OU researchers have come up with their top 10 predictions of innovations which they believe will transform post-school education within the next five years.
The researchers claim that if education providers and policy makers take these predictions on board, they will make better informed decisions about curriculum design.
The Open University’s top 10 predictions is published today (23 July 2012) in a report, Innovating Pedagogy 2012, the first in a series of reports that explore the future of education in an interactive world and draws on the university’s position as a global leader in research and innovation.
Topping the list for immediate impact is the use of eBooks for social learning. The researchers claim that as eBook technologies evolve, they will offer new ways of interacting with massively shared, adaptive and dynamic books and be in wide circulation within two years.
The researchers also suggest that the concept of publisher-led short courses either in affiliation with recognised educational providers or independently, will become a reality within the next two years.
- Within the next five years, they also expect to see the emergence of some of the following developments:
- Computer-based assessment that supports the learning process through diagnostic feedback
- Badges to accredit non-formal learning along the lines of a Scout badge
- MOOCs - Massive open online courses which are attempts to create open-access online courses that provide no constraints on class size; some have already engaged over 100,000 participants
The report was written by researchers in the University's Institute of Education Technology and the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology.
"We now have the technology to provide powerful, affordable tools for learning, but there are still impediments which relate to the pedagogy – which is the theory and practice of teaching, learning and assessment,” said Mike Sharples, Professor of Educational Technology and lead author of the report.
“In this first in a series of annual briefings, we explore current and emerging innovations in education and guide teachers and policy makers in making informed decisions about curriculum design, course development and teaching strategies.”
A PDF of the report is available here.
