A look at Digital Transformation in Education

The Headline screams ” Medical Schools business model is officially dead“. and talks about the “slaughter of Academic medicine”.

Read on to know that many medical colleges have now moved online, facilitated by Digital. quoting from the article ” But, medical education no longer depends on an academic faculty. Many schools provide streaming video of canned lectures, which can be accessed at any time, and do not require the physical presence of students or a professor in a lecture hall. When lectures are given in person, the number of attendees is typically sparse. Indeed, the Larner College of Medicine of the University of Vermont has phased out lectures entirely in favor of “active learning.” With active learning, medical students are allowed to absorb the necessary information in their own way and on their own time. Discussions are facilitated by moderators and most of the academic faculty is not involved”.

 University of Vermont’s  Larner College of Medicine has begun to phase out lectures in favor of what’s known as “active learning” and plans to be done with lectures altogether by 2019.

It’s interesting to read in the article that contrary to public perception ” there is a lot of evidence that lectures are not the best way to accumulate the skills needed to become a scientist or a physician. We’ve seen much evidence in the literature, accumulated in the last decade, that shows that when you do a comparison between lectures and other methods of learning — typically called “active learning” methods — that lectures are not as efficient or not as successful in allowing students to accumulate knowledge in the same amount of time.”. 

So students are expected to learn before they come in for the Active learning. And looks like much of the learning before class is facilitated via Digital Channels. example Streaming Online Video Lectures.

Digital Transformation in Education Trends

We at WiselyWise see the same trends happening across K-12 and Universities along with Private Learning. But its also true that most folks are not adapting fast enough to these trends. Even if it could one disrupt their own institutions as they know it.

It may not involve huge changes as we found out from our projects with clients. Based on that learning, we introduced Innovative learning programs, cutting down on the hype around digital. Example one of our Learning Programs, designed as a Boot camp enables anyone to create a Chatbot with no Coding.Our belief is that there is enough to do in Digital without requiring programming skills or other techie skills.

We have seen our School Programs succeed with higher class students learning and creating AI applications in less than 12 hours.

So what could you do as a member of the Education ecosystem – if you were a Principal or an Administrator or a teacher ….

• Understand what Digital means in Education beyond Apps & Toys. You will be surprised to know Digital is already at play in your school – Whatsapp study groups,  projects downloads etc and its growing at an alarming rate. 

• Align with the Digital Curriculum of local governments or bodies as the case may be. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

• Work with Outside Experts like ourselves to sample new education programs. Don’t overspend when you don’t have to.

• Be aware that Digital can automate and transform Tasks, not jobs. Change Management is always key. Once your team is aware of the difference between losing hold over tasks and elevating jobs, you are halfway there.

• Buy Concepts, not products. We constantly see this mistrust with vendors who peddle products with a coating of Digital Transformation.

• Most importantly, Involve the students. For once, become the student and allow the younger generation to guide you on what’s relevant and what they need.

These are some of the guidelines you could follow while planning for the future. This is a fast evolving field with newer entrants called EdTech Startups streaming in. They are already taking in a massive piece of the Education business and are poised to grow even stronger. They are not about to relax anytime soon!

See you on the other side of Digital Transformation !!