‘No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future.’
We are at work, and I can hear the echo of Obama’s inaugural address from three different rooms in the Lyve Media Studio. Early in the speech, Obama says, ‘No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future.’
For the past seven years, the Lyve Team has produced thousands of science teacher training videos and websites. In doing so, we have had the honor of working with some of the greatest minds in education – people who have dedicated their entire lives to making science understandable, accessible and engaging.
We stay abreast of both national and local curriculum standards to help us make sound technical recommendations to our clients. So while we are neither policy makers nor curriculum providers, we have a unique and vested interest in the future of education and the role technology will play in the future.
Of course, there are infinite ways technology could positively impact the educational landscape, but these are some of the trends we are most excited about contributing to, today and tomorrow:
1. Greater Accessibility to Information: The Internet, simply put, democratizes education and the population at large. Learners are no longer bound by access to knowledge and its delivery, but rather will be led by their imaginations and confidence. The geniuses of tomorrow could come from anywhere, any socioeconomic background, and from untraditional learning paths. This will result in exciting new discoveries and unique contributions to society.
2. Increased Collaboration: Teachers and students can share online experiments, formulas, information and ideas, regardless of geographic, economic or cultural differences. With the enormous amount of information available to the average learner of today, it becomes increasingly important to tap into the ‘wisdom of crowds,’ such as forums and message boards, to help gather and possibly verify this information.
3. Customizable Curriculum: We all learn differently – at different speeds and using a different amalgam of our senses. Technology and the choices it affords, including learning through multimedia such as audio and video, allows the learner of today and tomorrow to tailor a curriculum to suit how she learns best. Online and on-demand learning systems puts the power into the learners’ hands to learn when and how they want to. Lectures on video can be paused and played back. 3D animation can clearly illustrate the hard to grasp concepts invisible to the naked eye. And finally, interactive on-demand assessments can aid the modern learner in ways traditional testing has fallen short. The learner of tomorrow will be the driver, not a passenger.
4. Empowered Learners: The great teachers of tomorrow will embrace that the ‘how’ of gaining knowledge is as valuable as retaining facts and figures. With the extraordinary and flexible tools technology affords us, these teachers will act as facilitators and empower learners to take educational adventures of their own design.
5. Interdisciplinary Approach: Technology affords cross-discipline research as never before. Companies such as 23andMe, have leveraged social networking and data collecting to discover unprecedented genetic breakthroughs. Because information is becoming so much more accessible, students will have access to exciting intersection of fields – They will study psychology and computer science, mathematical representations of common art subjects, and the role of narratives and storytelling in science. These crossroads will offer enormous joy and opportunity for the learner, and lead to exciting new discoveries and a deeper understanding of this interconnected world we live in.
We, at Lyve Media, are thrilled to support these trends and others, and are grateful that our president is noting and encouraging the work to which we dedicate much of our time and energy.
Cheers to the publishers, non-profits, startups and government agencies that also promote the exciting opportunities technology will provide to the learners of the future. Let’s collaborate!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Devaney
CEO, Lyve Media
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