What is the future of education?

15 April 2015

What is the future of education? Here at createatest.co.uk we are committed to pushing Maths education forward, through the innovative use of technology.

We have been teaching in essentially exactly the same way for hundreds of years. A teacher stands at the front of the room and delivers content to a group of students, all of whom learn the same content, or at least the same type of content.

With the current technology available, this remains the most effective method. We can concentrate on delivering that one piece of content as effectively as possible, check for understanding, then stretch all of the our students as far as we can in that part of the curriculum. But for how long will this be the most effective way? The reasons (I think) that we deliver the same content to everyone in a class are as follows:

  • Assumption of ignorance – We believe that children don’t know something until we teach it to them

  • Ease – It is incredibly challenging to manage a classroom of students learning a plethora of different topics

  • Data – Even if we have taught something before, we don’t know for certain if our students know it, so we re-teach at intervals

All of these are perfectly rational, now. I foresee a time when students work independently, with content automatically delivered to them via a tablet computer, to which they also input their answers, which are logged. This means that every student works on a task that is most beneficial to them. It also means that the data we collect doesn’t just come from summative assessments, it comes from every piece of work they do in lessons as well. Combine that with the more accurate data gleaned from regular, summative, paper-based exams and you have a complete approach to analysing student progress and learning.

Then… Since students can progress at their own pace, we can’t assume ignorance. Also, we have such rich data that we know whether they can do the topics we’ve taught them. The only obstacle to truly independent learning is ease. Provided we train students to work independently, this shouldn’t be an issue. We teach topics, but know beforehand who can already do it. Those students are permitted to work on their own, with their topic selected automatically. The students are work at their own pace, and we circulate, offering support on the content delivered that day, or whatever a given student is working on.

I believe that this will take place within 10 years. Createatest.co.uk will be a part of it and it is starting now. Start collecting data on your Y7s now and you’ll be able to use it for the next 5 years. We are moving towards a data-driven, technological approach to teaching. Get started at createatest.co.uk today.

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