More than three-quarters of top education officials around the world believe technology can play a major role in how students learn and teachers educate.
This is according to a global survey commissioned by Cisco and conducted by Clarus Research Group, a US-based research firm.
The study involved telephone interviews with 500 education administrators and IT decision-makers in 14 countries on five continents.
Countries surveyed included SA, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the UK.
Half of the survey respondents were primary and high school officials with the other half being college and university officials.
In a telepresence conference last week, Frank Florence, global public sector senior director of education at Cisco, said governments are increasingly acknowledging the role that education plays in building healthy economies and societies.
Within this vision, he said, technology is quickly rising in impact. “I am gratified to see that new technologies such as collaboration and video are globally increasing in importance in education, as they can open the door to a world of opportunities for students, regardless of socio-economic status or geographical location,” said Florence.
Future learning
It emerged that 89% of respondents in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) feel that technology will play a large role in improving how students learn in future, while 69% believe the same accounts for teaching methods, as well as improving student engagement.
Only 40% believe that technology will help reduce administrative costs, with 69% seeing increasing efficiency as the most important for new IT systems if they are going to upgrade their infrastructure.
Some of the top technology-related issues that some schools, colleges and universities face in MEA include Internet abuse, helping students and faculty work together, cyber security and reducing administrative expenses.
Top issues for MEA also include communicating with parents and students, as well as taking advantage of new technology. These respondents also identified thought leadership, innovation and creativity as the best qualities offered by education technology providers.
The survey also discovered that key concerns among 83% of educators across the globe include preparing students to compete in a global economy and helping to ensure their employability after graduation.
“Today's students need a core school programme that prepares them to engage in an increasingly connected ecosystem, requiring an understanding of how to use technology to compete effectively and become productive members of tomorrow's workforce,” said Florence.
Engaging minds
Most educators (85%) see technology playing a “large role” in how students learn. They also cited the impact technology can have in encouraging student engagement and participation.
Eighty-six percent of educators identified the need for programmes and curriculum that enable students to develop skills in team and project-based learning, while improved communications with parents, faculty and staff are considered critical.
Issues which ranked highly among educators included protecting students from Internet abuse, using technologies to collaborate better, developing stronger cyber security on campus, and reducing administrative expenses.
Teachers see technology as a means to 'do more with less'.
“Educators are also aggressive with plans to implement more video and embed the technology and media in the learning process. They are also seeking more impact from investments in data-driven assessments and decision-making systems,” said Florence.
Looking ahead five years, he added, 65% of the college and university officials say online international programmes are a 'major opportunity', as they can result in a greater 'virtual' student body and enrich learning opportunities by diversifying faculty, students and expert viewpoints.
Connected learning
According to Florence, these survey results point to a new 'connected learning' networked economy, which calls for technology skills development to increase global competitiveness within education.
“Technology can be used to address educators' concerns by personalising teaching and learning to address the level of proficiency of each student rather than leaving students behind or going at the pace of the slowest learner.
“Teachers have found that using networked PCs or online approaches to teaching maths allow the students to progress at their own pace, freeing teachers to focus on students who need more help on a given concept.”
He added that technology can provide innovative approaches to education while reducing the overall cost of providing education.
“For example, using telepresence to educate [from remote locations] improves accessibility, reducing the cost of delivering education to all students.”
According to Florence, video and collaboration technologies are rapidly allowing educators to be more effective and productive in teaching, anytime, anywhere. This can increase productivity by reducing travel between schools, or even countries, decreasing the cost of travel downtime, he explains.
“Presence technology is becoming an emerging factor in teacher training and staff development areas; at the same time, increasing the availability of collaboration tools is fostering new 'project-based' learning environments.”
Related story:
Paving the way for future techies
Share
