As countries strive to attain regional and/or global economic dominance, they have prioritized information and knowledge as indispensable in achieving productivity and competing in every sector. For that reason, their attention has been on higher learning institutions to develop human capital with expertise and hands-on skills that can meet the demands of the current, ever-changing world. For them to realize these expectations, countries advocate for the integration of technology into not only the curricula but also in the mode of teaching and research. For instance, some colleges and universities in the United States and globally complement or use only Google Meet, Impartus, and Zoom to impart education to learners. This article sheds light on how technological tools have transformed the academic sphere.
Thanks to many online innovations geared at helping learners, you can use your mobile phone or laptop to access a single home page and get professional help in any discipline. Such custom materials will help you prepare for classwork presentations, complete technical and non-technical tasks, draw diagrams, or prepare for the exam. Before the advent of the Internet, students spent a lot of their time researching and doing assignments and homework. What further complicated such a process of acquiring education was when the number of books needed by all learners was limited. It means one had to wait or even postpone doing their research. As a consequence, universities and colleges noticed that some students, especially postgraduates, took many years to graduate, contributing to the human resource deficit in important sectors such as medicine, engineering, and ICT. Virtual learning, coupled with other digital tools, solved those problems. For instance, with mobile learning, you don’t need to be in a specific place or postpone a vacation or side hustle that will add experience to your resume or CV after graduation.
Due to rapid technological advancements, international students, especially English as a second language (ESL), take advantage of websites with learning materials to access sufficient educational help. For instance, when a blog is used as a teaching tool, learners could take creative tasks like brainstorming debates and sessions, hypothetical scenarios (appropriate for medical and law students), and analogies. By doing so, learners will develop collaborative, communicative, and creative skills for success in entrepreneurship and the corporate world.
A real-world example where professionals tested the application of blogs in teaching English among ESL learners was at a Brazilian university. In particular, the researchers used this smart technology to provide videos and podcasts to their students. The probable assumption underlying the success of this innovation concerned it allowing every learner to access an unlimited number of practice reading materials and tests before sitting for the exam. Such an approach can apply to any part of the world owing to its success in Brazil. Overall, integrating a technology that allows students to learn continuously has significantly enhanced the acquisition of knowledge and internationalization of universities and colleges.
Using social networking sites in education has simplified consultative steps in schools. Before diving into the positive impact of technology on higher learning, look at the following hypothetical scenario below:
Before the advent of the Internet and related digital tools, how did students seek help outside class? Whereas most would make an appointment to see their lecturers, regardless of the waiting timeline, a few might opt to make a call. In spite of each decision, a professor might prefer to answer everyone’s question in class, and more specifically, he or she might ask a student to respond. So, what can someone learn from this?
Rather than waiting for a professor’s assistance, a student can get help from a peer. But how can someone know who specifically can provide the required help? Thanks to the advent of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram, students can form a group and add their professor. When one of them has an urgent query on an academic matter, he or she can post it. This strategy fosters prompt response, besides assisting everyone to learn something new! Without a doubt, social media expedites the exchange of information between teachers and students and fosters research as one can share a softcopy resource via the avenue.
Even with the celebrated positive impact of technology, the latest innovations, especially open AI for writing assignments, have placed the integrity of education at stake. Many learning institutions without the appropriate detection tools for IA-written texts might churn out half-baked graduates. However, educational stakeholders, specifically academicians, consider open AI for writing assignments a good opportunity to remind students of the importance of in-depth research in advancing knowledge in any field. Specifically, learners should only use available resources on the Internet, whether human- or AI-written, to unveil unconventional ideas. In other words, the focus should be on challenging the existing knowledge of the sources rather than rephrasing them. Regardless of one’s thinking, it’s challenging to completely attribute integrity challenges in education to technology!