Stemming from one of the pillars of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, quality education has taken a central stage. The agenda talks about equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities along with inclusiveness. The overall goal is to connect the general trends affecting education in the information age.
But why do you think sustainable development is talking so much about quality education? Shouldn’t it focus on the environment and the relationship between human development and its effect on nature? Well, after long research it was established that sustainable development cannot survive without social and cultural reforms and education plays an important role in building newer perspectives. Hence, sustainability cannot thrive without needling itself in the fabric of education.
But to execute a change on a global scale is challenging. Education is one of the oldest industries and since digitalization has not fully penetrated into the working of education institutes it requires a major shift in the focus. As a result, the entire world is changing its policies.
Furthermore, lifelong learning is centrally aligned with the concept. This global reform aims at being more agile in its approach. This global thought leadership has brought in trends of changes that we would like to discuss today.
- Information Technology
Communication, connectivity, collaboration, transparency, and so many other things are amiss still in many educational organizations. The reason is their dependency on redundant methods of administration, management, and execution of academic activities. To counter that, education technologies are hustling to make technology and solutions cheaper.
With a major focus on making technology user-friendly, technology partners are researching the industry to understand the digital literacy of the population in focus. Solutions for all the stakeholders in the ecosystem – Students, Faculty, Administrators, and Parents are available easily in the market.
Edtech, digital learning, learning management systems, ERP, and other trending technologies have become an integral part of many institutes. Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, BigData, and Business Intelligence are being used to improve knowledge retention, student experience, student retention, and better student outcomes. Directly and indirectly, institutes are enjoying ample benefits from these technologies.
But most of all global policymakers are aiming at digitalization because it gives them an opportunity to bring the world together and propagate the best practices for achieving sustainability goals.
- Change in aims and objectives
From implicit to explicit, the focus on skills has increased massively. It is not just a benefit for the students that are immediately “hire-ready” on passing their exams but it is in the interest of the world too. The more skill-based education is provided to the students along with their responsibilities to a sustainable future, the better outcomes are going to be achieved in the near future and future.
Policymakers are ensuring professional responsibilities along with creative, strategic, and analytical thinking are taught to the students to build a better future. They want people to think of things in terms of the world, not just individual gains and losses. Promoting the participation of youngsters in achieving these goals is ensured through increased access to knowledge, availability of knowledge material in contemporary formats, and increasing collaboration and open communications through free forums and communities.
- Education sustainability
Till now we have talked about the use of education to achieve sustainability goals. Now we should talk about educational sustainabilities. Educational ecologies are frameworks that are brought in place to promote education sustainability. It is a major shift in the current education curriculum. The ecologies provide an in-depth change in the content to improve the context of learning and align it with global goals.
Furthermore, these ecologies are not just focused on classroom education at schools and universities, it also aims to penetrate training institutes and alternative education sources. Leaving no stone unturned, policymakers are focusing on all the prominent media and the changing infrastructure of the schools, colleges, universities, and training institutes to digital.
Wrapping Up
Education plays a crucial role in the lives of people. It nurtures inclusiveness and promotes shared goals that the world focuses to meet. When we talk about sustainable development, a lot of changes have to be done, not only in terms of policy and processes but also in terms of social, economic, and cultural reforms. To attain this education has changed drastically. And thus modern trends have been introduced to drive the education industry towards meeting better goals.
