5.2Future of Education

Widespread lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted both the potential advantages and shortcomings of distance and hybrid models of education. The existing technologies cannot adequately substitute for in-person learning, particularly when availability is a factor: data from UNICEF found that the proportion of 10-year-olds in low- and middle- income countries who are unable to read has risen to 70 per cent — up from 53 per cent pre-pandemic — largely because of school closures. The picture in rich countries, while more nuanced, also suggests that remote learning technologies are not yet the equal of conventional in-person tuition.

While hastily assembled remote-learning solutions may not have proven satisfactory during the pandemic, this has spurred considerable innovation in the field. For example, positioning data has been used to understand how a teacher’s use of space contributes to learning. Other research shows how machine learning can classify student postures from video feeds to assess engagement and attention. Ultimately these insights could be used, along with computer vision, to create a “digital twin” of the classroom that captures the gaze pattern of all occupants, although these approaches bring significant privacy concerns.

New technologies also bring the prospect of new teaching methods. Teachers in Hong Kong have adapted to use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous digital technologies to optimally support student learning, for example, while a new theoretical framework highlights how hybrid learning can be used to facilitate better lifelong learning. There is a wave of research aiming to apply findings from neuroscience to online teaching, which has helped to understand how to make learning stick, help non-traditional learners and improve wellbeing and performance under stressful conditions.

Technology can also be used to assess and foster educational progress. A recent review article identified key challenges and opportunities for policymakers seeking to implement learning analytics, as well current research gaps. The technology could prove particularly helpful in aiding collaborative learning. Artificial intelligence could also prove a powerful tool for improving testing in schools, according to a recent report from The Center for American Progress.