SEC-S19W6 | Digital Applications in Learning

^{picture taken from contest post}

How do you see such technological developments affecting the future of education?

Technological developments are going to radically restructure the future of education in a number of ways:

• Personalized Learning: AI and data analytics-driven adaptive learning platforms can offer customized educational experiences to fit the needs of each student. This kind of system will deliver content, pace, and style of pedagogy in line with the learning style and progress of a student for effective learning outcomes.

• Inclusivity and Access: Digital applications can facilitate access to education in all parts of the world, breaking geographical barriers and economic divisions. Through online learning platforms and mobile learning apps, education has been brought to people in areas that lack schools or where the access of children to schools is restricted.

• Collaboration and Communication: Cloud-based tools provide far greater collaboration among students themselves and between the students and teachers, irrespective of where one is physically located. Cloud-based tools like Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack, with the realization of live communication and group work, enhance the establishment of much more collaborative learning environments.

• Lifelong Learning: With the proliferation of digital resources and online courses, it creates the opportunity for any individual to learn throughout their life. Education is thus no longer restricted to the four walls of educational institutes. Now people can develop new skills or knowledge any time they so wish, hence creating a culture for lifelong learning.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Use data analytics to track student performance, predict learning outcomes, and identify areas where interventions are required. This way, one could improve curriculum design, instruction methods, and resource allocation.

• Global Collaboration and Exposure: Digital applications permit students and educators to collaborate across borders, gaining openness to diverse perspectives and global knowledge. In a virtual classroom or projects, students from different cultures come together to form a global community in learning.

In summary, technological innovation develops education that is more: personalized, accessible, engaging, and effective; it develops key future skills like collaboration, digital literacy, and problem-solving.

Can the Steemit platform be used as a learning application? Explain your opinion.

Source

Yes, Steemit can be used as a learning application, but it all depends on how it's applied and adapted for educational purposes. Here is how and why it can turn out useful:

• Knowledge Sharing and Content Creation:
At Steemit users create and share content, often in the form of blogging. In this case, it would provide learners and educators with a space for knowledge, resources, and insights to be shared.

• Fosters Critical Thinking and Writing:
Giving students incentives to create high-quality content, Steemit allows them to develop their writing and critical thinking skills.

• Incentivizes Participation:
What makes Steemit very different is that it pays both the content creator and curator in the form of STEEM. The monetized incentive would attract students to participate actively in the learning community, engage with educational content, and collaborate with others.

• Decentralization and Ownership:
Unlike traditional learning management systems, Steemit runs on a decentralized blockchain. Students and educators have more control over their content without being overly reliant on a single platform.

• Self-Directed Learning:
Steemit can encourage self-directed learning, whereby students research on their own those topics that interest them, and contribute their findings.

Steemit can be used as a learning application due to content creation, community engagement, and reward systems that facilitate knowledge sharing, critical thinking, and peer learning. It would not replace a Learning Management System, which is structured for educational tools. To be really effective, Steemit in education would require supplementation by educators in guiding it properly to allow good quality learning and content.

Do you think the use of digital applications can replace face-to-face learning completely?

Source

While digital applications have changed education and created entirely new learning opportunities, they will most likely not replace face-to-face learning. Here is why:

• Human Interactions and Social Learning:
Face-to-face learning provides interaction that is hard to find or replicate with digital solutions. Learning in the physical presence of others enables socialization, collaboration, and emotional engagement, which are fundamental in learning various forms of communication, teamwork, and empathy. Active learning and hands-on experience
Specific study fields, such as laboratory sciences, performing arts, or vocational training, naturally demand practice that lies better with the physical environment. To some extent, their imitation by digital applications is feasible, though the feel and immersive characteristics cannot be replicated by real-world learning experiences.

• Teacher-Student Relationship:
Better student-teacher relationships are very important for motivation, mentorship, and personalized advice. The benefits of face-to-face learning cannot be paralleled; what a teacher is able to provide in a face-to-face setting is mentorship, real-time feedback, and encouragement.

• Cognitive and Emotional Development:
Face-to-face learning usually plays a pivotal role in the cognitive and emotional development of children, especially in younger classes. Schools offer a setting within which children can develop social skills, emotional intelligence, and relationship skills—quite necessary in life and often impossible to create through online means.

• Motivation and Engagement:
The structure provided by physical classrooms often serve as a source of discipline and motivation for the learners involved. The online environment can make students with greater needs or with weaker self-regulation skills feel isolated or disengaged and facilitate procrastination.

• Equity and Accessibility:
Not all students have equal access to digital devices, constant internet connectivity, or even conducive learning environment at home. Face-to-face learning can help bridge this digital divide by making facilities and support available to students that may not be easily adaptable in a remote learning scenario.

Digital applications deliver huge benefits, and these will promote flexibility, access, and new forms of interaction that cannot be achieved through traditional learning. However, face-to-face learning is unlikely ever to be replaced by digital applications, simply because the experiences, the physicality, and the people encounters—the actual mentorship at some times—go beyond any form of real replacement. The middle path, a mode of integrating digital tools into face-to-face learning, is likely to be the most effective way.

I have tried to give answers of all questions and now i want to invite @sualeha, @dove11 and @artist1111 for the contest. Thanks for giving time to my post.

@suboohi