Most recently, everyone has been creating AI portraits of themselves, making reels on Instagram, and doing crazy dances on Tiktok. Society is changing rapidly, and so are learning tendencies. One day it’s all about quizzes, and the next, everyone is journaling.
Lifelong Learning
Lifelong Learning implies understanding learning as an inherently human attribute that does not end when formal education is completed or when you start working. Instead, it implies that every human can learn permanently without necessarily being in a physical space and that learning is not limited exclusively to the classrooms in a formal educational system.
Today’s society demands that we all acquire the ability to develop an attitude of continuous learning. It is essential that we use the available technology to improve our learning way through life, for example, by using mobile apps, social media, or digital learning platforms.
Asynchronous Courses
Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Learning is a constant indicator of how trends change. Pre-pandemic it was all about asynchronous, but during the pandemic the trend was to be online together – live. Everyone attended webinars, hotspots, virtual concerts and much more. But now that we are back at work and in school living busy lives, asynchronous is the dominant trend once more. Asynchronous learning is a student-centered teaching model that allows students to learn at different times and spaces. In this way, students can resort to materials and lessons previously created by teachers to review their content and check if they have questions.
but during the pandemic the trend was to be online together – live. Everyone attended webinars, hotspots, virtual concerts and much more. But now that we are back at work and in school living busy lives, asynchronous is the dominant trend once more.
This learning model involves self-guided modules, streaming video content, virtual libraries, and discussions via forums or social media platforms. Some examples of platforms where asynchronous learning occurs could be Udemy, Khan Academy, CanopyLAB, among others.
Micro-learning
Micro-learning is an educational methodology that splits information into bite-sized information to help students learn faster and master different topics, giving them a broader understanding of what they can remember, apply, and use in their daily life.
Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed when at the moment of joining a course, we discover it has more than five units full of relevant information. At StudentLAB, for example, we have created a series of micro-courses to facilitate learning about topics related to future technology and mental health. Check them out here: 3D Printing & Digital Manufacturing: Future Technologies Micro-courses and Breaking Down the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health: Micro-courses.
Personalized Learning
Personalized Learning refers to customized learning delivered through a digital learning platform. Personalization has been hot in learning, e-commerce, and other industries for years, and tech companies constantly get better at making the algorithms really strong at detecting our preferences. Personalized learning takes students’ unique needs, aptitudes, and interests into account. Some amazing learning platforms you can use to personalize your teaching and learning are Moodle, CanopyLAB, Skolera, etc.
Soft Skills Learning
Soft Skills Learning is aptitudes that contribute to how a student interacts with the people around and develops in an environment. Some of them include the following:
- Critical thinking
- Complex problem solving
- Creativity
- Emotional intelligence
- Collaboration
- Adaptability, and resilience, among others
On the other hand, hard skills are related to qualifications, technical skills, and work experience in a certain industry or area of knowledge. Nowadays, soft and hard skills are considered complementary and, in 2023, education curricula must promote both types so that a student’s development can be as complete as possible.
The pandemic has taught us that in order for students to exploit their full potential, we must be able to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process, as well as to implement new didactic methodologies that guarantee quality education for every learner.
