Research by the World Economic Forum estimates that 65% of children entering primary school will find themselves in occupations that today do not exist. We must admit, the world has shrunken considerably, thanks to technology. More practically, technology has been shown to scale and sustain instructional practices by educators worldwide. But the debate – are we there yet?
We as educators, understand the importance of “in-demand skills of future” like confidence, ethical aptitude, critical thinking to name a few; these are not only imperative for the future but also are of increasing importance in the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment we are in now!
Learning is a perpetual and ongoing process. Some of the skills we’ve talked about are ingrained, but often, the skills and traits needed to succeed can be learnt and mastered by practice. That’s exactly what we at Prometheus focus on – “Shaping holistic citizens both digitally and otherwise”. Specifically talking about the digital space, we encourage our students to concentrate on the journey more than the goal as the mantra for success. Digital fluency at Prometheus enables the understanding to leverage technology and create new knowledge, challenges, and problems and to complement these with critical thinking, complex problem solving, and social intelligence.
How is Digital Fluency different from Digital Literacy?
American Library Association describes Digital Literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” It can be postulated that digital literacy is an understanding of how to use the tools; digital fluency is the ability to create something new with those tools. Digital fluency can be viewed as an evolving collection of fluencies including, but not limited to, curiosity fluency, communication fluency, creation fluency, data fluency, and innovation fluency. Prometheus School distinctively aims at developing both literacy and fluency amongst our learners.
Online learning opportunities and the use of open educational resources and other technologies can increase educational productivity by accelerating the rate of learning, reducing costs associated with instructional materials or programme delivery, and better-utilizing teacher time. Many educators swear by blended learning models which incorporates both face-to-face and online learning opportunities. E-books, digital portfolios, learning games, virtual labs, programming & coding and real-time feedback on teacher and student performance, are a few ways that technology can be utilized to power learning.
Technology, used well, can drive equity in learning opportunities. Intentional, thoughtful inclusion of technology in public learning environments can ensure all students, regardless of their ethnicity, socio-economic status, language status, special education status, or other characteristics, have the opportunity to experience learning and develop skills that allow them to fully realize their potential.