Leg 9. From Newport to Cardiff (VI). The impact of Digital Technologies in Education.
Good night!
Let´s face it. We are using digital technologies now. For every university student, a laptop is a basic requirement needed to study. The same applies to K-12 students. Moreover, the use of a mobile is expanded everywhere, and primary students are exposed to smartphones because their parents have one, or at least one relative has one.
The 2018 last reports about digital from We Are Social and HootSuite have revealed to us that there are now more than 4 billion people around the world using the internet. Some of the highlights of the internet, mobile usage, and social media have been prepared for us in this link: Global Digital Report 2018.
What to do with this reality? How is this really affecting all the areas of our life, including education? Let´s see some of our thoughts about this by following the next slides, please. Read them, please.
If you wish to download them in PDF version, click here: Eliescalante Leg 9 Impact of Digital Technologies on Education.
We have one of the biggest challenges ahead. Our future will require a different education model. We have discussed this in past legs. But what makes the center of attention for today´s publication is the importance of creating a holistic model of education, when it comes to the usage of digital technologies.
This is the slide that we would like you to observe in detail:
The direct participants of education are teachers, students, parents and administrators of the school. Outside this inner circle are the society participants, workforce, and specialists of diverse fields. Who has to decide which is the best educational model for the future? A supreme global education authority? Or each local country has to decide for its citizens?
Who, what, why and how can we decide about the education model in relation to digital technologies in the classroom? Which is the best educational model benchmark? The advanced societies which have adopted digital technologies fully? Or the slowest underdeveloped societies, which are way behind in terms of digital technologies adoption? Or let´s think in a third choice: can we think about a balanced educational model kind of DIGICAL education (digital and physical)?
With the incredible amount of information and data available for free at the Internet, and the emergence of open education sites, particularly MOOC platforms such as EDX, iTunes U Free Courses, Coursera, Coursehero, Udemy, Khan Academy, and several other university initiatives such as Stanford Online, Harvard Extension, Open Yale Courses, UC Berkeley Class Central, MIT Open Course Ware, Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Academy, TED-Ed, etc… Can we ask ourselves: what is the purpose of education in the traditional model, in the traditional campus, if there are so many free courses available over the Internet, as the latter mentioned?
The next affirmation is just in relation to educational model using digital technologies… (today we are not talking about the transformation of the content of courses), but only about digital technologies: I wouldn´t disrupt or transform the education model, at the places where I studied. Please be aware of the context in which we studied. We studied with smartboards, laptops, powerpoint presentations and chalkboards, and in that context, I wouldn´t change my passage of life at LBS, Cornell, or Pontificia Universidad Catolica De Chile. Why?
Because personal interaction with your peers and professors can´t be replaced. Of course, my opinion is limited to my Master degree education in this answer. When studying the MBA, the purpose of our classes was to debate in real life what we studied previously to the class. We had to study previous to the class. We arrived at school ready to discuss and engage with our classmates and professors. In addition, I treasure still to this day, our social interactions outside the classroom:
A debating MBA class at London Business School (Source: Accenture)
We had a lot of fun, meeting and greeting each other during social events such as Sundowners (London Business School), birthday celebrations, potluck dinners, travelings, and parties. The best learning experience we had was the people (from everywhere in the world) that we met day by day during our post-graduate studies. The smiles, the laughing, the conversations, the dinners, the sports competitions (rugby, dancing, ice-hockey, bowling, hiking, climbing, and other fitness activities). I wouldn´t change my trips to the library, because this experience was more than just to grab my books and reading materials to study but to meet and greet lovely people who were acquaintances or friends.
A typical classroom at Cornell SC College of Business (Sage Hall). Source: https://twitter.com/cornellmba_adm
We wouldn´t change that amazing personal social experience for a social media messaging system or long distance education using the internet when learning. Of course, we can continue to improve teaching and social interacting tools with the usage of “some” digital technologies which have proven to be beneficial during the last 10 years. But not at expenses of the social interaction. It is ethical to interact with people when learning. It has to be as such. And, I am sure all my classmates will agree with me. I enjoyed my time studying in foreign lands. I still treasure each and all of the classmates I met. That was the purpose of that academic journey. People matters, always!
This is all for today. We think we don´t have anything else to share.
Blessings, and see you tomorrow. With the summary and conclusions.
Thank you!. 
Disclaimer: All the presentation slides shown on this blog are prepared by Eleonora Escalante MBA-MEng. Nevertheless, all the pictures or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
Eleonora Escalante Strategy 