EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN DIGITAL AGE OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS Pham Kim Chung (Faculty of Education Technology, VNU University of Education) Abstract The development of educational technology (ET) has been dragging onto the growth of digital education and teaching All activities of teaching and education are happening in digital environments with a large number of participants Without the limitations of time or space, participants all connect and integrate resources, which redefin[.]
Trang 1OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
Pham Kim Chung
(Faculty of Education Technology, VNU University of Education)
Abstract: The development of educational technology (ET) has been dragging onto the growth of digital
education and teaching All activities of teaching and education are happening in digital environments with a large number of participants Without the limitations of time or space, participants all connect and integrate resources, which redefines and directs the teaching process into a more personalized/individualized solution for learners The article researches opportunities, challenges, and solutions to develop digital education.
Keywords: Educational technology, digital education, Information technology, smart education.
1 INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of century XXI, new technologies have been developing so quickly that they enforced education to create open-learning opportunities by “any way, any place at any time.” This approach has opened a wide range of new forms of education and teaching Either formal or informal, based on the extensive knowledge-sharing and society, may it be called digital education Via the approach, technology has made substantial and profound qualitative contributions to education and teaching, compared to the contemporaneous teaching methods, processes, or technology IT has brought considerable changes in education and new teaching in the direction of openness, flexibility, and constant updates; thus, learners gradually form a new learning style to meet the needs of each individual with a unique environment Learning opportunities are rich and diverse, but there are still many challenges yet necessary to have orientations to find solutions for the development of educational technology in the digital education age
2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
The invention of computers, the Internet, and information technology (IT), combined with the development of learning theories, have been the basis for building educational and teaching models with the support of IT The early period of studying computer-aided teaching models was influenced heavily
by behavioral theory Pat Suppes and others develop computer-aided instruction models (CAI) This model is based on encouragement and repetition to promote active learning activities
In parallel with the development of behavioral theory, some educational theorists such as Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget developed constructivism Based on constructivism, many researchers have developed constructive methods, which integrate computers and technology into problem-solving measures to be applied in many aspects of instructional design
Trang 2At the end of the XX century, learning theories involved a depth of participation in a hands-on community learning activity, including research related to online courses George Siemens (2004) proposed the above concept - the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) The learning model has caused fundamental changes in how information and knowledge to be perceived with vast data communication networks Internet technology has moved to learn from internal, individualistic activities to groups and communities [1]
The development of IT with data collection and storage techniques has formed diverse, high-speed big-data storage, which goes up to multiples of petabytes and exabytes Data science provides structure and principles for education researchers to deal with complex educational data Analysis of learner data and intelligent teaching systems (ITS) and Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (AIED) has become a crucial phenomenon in education since the 2010s (Figure 1) [2]
The concept of Educational Technology was first used in 1970 by a UNESCO report and identified
as a driving force for modernizing the educational process in the new era In recent times, computers have been strongly involved in teaching, Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as EduTech,
or EdTech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to acilitate learning
Accordingly, the task of educational technology is to establish reasonable principles of education and teaching and the most favorable conditions for conducting training to create methods and means
of education most effective to achieve the set training goals, and at the same time save the effort of teachers and learners.[3]
Computer-Based
Instruction (CBI)
Artificial Intelligence
In Education (AIED)
Big Data and Learning Analytics
Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS)
Education Data Mining (EDM)
Figure 1 Development of the field of educational technology.
