As globalization continues to bring the world closer, the next 10 years in education will see a decline in the centralization of educational institutions. In essence, it is expected that as classrooms become more digital, students will be more free to collaborate with their peers from different cities, provinces, countries, and even continents. It is argued that decentralized education is more efficient than traditional methods because such pitfalls as administrative "red tape", financial concerns, and often times, poor overall quality, can be avoided.
By 2020, it is expected that a large portion of Western schooling will be available digitally, however, many countries are already experimenting with new forms of decentralized learning. For example, in certain parts of El Salvador, the increased participation of parents and communities has resulted in lower rates of student absenteeism in community-managed schools.
In New Zealand, a country that decentralized their educational system more than 20 years ago, the onus is on schools to compete for student attendance and provide quality programs, independently. The result has been New Zealand being a high achieving country academically, ranking 13th in the world in terms of average IQ, 12 places higher than Canada. The main objection to this style of education is that there can be an inequity of educational outcomes based on social status, although it can be assumed that over the next 10 years, with the incorporation of social media and technologies into the classroom, these problems will dissolve.
The use of social media will play an increasingly larger role in the future of decentralized education, as my previous entry about MOOCs has shown. With the ability to study at home, the need for a physical building becomes more and more unnecessary, and by 2020, traditional schooling systems may prove to be outdated and illogical options, both in price and quality. Already, there are concerns about a necessary overhaul for modern universities and colleges, as trends suggest that the needs of students are changing.
For a brief summary of decentralization as it relates to education, with modern examples, this article will reinforce the main points of this post.
Great post, Curtis. It's interesting that after the next 10 years, social media will help problems like inequity in education outcomes will dissolve. The power of social media is so great, isn't it?! :)
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting link that mentions the school finances in decentralized education systems. I'm sure by using social media, it'll drop drastically!