Education in the Information Age

• 9 years ago
• Posted in:Post 3
• 2
• Author: laura hall

Education follows cultural, social, political and economic changes in the world in order to stay current and meaningful to students learning. The effortless access to facts at the touch of a screen, click of a button or simple online search, has diminished the value of our previous educational practices. The ‘information age’ refers to a time of rising information communication technology (ICT). Defined as “the gathering and almost instantaneous transmission of vast amounts of information and by the rise of information-based industries,” the ‘information age’ has changed the way we communicate with one another (dictionary.com). Changing the look and delivery of information, it has helped to transform the world of education in order to better support and create a more inclusive environment for students.

The methods of instruction in the ‘information age’ are more consistent with students’ interest and educational needs. If educations, “fundamental purpose […] is to ensure that all students benefit from leaning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, and economic life” it is critical that educators focus instruction on skills essential to successfully participate and communicate in society (The New London Group, 1996, p. 60). The adaption of multimodality will provide more opportunities to interact with content and develop the skills necessary to participate in the global community. Workplace demands require students to “become designers of meaning with facility in the full range of design elements or modes of meaning making – including visual, audio, gestural, spatial, and multimodal meanings – in order to successfully navigate the diversities of texts, practices, and social relations that are part of working lives, public lives, and personal lives in ‘new times’” (Siegel, 2012, p. 672). Using an interactive approach to teaching in combination to ICT has proven benefits to students overall understanding and interest of content (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011, p. 234). Ong (2002) explains that the use of technology allows for enrichment of multiple means of expression (p. 82). Multimodal leaning echoes the needs of individuals in the work force and helps to promote learning amongst students who learn in a variety of ways. This has been achieved through ICT, multimodal learning, and the rise of differentiated course design such as blended and flipped classrooms. The flexibility of learning helps meet the “educational needs of a specific group of learners” providing individualized attention to students and practical application of knowledge by students (Vaughan et al., 2013, p. 22). Learning in such environments in the ‘information age’ provides students with unique and personalized experiences in learning.

The ‘information age’ has afforded us many benefits to support student potential and needs while maintaining diverse method of delivery. With less focus on teacher-centered learning, education pedagogy in the ‘information age’ has allowed opportunities for more student-centered learning and inquiry. With the power provided through access to information students’ in the ‘information age’ need to develop “critical reasoning abilities” as Willinsky (2002) describes in order to engage with the material (p. 10). Educator’s focus on effective methods of developing these skills required to access, evaluate, and create meaning from information. Students of all different backgrounds with many different educational needs are able to be supported and develop keen understandings of information through these methods (Tekos and Solomonidou, 2009).

The ‘information age’ has revolutionized the face of education. Creating endless platforms and possibilities, students in today’s world are no longer limited by the curriculum but help to develop and change it to best suit their needs and interests. Skill-based learning and student-driven curriculum allows for students to learn what they want in the best way for them to learn. ICT has shifted the role of the educator to challenge us in new and unique ways as facilitating developing skills rather than memorizing facts. This mode of education and learning in the ‘information age’ provides student’s possibilities rather than limitations.

References

Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words … (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://dictionary.reference.com/

Lotherington, H., & Jenson, J. (2011). Teaching multimodal and digital literacy in L2 settings: New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 226-246. Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://insdsg608-lpozagarcia.wikispaces.umb.edu/file/view/multimodal+overview+2011.pdf

New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.

Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and Literacy. London: Routledge.

Siegel, M. (2012). New times for multimodality? Confronting the accountability culture.Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(8), 671-681.

Tekos, G., & Solomonidou, C. (2009). Constructivist learning and teaching of optics concepts using ICT tools in Greek primary school: A pilot study. Journal of Science Education and Technology J Sci Educ Technol, 18, 415-428. Retrieved February 15, 2015, from ERIC.

Vaughan, N.D, Cleveland-Innes, M. & Garrison, D.R. (2013). Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry. Edmonton, AB, CAN: Athabasca University Press.

Willinsky, J. (n.d.). Democracy and Education: The Missing Link May Be Ours. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 367-392. Retrieved June 1, 2015.