2025 has offered vast challenges to the field of education, most of which revolve around the role of technology and Artificial Intelligence.
While markets discuss the possibility of a potential crash of the AI industry, education is having to face short and-long term consequences of these developments which are rapidly changing the nature of our classrooms.
To begin with, what kind of learning is suitable for a shifting world is becoming an important question. If content and information are easily available at the palm of one’s hand through digital devices, what exactly needs to be taught?
Traditionally, education meant sharing information by more informed and experienced adults. Today, all that has changed with a levelling of the information gap.
Nor do the traditional, time-tested methods of memorisation and testing content through quizzes achieve much. Students, particularly those in secondary and tertiary levels, wonder what exactly is being tested and why.
Other challenges in education today include teachers vying for attention from a cohort known to have a shorter attention span, triggered by multiple stimuli. In such a scenario, dry information load is unlikely to spur interest, or inspire a passion.
But all this is not necessarily bad news. In fact, if anything, it offers new challenges and opportunities to re-conceptualise education in innovative frameworks.
The current shift from knowledge sharing to capacity building is critical. Education today needs to be seen as a way to cultivate the abilities needed to navigate, interpret and apply information which is easily accessible. What must be taught extends far beyond facts. It focuses on what to do with these facts.
Institutions must be able to balance efficient use of technology with the kind of human factors which will remain useful. These include human judgement, empathy, and creativity. These are not skills that automation can take over.
Education systems today must also confront the difficulty of keeping curricula relevant in a world where industries transform rapidly. Digital literacy is important, but so are skills like problem solving, collaboration and adaptability. Such soft skills are basically transferable and ready for any future scenario.
Many of the challenges facing education today are intertwined with making learning relevant to learners. This requires having extended conversations with youngsters on the importance of education that goes beyond rote learning.
In a world where none of the learning outcomes of a classroom appear to have real-world applications, market ready skills need to be integrated with long-term, adaptable learning.
In light of such rapid changes, educational institutions must also focus on social and emotional development. The lack of such skills is leading to large scale mental health issues where individuals find themselves socially isolated. The continuing effects of global disruptions have increased social pressure and economic uncertainty, contributing to rising anxiety among young people. This is being seen as a rising epidemic by social scientists and education needs to cater to such challenges.
As like much else in today’s world, education is at a crossroads. This can be a challenge, but also an opportunity to offer youngsters the capacity to face their future with confidence.
SANDHYA RAO MEHTA
The writer is an Associate Professor, Sultan Qaboos University
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
