Every generation has sets of educational trends that are constantly evolving right along with the times. By taking a look at these trends, higher-education institutions are better able to prepare for the future students to become productive members of society and world leaders.
As you know I am fascinated with how our children develop and learn, as evidenced from the topics on website at http://www.roccobasile.net/ - especially the underpriviledged kids in the charities where I serve as a Board member such as Children of the City. (Kaylen on right)
Let's take a look at five of these predictions (there are twelve in all) to see if the economy has affected them in any way this last year.
1. Evergreen students - It is the 18 year olds who are bringing the new technologies to college campuses, but due to this fact they expect the infastructure to be in place to support their new evergreen ideas. But this last year the biggest trends included social media like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, interactive mobile smart phones, and places like SecondLife.com are a great tools to train students virtually. Universities continue to explore new ways to integrate these tools into a productive learning environment and the slow economy only slows down the process of implementation.
2 Globalization - The demand for higher education worldwide is increasing and will continue to grow. There a re 100 million college students globally, and the growth areas have been India, China and the Middle East. Today students must prepare for a global workforce.
3. Techninal and informational literacy. Technical literacy among teachers in increasing, and more are using computers and ew technology in teaching. Students may be device savvy but they need to improve on being information savvy, therefore using technology for academic purposes is the new goal. a wave of faculty retirement is bringing new teachers to the forefront who are younger and more technologically savvy.
4. Enrollment, retention, and branding. Schools are hip to using the Internet to market academic programs, and e-learning online is well under way (e.g. Zinch.com is to help students in the college application process). Colleges have built attractive brands, and are using new methods to enroll and keep students in school - such as call centers to contact students and leave voicemails if they miss classes.
5. Mobility. Colleges are compelled to capitolize on feature rich mobile phones to reach students new ways such as texting, instant messaging, video, etc. Now colleges are exploring ways to use PDAs to deliver coursework, field data, training modules, schedules, and much more.
Just as colleges and universities are experiementing with technology tools to improve learning, our younger students are less fortunate in some communities where public schools simply do not have the government support for funds to provide the technology - especially during bad economic times.
Life is a learning experience ... This is why programs like ChildrenoftheCity are so critical to communities like Brooklyn.
-- Rocco Basile
