Connected Education on the Rise

The rise of digital integration in classrooms has increased off late.  Students need to be prepared for the growing digital technology in the world of education.  The advent of Massively Online Open Courses (MOOCs) has changed the traditional practice of higher education. These courses have a high enrollment rate and convenient fees which make it highly popular. The concept of connected learning reduces disparities in student achievement and accelerates the learning capacity of students. A tool named ConnectEd, launched in 2010 majorly for the underprivileged schools providing access to engaging digital resources and an opportunity to interact with experts. This initiative paved the way for the use of tablets and iPads in classrooms. Connected education aims to focus on practical and applicable skills rather than following a strict curriculum of traditional subjects. This trend has also prompted the growth of broadband. Local businesses provide Wi-Fi hotspot for students which help them get the complete benefit of their technology tools. The aim of connected education lies in establishing a student-centered ecosystem and making education personalized.

An example of this trend is Minerva Schools in San Francisco that provides complete digital education without the confinement of a classroom. It involves online interaction where student participation is compulsory with the help of software tracks. Instead of following the traditional subjects, connected education offers training in specific skills and turns them into a profession. With increasing digitization, researching and understanding computational behavior will become even more imminent. The demand for software developers, logisticians, ethical hackers, and actuaries will increase.