John Mason is the Principal of ACS Distance Education. He has been in education since 1979. He started off small with one horticulture, distance learning course, and now offers over 700 courses. John has seen many trends and issues being raised in education. Often met by similar responses. Then the whole cycle repeats itself.
In education, we often see the same issues come around and around and around.
- They are talked about.
- Responses are suggested.
- New plans are drawn up.
- Then something else comes along to replace it and it all starts again.
These responses are shouted out as if they are a revelation, a new thing, but of course, they are not. They are often very similar to things that have happened in the past.
Case Study
The horticulture industry is a prime example.
Students can be put off going into horticulture for a range of reasons, such as –
- Misconceptions about the type of person who studies horticulture.
- Misconceptions about low pay for a hard job
These misconceptions have been part of the reason that there is now a skills shortage in horticulture in many countries of the world.
Organisations are currently trying to find ways to reverse these skills shortages and encourage students to enter horticulture, but many of the ways that are being tried have been tried before.
The Dangers of Sticking to the Obvious or Reinventing the Past
There are dangers in being obvious and reinventing the past .
If something has been tried in the past and it didn’t work, then there is a reason for this –
- It simply may not work.
- It may not work properly.
- It may only work for a short period of time.
- It might work now, but not necessarily in the future.
- It might work, but causes more problems than it solves.
- Old ideas can be good ideas, but not always. Ideas from the past will have been rooted in a different time. There are frequent technological advances, different theories, up to date research and so on, which all have influence on the world today.
- The obvious can sometimes be the right thing to do. It is obvious for a reason. But sometimes the obvious is not the right answer, it just seems like the easiest and quickest thing to do. That does not mean it is a good thing to do.
In education, therefore, it is important not to stick with the obvious or reinvent the past. In education, we need to be more thoughtful and active.
Moving on in Education
Education needs to –
Teach people to think and problem solve not rote learn
In the past, children were often taught to rote learn. Learn the words of a poem or play rather than what the words actually meant. Education needs to encourage people to think and problem solve.
By knowing how to think, we can –
- Gain new knowledge
- Change our attitudes and values, and the attitudes and values of others
- Improve our skills
- Understand the consequences of our behaviour
As we have said, the world is rapidly changing and people need to be able to think and problem solve to be able to prosper in the modern world. Education needs to be part of the process of encouraging people to think and problem solve.
Recognise Neurodiversity
Educators need to recognise that everyone is different. All students are individuals. Neurodiverse students can perceive and understand the world in a different way to neurotypical individuals. To ensure that all students have the best opportunity to learn and develop, educators need to ensure that techniques, methods and theories of educating incorporate neurodiversity.
Up to Date
As we have already said, the world is rapidly changing.
There are –
- New technologies
- New theories
- New research
- New skills required
A course written 20 years ago will most likely be very out of date. A course written a year ago may be out of date, depending on the topic area, so educators need to ensure that they keep up to date on changes in the subject area, and they update courses rapidly. This can be difficult in more traditional educational institutions that stick to accredited courses that do not change rapidly to meet the changing world. This is where distance learning courses can be a real opportunity.
Distance Learning
Think about how education has changed. At one time, education was only for the wealthy. Or only for boys. Or as time moved on, it was mainly in a classroom with a teacher at the front of the class. Education became more sophisticated, but it was often face to face education. In recent years, education has evolved substantially. We now have distance learning, online learning, e-learning and blended learning. All of which enable students to student where they like and usually at a time to suit them. The COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid changes in distance learning as face to face teaching was not available in the same way that it was in the past. Distance learning is therefore a relatively new, fast moving and creative way of delivering education.
Niche and Widespread Requirements
Education is there to educate future generations. Education is there to meet the student’s requirement for an education, but also the requirements of businesses, organisations, society and the planet as a whole.
Education is there to provide knowledge that is useful to everyone – such as language and maths. But for some specialist training is required. For example, a drainage expert will require specific training in drainage. An animal behaviourist will need to specialise in animal behaviour. A botanist will need to know about all forms of plant life.
Lifelong Learning
Education today is not just about teaching children. Education is about teaching people throughout their lives. The world is rapidly changing and what we need to know is also rapidly changing.
Therefore, education needs to change rapidly along with the world . It needs to be more creative to meet changing demands for education, such as –
- Distance learning
- Specialist and widespread training requirements
- Be up to date
- Teach people to think not rote learn
- Recognise neurodiversity
- Teaching people throughout their lifetime, not just when they are children
Education therefore should not reinvent the past, but try to move forwards with new thoughts and new ideas, meeting the needs of the future.
Provide Fresh New Education
If you want to provide fresh, new education to meet the demands of the changing world, why not consider ACS Distance Education –
- Distance Learning Specialist – Established in 1979, we focus on distance education. As a result, we are experts in the field. We have seen what doesn’t work, and we have found what does work and continued to improve and develop our courses and the way we deliver them.
- We offer specialist courses (such as Lavender, Carnivore Zoology) and more widely required courses (such as Effective Communication, Horticulture, Animal Health Care).
- We are adding new courses all of the time. We also regularly review and update our existing courses. We realise the importance of rapid changes to meet the changing requirements of students, so courses can be changed rapidly to include new information, theories, skills etc.
- We teach people to think. We have tasks and assignments that encourage people to digest the information given in the courses, then use that information to improve their own knowledge. We don’t encourage rote learning.