Goals and the future of education

Future of education needs to be guided by goals and objectives that align advances in technology with the unique and varied needs of students. By doing this, each student will have the opportunity to make the most of their unique talents and abilities. When technologies are selectively applied to learning strategies, students have the potential to find their innate talents faster than if they had gone through a more manually-based learning process (Papadopoulos, Demetriadis, Stamelos, Tsoukalas, 2010). The most important goals in the education field need to center on how to selectively use technologies to give students and opportunity to make the most of their talents. By doing this, learning institutions across the spectrum of ages and grades can over time cultivate and grow expert learners (Rahman, Mahmud, Yassin, Amir, Ilias, 2010).

Real-Time Learning Support and Scaffolding

The goal of selectively using technologies to bolster and strengthen learning effectiveness needs to have students in the center. The role of teaching needs to become that of coach and mentor rather than just a lecturer or deliverer of content. When students are put at the center of technology use, and each components or system of technology is aligned to their individual skill sets, scaffolding strategies can be achieved (Lutz, Guthrie, Davis, 2006). Scaffolding is the development of individualized learning programs depending on each student's level of knowledge, skill set, and innate abilities in different subject areas. A primary goal for the future of education is the development of individualized scaffolding strategies based on student's innate strengths and weaknesses, supported and augmented by technology.

This is a critically important primary goal for the future of education as it places the student and their innate strengths and weaknesses at the center of all technology enablement and process changes. Using scaffolding to create more effective learning strategies on an individual level will also increase the likelihood of a student finding their innate, stronger abilities earlier in their academic lives (Lutz, Guthrie, Davis, 2006). This translates into a major source of confidence and sense of mastery in students, which can fuel future learning growth and has been shown to contribute to students becoming expert learners (Rahman, Mahmud, Yassin, Amir, Ilias, 2010)

Interactive Learning and Web 2.0 Technologies

Creating effective scaffolding and individualizing learning strategies needs to take advantage of the growth of interactive and collaboratively-based platforms. The greatest catalyst of growth of these platforms is social networking. The role of social networks in creating more collaborative and open communication has been shown in a multitude of case studies (Bernoff, Li, 2008). The challenge for the future of education is to use the full range of Web 2.0 technologies (O'Reilly, 2006) and create effective and customizable learning platforms that support individualized learning needs. For an overview of the Web 2.0 ecosystem, please see Appendix A. Social networks and Web 2.0 technologies will be the underlying scaffolding that provides students with the opportunity to get individualized instruction. These technologies will also free up teachers to focus on the most in-need students and keep the most talented of their courses challenged. In this way, each student will have the chance to make the most of their educational opportunities. Hopefully, the majority will emerge with a strong sense of accomplishment from the learning experience.

Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose

The final aspect of the future goals of education needs to center on creating autonomy of tasks, mastery of specific subjects and skills, and a strong purpose to continue learning (Stern, 2010). Ultimately, all of these technologies and tools will be effective if they accomplish this goal.