#change#technology- the ally of modern education

The world is constantly changing. #change– this is how our times will be marked in the future.

Schools need a change too- we talk about it, write about it, post about it. What do we want to escape from? What do we want to keep up with? Do we actually know what direction should education take? Or are we simply only dreaming about how great it could be?

The school we know has its roots in 19th century. And it is all because of Napoleon. When he won the battle of Jena in 1807, defeating completely the Prussian king, Frederick William III, he became the trigger to set up the new mode of education. How? Well, the defeated Frederick needed to rebuild his position after his downfall. He decided to start with school. This way the state took the complete control over educating its citizens. The general compulsory education was introduced. It was compulsory and centralised: the unitary curriculum, teachers certification, list of books- all of that was to guarantee that those being educated will become submissive and predictable citizens, officials and soldiers. The bell ringing was, like an order, a sign for students to start or finish their classes. They were encouraged to compete with one another, which was supposed to serve as prevention from any revolt cooperation.

This system soon started to spread among Europe and all around the world. Education became the state matter that reflected the current government’s priorities. Although the general compulsory education enabled the children of peasants and labourer (who couldn’t even dream about such a luxury before) to learn, it ultimately became a society control tool.

Unfortunately, the Prussian school hasn’t passed yet. Bells, specified scope of knowledge, all those: “don’t speak up- listen!, “don’t speak- raise your hand first!” It is still our reality.

But here and now we don’t need the army of obedient officials. What the societies need are creative professionals. People won’t spend dozens of years at one workplace any more; instead they will have to adjust to changes of places and forms of their work. The stiff rules and procedures are being replaced by flexibility.

One of the most important catalyzers of change is technology. The technology revolution is still in its “wake up”, however we can already notice to which extent it influences the labour market. Internet, artificial intelligence, robots- all that contributes to the changes we will face.

Not to mention the smartphone revolution– nowadays there are already 20 000 000 smartphones in Nigeria and the number is still growing. Has the school noticed the impact it may bear? Well, we have and we can see a huge opportunity in that. The online teaching tools are available for everyone who possesses a smartphone. Thanks to that, we hope that soon, it could be said at every school that the “Prussian” times are already behind us.

WhyBlueSky also makes its contribution to this school transformation. We provide the unique teacher training program, available online. Thanks to that it can reach every teacher at every school everywhere and, in the end, every child in need of proper education. So, if you want to find out if our program is for you- go here to get free samples of our teaching tools!