In essence, with the help of new technology, it creates an entirely different method from mass and uniform education towards differentiation, individualization, and high personalization The connected system of people-information-objects and machines form a chain of links in training, research, and technology transfer These altogether enforce educational institutions to transform into an innovative and creative ecosystem, set up under a holistic, mutually impactful system, promoting the quality and effectiveness of the educational process With elements included: S (self-directed): M (motivated); A (adaptive); R (resources); T (technology) [4], [5]
Based on technology, the SMART model can have a powerful impact on the educational process
in the following ways:
- Changes in learner expectations and the ability of schools to respond (adaptability, employability, and self-employment; ability to maintain and develop professional expertise; lifelong learning association, );
Trang 3- The diversification of educational products, the process of ensuring and improving the quality of education to big data, artificial intelligence, blockchains in education;
- Changes in the relationship, role, and position of teachers and learners in the teaching process, in the educational ecosystem;
- The change of the learning environment, the campus with multi-functional learning materials;
- The change of management and administration models in education and teaching on a new digital platform
Digital technology is transforming drastically There are inevitable shifts in the transition from traditional education to a more technology-based, intelligent, connected, and constructivist one that creates profound changes while posing new challenges for today’s education With optimistic forecasts about the strong development trend of educational technology, educators reorient and implement perspectives in the right way In that context, schools need to prepare to make use and adapt to the benefits brought by technology
3 CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Globalization has not only created economic competition but also spurred education reform The development of ET promotes a comprehensive improvement of the educational community Digital learning infrastructures in the current context of wide IT applications have brought many opportunities and great possibilities to help reproduce, create knowledge, share information, equalize barriers to access
to information In particular, this has changed the long-existing teaching model from a Top-Down or Bottom-Up model to a horizontal and social sharing system in the classroom, where the learners become the center of a social learning network This model facilitates the process of teaching differentiation, individualization, and personalization
According to Daniel and Butson (2013), the analysis of a large set of educational data can inform the development of predictive models to identify opportunities and address challenges for educational institutions McKenney and Mor (2015) argue that: The insights gained from predictive models can help understand student learning processes to facilitate the design of adaptive learning environments and personalized [5]
In order to grasp the opportunities and limit the challenges that digital education could offer, countries need to correspond to transformations and form a new form called SMART The development
of SMART schools, whereby education is present everywhere and connects people, information, objects, and machines It emphasizes the transition from the traditional teaching method to a new approach to technology, a non-traditional teaching model Education needs to create a personalized learning process The system connecting people-information-objects and machines forms an ecosystem in training, research, and technology transfer, promoting an innovative ecological system
The challenges with education in the context of digital education are as follows:
- Reorienting core values in training: co-creators of new knowledge; Adaptive capacity development, transformation, and entrepreneurship of students in the labor market;
- Construction and development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training programs;
- Connect the infrastructure in all sectors and all stages in the process of training on technology platforms;
- Improve digital literacy and digital literacy for teachers and learners - “digital citizens.”
Trang 4- Changes in the nature, methods, models, and outputs of the training program: comprehensive connectivity, multi-dimensional interaction, approach to the blockchain value
- Expanding digital-based learning environment of more flexibility;
The diversity of concepts about the components of education technology raises technical problems
in working with IT systems The lack of system interoperability, like in data sharing and governance, can form a “bottleneck” in data transfer between organizations Protection for individual and organizational privacy through authentication and security is another major issue of the ET system
4 SOLUTIONS OF APPLICATION IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Educational technology provides education researchers with the opportunity to use automated tools and techniques to explore complex educational phenomena on a large scale
The solutions for development of educational technology is as follows:
+ Learning analysis to personalize the teaching process:
ET changed from traditional media to a new concept called social media Educational organizations learn and discuss emotions, social habits, living habits to increase the effectiveness of academic counseling plays a crucial role for any learner Various big-data resources in education include data generated and stored in virtual learning environments, assessment data, individual student profiles, learner models, video data, and physiological data (i.e., heart rate, blood pressure) Learning analytics allows teachers to identify factors of risks related to student engagement in learning and optimize the design of the learning environment (Lodge & Corrin, 2017; Mor et al., 2015) Teachers can use learning analytics to build student learning pathways, identify areas where learners struggle the most and design better teaching strategies Similarly, providing students with personalized data access promotes a greater sense of self-discipline and encourages self-directed learning (Tan, Koh, Jonathan, & Yang, 2017) [6]
+ Optimizing educational research
Scientific research plays a fundamental role in affirming the credibility of any educational institution Big data tools and data-driven applications support research and management both individually and collaboratively Social learning networks provide a theoretical foundation for research work Cloud-based big-data analytics collaboration offers insights that allow researchers globally to find people who can contribute to projects The success or failure of a research undertaking can be determined using predictive analytics for much lower cost Big Data solutions for research as a storage and analytics platform
Although Big Data offers many educational opportunities, the analytical capabilities of big data
