Champions of innovation and naturally interconnected in outlook, the millennial generation consider flexible working practices a prerequisite rather than a perk. Whether they’re working from a buzzing WeWork, restful green space or hipster coffee house, lines between work and life are fluid. With on-demand technology that can be whipped out from a backpack or back pocket, millennials access digital space differently, collaborate digitally and are unafraid to challenge the rigidity of the corporate nine to five. In the education sector, there’s been a marked shift to flexible, digitally assisted approaches, with blended and flipped models of instruction now commonplace in many schools and universities.
The 21st-century millenials are characterised by their inherent thirst for knowledge that goes beyond the linear search of information, their preference of choice and individualism over one-size-fits-all trends, and their expertise in tech tools and social networking via various forms of digital spaces. On the other hand, the 21st-century teacher may be one who are concerned about quality but lack the resources and skills necessary to ensure that the learners’ potential is not wasted. Edtech solutions are bridging the gaps in the teaching-learning ecosystem by transforming the essential elements of the education platforms.The edtech sector has helped in bringing multimedia content, including immersive experiences such as augmented and virtual realities to cater for all kinds of learners.Most of all, such tools challenge the passive one-way lecture-mode learning, helping learners be more active in their learning with hands-on learning, flipped learning and peer interaction. Now teachers are facilitators of their students’ learning, monitoring their individual performances and helping them with personalised feedback/recommendations on these digital spaces.
Edtech tools help students learn better by providing them the platform to solve real-life problems with ease, which polishes their understanding of the world around them and helps them develop skills necessary to navigate through their lives. For instance, robotics help youngsters develop their STEM skills, and in the process, aid their understanding of the existing problems in the world around them. Similarly, collaborative digital spaces are being utilised in a constructive manner to drive discussion and action with respect to real-world situations. Game-based learning also helps in a deeper understanding of situations in a simulated environment with the help of creative games such as Minecraft.
The digital revolution shows sufficient promise of fulfilling the skills gap in the primary, high-secondary classes, colleges and universities and organizations. As learning expands from the confinements of schools and universities and gets spread over to the homes and workplaces, technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, augmented reality, smart boards, virtual reality, and device technology are heralding the future with state-of-the-art techniques we are yet to see. The global investments in educational EdTech in 2017 crossed $9 Bn, a 30 percent jump from 2016. It was also reported that 813 different EdTech companies received funding last in 2017. One of the critical drivers for rising interest in EdTech can be the adoption rate of new technologies by the millennial community. Millennials entering the job market bring a new set of expectations on how to learn and collaborate. Hence, investment is flowing into the EdTech market at an unprecedented level making it the leading, most productive digital space for millennials.
The digital revolution shows sufficient promise of fulfilling the skills gap in the primary, high-secondary classes, colleges and universities and organizations. As learning expands from the confinements of schools and universities and gets spread over to the homes and workplaces, technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, augmented reality, smart boards, virtual reality, and device technology are heralding the future with state-of-the-art techniques we are yet to see. The global investments in educational EdTech in 2017 crossed $9 Bn, a 30 percent jump from 2016. It was also reported that 813 different EdTech companies received funding last in 2017. One of the critical drivers for rising interest in EdTech can be the adoption rate of new technologies by the millennial community. Millennials entering the job market bring a new set of expectations on how to learn and collaborate. Hence, investment is flowing into the EdTech market at an unprecedented level making it the leading, most productive digital space for millennials.
