Impact Of The Digital Age On Teaching And Learning

         

The education scenario has transformed drastically in the digital age where both teachers and students use state-of-the-art academic tools to teach and learn better. This has certainly made education more effective, accessible and affordable. In the last few years online education has gained considerable popularity worldwide among educators and learners alike.

The Age Of Online Learning

Online learners not only refer to those students who pursue educational programmes via the internet, but it also includes tech-savvy learners who create and organise their learning environments over the web. They also form their own strategies for learning and determine the terms of their success.

The fact is with the ever growing reach and relevance of the internet as well as the growing use of social media has resulted in this reality. Hence a new generation of learners have arrived at the scene that utilise and implement various new techniques and criteria to enhance the overall learning process.

Let’s have a look at some of these methods....

Speed

It has been observed that the average online student can focus their attention for around 10-15 minutes at one go. During this time, they collect and absorb information which can be easily accessed and has high relevancy to direct task at hand. Hence, information should be available and accessible 24/7 for our learners’ reference.

Networking

Online learners take active participation in creating and sustaining networks which enables them to look beyond the current resources available to them by connecting the learners to information and people from different parts of the world. The fact is everything has become connected in this digital era. For online learners, connections have more significance than sources for betterment of the learning process.

Simultaneity

Online learners utilise multiple strategies in order to obtain relevant and necessary information faster. This includes browsing, sampling, evaluating, cutting, copying, pasting, socialising as well as editing data simultaneously to fulfil their learning requirements.

Control

Nowadays, most learners first go to Bing or Google to do their initial research about learning a new concept or idea. It helps them in getting some idea about what information is available to them. Online learners use the browser to search for the needed data to explore the sea of information offered by the web and wide array of social networks to learn about specific topics or skills. In online learning, the student is kept at the centre of the learning process, instead of the course or the educator.

Changing Role Of Teachers

The influence of online learners on today’s advanced learning environments, which includes the conventional classrooms as well, clearly emphasises the shifting role of educators in our society. While teaching digital students, instructors have realised that, students have taken charge of the learning process.

Teachers now need to maintain pace with the learning approaches followed by their students and also take responsibility for the outcomes and progress of their students. Hence, educators must get familiarised with the latest digital learning technologies, tools and techniques to become better prepared and for doing their jobs more effectively.

What do you think about learning and teaching in the age of technology? How can teachers improve the learning process by using digital tools? Share your own views and opinions by commenting below. We would love to hear from you.

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