in education require an understanding of the fundamental difference between research in education and Big Data in education (Table 1) Therefore, working with Big Data in education requires adequate knowledge of Data Science and the ability to work with automated techniques and high-performance database systems
Table 1 The features of the study of education and the big data for education
Traditional education research Big data research in education
Researcher knows the context of the data Researcher may not know the context of the data
Researchers can participate in data collection Researcher can use collected data
Focus on epistemology and ontology New epistemology and ontology
Trang 5Clear ethical and accountability issues Responsibility, ethics may not be known
Professional requirements for education and
research methods
Need more knowledge about Data Science
Clean and generally small sample/data that is
easy to manage (Megabytes, Gigabytes)
Large and complex data structures (Terabytes, Petabytes, Exabytes)
No real-time analytics required Can use real-time analytics
Data is stored within the limits/capabilities of
available storage mechanisms
Highly Distributed File System (HDFS) or No Query
Analysis is manual or standalone use of software
systems such as SPSS, Nvivo
Using Hadoop system, MapReduce, application web mining, sensor network, monitoring
It is now easier for researchers to collect, store, analyze, share educational data between individuals and organizations, and address potential challenges
Transformational research from educational research to research with Big Data in education:
+ Apply IT to improve teaching efficiency
In the current teaching process, the role of teachers has changed drastically with the emergence
of technology in education Teachers need to master modern technology and stay up to speed with new tools and technologies Instant feedback helps identify student learning, uncovers requirements, predicts the future, and enables teachers to change teaching methods for the better
The current directions of developing new school models based on technology according to the trends of applying technology solutions:
- Artificial intelligence: one of the high-impact ways that artificial intelligence poses on education
is to create new, diverse, and more effective access to information opportunities for individual learning; development of robotics applications in teaching
- Virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR)/mixed reality (MR): will create interactive opportunities in physical/virtual, multi-dimensional space, increasing accessibility, processing information management; expanding learning space and environment; develop capacity for creative thinking and problem solving;
- M-Learning (Mobile)/U-Learning (Ubiquitous): This new model of learning creates opportunities
to use smartphones, tablets, laptops, and handheld and wearable devices (wearable) in the classroom (for example, the teaching approach that allows the use of handheld devices in the classroom BYOD
is a popular trend in education around the world); speeding up access to and processing of information
in teaching missed educational applications running on mobile device platforms (Apps); increase interaction, sharing and user engagement;
- Tablets, laptops, smart connected devices (i.e., tablets and smart teaching devices ): They allow learners to use cloud computing platforms, web infrastructure, and connect to the Internet through large databases, which makes easy-to-share and interactive learning; convenient in centralizing, storing, and distributing digital learning resources in multiple formats (simulation, 3D ); replacing traditional teaching tools and equipment (boards, books, printed materials, visual teaching aids );
- Using social media at educational institutions: as a platform and tool to connect, share information, interact and communicate instantly between stakeholders in the field of education;
Trang 6- Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs): are a platform
of free online courses that meet the maximum learning needs corresponding to individual abilities, interests, and circumstances, increase access to and participation of learners in open and online education Along with the current boom of the digital content industry, the education sector, in general, and the development of digital learning materials, in particular, are facing favorable opportunities for further development Information data sources, input educational contents are digitized (designed, produced, published, stored) and transferred via digital tools to meet the increasing demand for “polygons visualization” and strong interaction for learners
5 Conclusions and recommendations
Educational technology based on digital tools on the principle of rich content, multi-format, hyper-interactive, reusable, easy-to-access, lookup, share and contribute digital learning materials gradually become a goal as well as effective means and objectives in educational processes Not only the old
‘digitizing documents’ or ‘open learning materials’ but ‘gamification’ also have made digital learning more than just purely a supply for providing information and learning content It offers learners to interact with those contents by increasing opportunities for immersing learners in virtual environments
to solve problems; realistic 3D simulation (3D simulation), animation (Animation), image creation (Hologram), video creation, artificial intelligence lectures, interactive E-books…
This process needs to be carried out synchronously and systematically in the following aspects:
- Invest in upgrading IT infrastructure for educational institutions to meet the needs of personalized learning, connecting all subjects and objects in the educational process, learning anywhere, anytime; meet the “smart” of the learning environment, classroom and school;
- Enhance capacity, IT responsiveness and modern technological equipment for lecturers and educators; universalize digital education through regular training and retraining programs; especially for teachers to meet professional standards in IT application and use of technology equipment in teaching and education;
- Formulate and develop human resource training programs on educational technology, management of new educational technologies; integration of information technology and education in interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary programs;
- Develop appropriate legal frameworks to support the promotion and assessment of IT application processes in the current digital education age
REFERENCES
1 Bates, A.W (2019) Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition Vancouver, B.C
2 Ben Kei Daniel (2019), Big Data and data science: A critical review of issues for educational
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3 Ronghuai Huang J Michael Spector Junfeng Yang (2019), Educational Technology: A Primer for
the 21st Century, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd
4 Linda Daniela (2019), Didactics of Smart Pedagogy: Smart Pedagogy for Technology Enhanced
Learning, Springer Nature Switzerland
5 Elizabeth A Ashburn Robert E Floden (2006), Meaningful Learning Using Technology: What
educators need to know and do, Columbia University New York and London
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