Future of Education in the digital age

There is no doubting it, the online revolution is in full swing and the digital age means that not only are more aspects of our lives being digitised each day, but that we are also becoming accustomed to going online for all the information we need. What this means for teachers whose aim is to educate in the digital elearning age, is that we have a lot of competition—more than we have ever had before.
A traditional education system vs. the digital learning age
In a traditional education system of the ‘old school’ bricks and mortar classroom, the primary competition for a student’s attention was the attractiveness or level of social connectedness with their neighbouring student—and perhaps the extent of how vivid their imagination could get.
Today, in the digital learning age, teachers need to compete with an endless array of other attention-grabbing ‘shiny objects’ from all around the world. These can include an extreme spectrum from breaking news stories of terrorist attacks, floods, political blunders to likes and smiles from potential suitor strangers and even the joy of seeing the most adorable panda in the world rolling so cutely down a hill. So, in order to win enough of a student’s valuable time and attention to facilitate a meaningful learning experience, we need to become smarter in our engagement strategies and educational practices.
As online educators, first, we must be open to unpacking and mastering these new tools ourselves, even when they perhaps test our own levels of comfort and understanding in this age of digital technologies. This is absolutely essential, in particular for some of us who approach technology with caution, in order to then allow us to come up with creative and innovative approaches to how we can adopt them seamlessly into our teaching practices.
What the digital age means for the future of online education
So once we have won the initial battle for an individual’s attention, the next challenge is to be able to keep that attention and effectively engage them longer term. It is important to understand what the online revolution is teaching us about the fundamental changes in the relationship between teachers and students.
Never before have we seen such a large scale mass rejection of traditional forms of authority in place of connecting with the everyday person. This means that the traditional concept of an academic, being respected as the holder of wisdom, is becoming more and more irrelevant. Rather than being online academics who simply ‘teach’ students something they don’t know by imparting knowledge on them, we need to be skilled facilitators, who actively engage individuals on a learning journey through digital resources. Digital learning can mean fostering curiosity, supporting the development of a growth mindset, and encouraging critique and analysis.
Being authentic
To successfully realise these digital learning goals, it is essential that we are our authentic selves. The online revolution and the rise in popularity of social media have taught us that people are seeking out authenticity and relatability in the online world. We need to be prepared to show our own vulnerability when we might not know something, our relatability as normal humans who also make mistakes, and, most importantly, we must demonstrate our passion for teaching our subject matter.
Education in the digital age is an exciting new space for teaching and learning, and it is growing and developing each day. As online educators, we must grow and develop along with it, taking advantage of the suite of new digital tools and resources available to us, but also understanding and respecting the fundamental changes in the relationship between a student and an educator. We must be prepared to share our humbled, authentic selves in response. If we can achieve all of these things, then we have set the best foundations for impacting and life-long learning to occur.