Upcoming Trends That Will Revitalise Education Sector in India

On November 11, we celebrate National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s first education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. As we take stock of how far we have come since independence, it is important  to also explore if we can make education less rigid and more pliant to the needs of the current generation in the 21st century. Can education be driven by a reinvention of teaching methods? Can it be revitalised by technology to become more affordable, accessible and inclusive? Can we finally move beyond the traditional chalk-and-board model to hybrid methods? 

Post the pandemic, an adaptive education model is the need of the hour, thinks Rajesh Bhatia and believes that technology and virtual learning have the potential to transform passive learning into a participatory and engagement driven process. Technological interventions have spurred the growth  of  education technology and it is expected to become a US$30 billion industry over the next decade, as per reports of the business portal, India Briefing. Here are some of the latest trends that, according to Bhatia, will revolutionise the education sector in India.
 
 Skill-based learning
 

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution , skill-based learning is becoming urgently important to keep up with a fast changing, hyper digitalised global job market. A skill-based education helps  cultivate problem solving acumen, increases self-reliance, exposes students in their formative years to the world beyond the walls of their classroom and familiarises them with diverse professions. Many institutions including  TreeHouse have launched various skill-based courses in schools where students can learn the basics of law, E-commerce, aviation, hospitality and business management among other subjects.
 

 Gamified Learning
 

Gamified lessons engage students, reduce the monotony of the learning ecosystem and make learning more hands-on and fun. ScienceDirect, an online science publication, in a 2020 study has found that gamification augments the learning capacity of students. Quiz based revisions, teamwork and technological interventions like the usage of AI have further added to the appeal of gamified learning in modern classrooms. How to make this technology accessible in rural areas would be the next big challenge at a time when even a basic internet connection or digital devices are unaffordable for a large segment of our population.

 A shift towards nonconventional courses
 

Not too long ago, being a doctor or an engineer was the apex of academic ambition but today young people are exploring diverse career options. Who would for instance, have  thought of tea sommeliers as aspirational but now in a diverse food and beverage profession, many new opportunities have emerged. Many major colleges in India today are offering courses in tea tasting and similar non-conventional subjects we never thought much about earlier. As per the 2017 report by DELL technologies, authored by Indian Institute for the Future (IFTF), 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030, haven't been invented yet. That is the pace at which the job market is evolving. This is why schools and colleges must focus on teaching unconventional courses, including in robotics, automation, cartography, anthropology and even  puppetry and theatre studies. A lot of YouTubers and social media influencers are also changing the way livelihoods are earned so outmoded skill sets are losing their appeal.

 
 Conceptual learning
 

In a shift from rote learning, schools are now introducing concept-based learning, where children go deeper into the subject to gain a conceptual understanding. H Lynn Erickson, an international consultant in concept-based curriculum design, says that the “key to intellectual development is the synergistic interplay between the factual and conceptual level of thinking.” Conceptual thinking helps students to critically analyse the facts, creatively solve a problem and apply their knowledge to the real world.  

 
  Immersive and interactive learning  
  
 Education is no longer limited to textbooks and blackboards in smart classrooms that use technologies like AR and VR. This is in keeping with what American psychologist Howard Earl Gardner proposed as the multiple intelligence theory in modern education. He believed that people can think and learn from multiple dimensions and perspectives and what modern technologies like AR and VR achieve is a multi-dimensional educational approach. With a broader vision and unlimited movement of ideas and knowledge,  borderless learning can become more interactive, unrestricted and immersive than ever before.