Digital Transformation in Education: How Schools Are Benefiting
What is Digital Transformation in Education and How is it Benefiting VET Schools?
Digital transformation in education is all about making changes to the way we educate students. This could mean anything from incorporating new technology into the classroom, to changing the way we assess and track student progress. Whatever changes are made, they should aim to improve overall student outcomes.
There are many benefits to digital transformation in education. For one, it helps improve learning outcomes for students. In addition, it makes schools more secure by protecting against cyber threats. And finally, it provides IT support to manage and deliver on the requirements of a digital learning environment.
A digital transformation will look different for every company and for each industry.
However, broadly speaking, it describes the integration of digital technology into each area of the business. It results in core changes to how a business operates and delivers their products or services to customers by taking advantage of the technological advancements.
Within a company itself, it requires a cultural shift in how processes are completed. Employees have to become accustomed to experimenting regularly with their processes and even sometimes fail in their efforts to innovate. Businesses might even find that they must sometimes step away from their old processes, that they knew worked well, in favor of experimenting with innovative solutions that have not had the same extensive testing.
It is only by adopting these best practices and fully integrating the employees into the mindset of digital innovation that brands can remain at the forefront of their industries and continue to serve customers with the care that they have come to expect.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed digital transformation?
When the novel coronavirus struck, it forced societal changes around the globe. Nearly overnight, governments issued orders that limited large gatherings of people, restricted in-person business operations, and encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. In response, businesses and schools alike began to look for ways to continue their operations remotely, thanks to the internet. They turned to various collaboration platforms and video conferencing capacities to remain engaged with their colleagues, clients, and students while working from home offices.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown us how Internet connectivity is crucial to everyday activities such as work, learning and staying in touch with family and friends. Studenst lacking quality and reliable Internet access were disproportionately impacted by global shutdowns, as they were unable to continue their education. Today more than ever, there is a need to strengthen national infrastructure to ensure that connectivity is more widely available. Equally important is the need to strengthen school connectivity plans and to invest in quality learning in order to improve the educational access, learning outcomes and earning potential of young people, as well as the socio-economic development of their communities and countries
Exploring the key changes can help people understand how organizations can embrace their digital transformation and what parts of these changes will likely be here to last.
- Greater investment and prioritization of technology
- Paying attention to employee and customer experiences on technology
- Inspiring a ‘spring-cleaning’ of technology to streamline investments
- Increase in use of automation to improve the customer experience and build contactless services
- Viewing technology as a means to innovate and thrive
- Greater investment in cybersecurity
Recent developments in technology and education
Society and the professional world continue to evolve and change with the growth of technology and the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This, in turn, has had a tremendous impact on the educational sphere, leading to a number of growing trends in the world of education. For educators to properly engage their students, they must remain abreast of these latest changes and key factors that affect learning in the classroom. Their understanding of these trends can help them create more effective learning environments.
As teachers prepare themselves to implement these latest education developments, here are the five most important trends with which they should familiarize themselves.
- Technology in teaching and learning
The growth of technological capabilities means that a variety of media and learning-support tools now exist to help students receive a high-quality education through the Internet.
- Soft skills training
In an effort to prepare students for their future careers, schools must have the training in place to help students nurture and grow in these skill areas.
- Decreasing attention spans
To keep the attention of Millennials, the content presented to them must have excellent visuals and dialogue along with an interesting storyline that will hold their attention. This younger group cares more about the narrative and the visual nature of the content that interests them than other age groups.
- Facilitating learning versus teaching
The best teachers will be those who can help students take ownership of their learning.
- Life-long learning
This offers chances for schools to grow as they create new programs and adult learning opportunities to help their alumni thrive within the changing professional space.
DigiVET project supports this broad objective contributing to VET teachers and trainers professional development by improving their digital competences, in particular their capacity to develop digital learning resources.
You can follow the initiative promoted by DigiVET project on this website or through DigiVET Facebook page.
DigiVET – Creating Digital Content with the Utilisation of Free Online Resources is cofinaced by Erasmus+ programme – KA 2 Strategic partnership for VET Education.
Partners
- Coordinator: CREFOP – Centrul de Resurse pentru Educatie si Formare Profesionala (Romania)
- CSC – CENTRO PER LO SVILUPPO CREATIVO DANILO DOLCI (Italy)
- die Berater – die Berater Unternehmensberatungs GmbH (Austria)
- EUROTraining – Eurotraining Educational Organization (Greece)
- NOVEL – Novel Group (Luxembourg)
- CETRI – Centre for Technology Research and Innovation LTD (Cyprus)
- REPLAY – REPLAY Network (Italy)
For further information visit the website https://digivet-project.eu/, follow us on Facebook