Smart learning

YOU CAN interpret it any way you like, but the bottom line in learning is for the graduate to be able to get a job or to run a business or even do both.

Needless to say, being able to practice a profession is also a form of being in business. You can call it any way you like, but the entire process of learning should be considered as a preparation for being a good employee or a good businessman or both.

On the side of employment, one of the biggest issues is the so-called mismatch, a phenomenon that I yet have to fathom. Roughly said, the government says that there are many jobs that are open, but those who are applying for these jobs do not have the qualifications that would match the needs of the employers.

Depending on how you would look at it, the so-called mismatch could either be looked at as an indictment of the entire educational system, or it could be seen as a general statement that many of the graduates are simply incapable of learning and that is why they were unable to acquire the skill sets that are needed by the employers.

Between these two sides, I would tend to side with the students because I believe that under the right conditions, they would be capable of learning the skills that are needed to make them employable. Having said that, I would still say that the entire educational system is the one to blame and instead, I will just say that it is time for the system to invent itself.

The mantra that public education could not be improved because the system lacks classrooms, teachers and books almost sounds the same as the mantra that rice production could not be improved because of the lack of irrigation, farm to market roads and postharvest facilities.

Obviously, teachers will never become obsolete, but their roles and methods may have to change. Classrooms may still be needed, but maybe not as much and not too many. It is safer to say that books would still be needed, but would either be in paper form or electronic form or both.

Going back to the rice production analogy, irrigation would still be needed, but not in the form of paddies that we see now. Roads would still be needed, but the local people may develop the political will to build them, instead of relying on the central government. Postharvest facilities? These will become smaller and more affordable.

In theory, all learning could now be done online, except that the students would supposedly lose the so-called “classroom experience” or “campus experience”. Even if all learning could now be done online, it may still be better to have some onsite components, even if these are done only at the end of each semester or year. This is already a popular practice in some countries, and we should really look into this hybrid approach sooner or later.

From an economic standpoint, there is a big potential in offering online courses to foreign students, but on top of that, more money could be made by requiring them to come and visit for their hands-on modules. That way, we could earn more revenues from “educational tourism.”

Aside from learning how to become good employees and good businessmen, all students also have to learn how to become good citizens. It seems that the entire educational system is lacking in this regard, because we could observe the negative effects of this vacuum all over us. To name a few examples, good citizenship learning should include taxpayer education, voter education, driver education and environmental education.

As a matter of fact, good citizenship learning should be considered as part of continuing education, because everyone should continue to behave as good citizens for as long as they are residents of this country. We all talk about good governance, but the other side of good governance should be good citizenship.

For all intents and purposes, students could now read or view lessons on their smartphones no matter where they are, and they may never ever meet the teachers at the other end. What that means is that there may no longer be a need for “classrooms” (not always) because they could learn from everywhere, no matter where they are.

What that also means is that their smartphones could now function as their “books” and they may never ever need paper to complete their learning. One advantage of online learning is that the students need not be bound by “time” and “space”. In other words, the students could take their time in learning at their own pace, and they need not be limited by the space inside the classroom.

There was a time when it was not even possible to put a computer in every classroom. Fast forward to the present times, it is now possible to provide for several smartphones in every classroom, for the use of those who do not have their own devices.

I know for a fact that physical books would still be needed one way or the other, but the demand for these books will surely decline in which case the budgets for these could be shifted to the smartphones. In this overall equation, content would still be king, and that includes the knowledge that will be personally imparted by the teachers inside the classrooms. In due time however, the roles of teachers could shift towards becoming tutors or proctors./PN