held in the brain was sufficient. In today’s modern world, it is just not enough. For Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and the present), access to information, and being connected and engaged, is second nature. They are faster-paced, more visually focused, more nonlinear in learning, and more importantly, they are always willing to unlearn and relearn because the world around them changes so quickly.
Sir Ken Robinson provides an interesting take –
“Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the earth. They’re being besieged with information and coerced for attention from every platform: computers, iPhones, advertising hoardings, and hundreds of television channels. And we’re penalising them now for getting distracted. From what? Boring stuff. At school, for the most part.”
I’d like to add a caveat here. Is studying boring? Yes, for a good number. But is learning boring? Not in the least.
The approach towards teaching and learning concepts is what makes studying boring for most students. For example, a lab experiment – which is designed for inquisitive learning – has somehow transformed into a prescription task. Students are expected to follow a bunch of steps, take the readings, prepare a report, come to a forgone conclusion, and hopefully get good grades. However, this procedural learning does not stimulate the mind enough, there is no joy of discovery. Hence, boring.
