The potential of technology-mediated selfdirected learning.

Every student is different, or more specific every student is an individual. It is clearly obvious that they do not learn or think in the same way and the biggest hinder with the current education system is that they are trying to fit all of these students into one box. I do see why this has worked over the past few decades but I think the fact that technology is evolving so quickly in today’s world it has become more of a problem or rather the problem is only now more visible than ever due to all the different types of media.

The education system limits the students’ creativity and the Independent Project breaks this barrier where students get the opportunity to decide which project they want to undertake in a semester for example like building a boat or recording an album. They also have a good supporting system which improves each student’s confidence and gives them a sense of purpose and reason to learn.

I think a lot of people will agree that the current education system is limited. It is not providing to a learners specific needs and aspirations. Maha Bali and Shyam Sharma stated that the complexities and challenges don’t change the fact that though “full inclusion may be an impossible goal; educators can and should strive for genuine attempts toward inclusion”. In my opinion this is the best way to sum it up. It will never be possible to keep everyone happy, but we can at least make a good effort towards this goal. There will always be room for improvement.

The biggest challenge is that we are not starting from a new point since technology has been around for quite a while. The problem is the mind shift that has to be made to adapt to the new era and incorporate technology into the education system to reap the fruits of the many benefits available to us when we use technology as a tool to enhance learning.

The potential in self-directed learning is that it will provide in each student as an individual’s needs. Each student will be able to work on his/her own pace and there will be room for creativity. Students will also not be intimidated by other learners and the idea that maths and science is only for the ‘smarter’ kids will be broken down. It will recognize each learners own intelligence and promote a better learning environment.