The future of education: Technology in the classroom

May 11, 2014 News

By Rabindra Rooplall
It is clear that the technology landscape continues to evolve and bring new opportunities for schools and educators. With the advent and widespread adoption of tablets, mobile devices, mobile applications and digital content, students will expect more technology in classrooms and more interaction via software and digital content as they learn.
Guyana will be following many countries that have implemented the “smart classrooms”. Neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago for instance will be rolling out a pilot programme in 20 schools this year for the smart school project.
Local Tech giant STARR Computers and a Samsung team have met with President Donald Ramotar who has endorsed the initiative to the fullest and promised to work to set up Guyana’s first Smart School.

A classroom in one of the ‘Smart Schools’

The pilot project will be launched shortly and can take up to 100 days to become operationalised. All installations will be done by Starr Computer and powered by Samsung tablets, smartphones and phablets. Most modern classrooms are now connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi or wireless broadband. The expectation is that today’s students should be prepared not only for success in deploying tomorrow’s technological skills, but for an interactive learning environment.
Samsung said it was piloting Smart Schools in 24 countries. The most advanced projects include schools in its home city of Seoul, South Korea, in Sydney, Australia, and in Memphis, in the United States. (Last year, Samsung USA made a YouTube video about its school.) It has now started a pilot in the United Kingdom.
In its Smart School pilot projects, Samsung has been supplying teachers and some whole classes with their own personal devices.
The Smart Classroom Solution is a complete digital education package consisting of Samsung tablets, a server and software, according to Samsung’s Head of Enterprise Division Marco Osio, while he was in Guyana. As such, using this Android-based system, teachers can watch their students’ screens remotely and lock them if necessary. They can also display students’ screens on an interactive whiteboard.
The Samsung team also noted that given the potential benefits of solutions like the Samsung Smart School solution, educators cannot afford to shy away from these new technologies and their impact on student achievement, classroom management, and overall school performance. Education investments need to focus on tools that provide value by motivating students to be active participants in their own education.
“Education today must include a technology strategy for the classroom and school-wide learning environment. Technology provides the means to help keep students engaged, foster a positive learning experience, provide more personalized attention, improve classroom management, and mitigate the digital divide by providing access to technology at school for those students who may not have access at home.
Educators cannot ignore the potential benefits of tablets and the opportunities afforded by bringing an integrated set of hardware and software solutions in to the classroom,”
Samsung’s Manager, Regional Solutions, Arsenio Ramos Leguizamon said when he was in Guyana recently.
“Education investments in technology will continue to morph from investments to connect and deliver content to tools that actually provide educational value by securely improving student collaboration and motivating students to learn.”
It was underscored that the youths of today are so technologically savvy that statistics show that participatory learning and interactivity in a “Smart Classroom” increased learning retention of materials from interactive teaching.
Indeed, Internet access has substantially changed the nature of education. Classrooms are no longer learning islands; they can be global collaborative learning centres. The growth of Internet access and connectivity in schools, coupled with digital content development and learning management systems, has enabled the start of real-time communications between students, teachers and parents. Online course development and instructional design, learning management systems, interactive multimedia-based learning, individualized self-paced learning, and online communities of excellence afford the opportunity for all schools to access the tools and information needed for effective student learning.
The expectation is that today’s students should be prepared not only for success in deploying tomorrow’s technological skills, but for an interactive learning environment.
According to President of Starr Computers, Michael Mohan, Samsung’s Smart School solution represents an important part of continued effort to deliver the classroom of the future, today and the innovations offer added value by giving instructors the tools they need to engage students, elevate learning and foster a truly interactive classroom learning environment.