Bold Future of Education Scholarship

The thing that saved my education was being able to create and follow my own syllabus. As a neurodivergent person, I do best when I can follow whatever interests me, however wide or narrow that net of curiosity might be. Being able to lean in and focus on these interests, apply them to my life, and investigate why it is important to me- was my real education. An educational pattern of behavior that would continue throughout my life. Not simple rote facts to regurgitate on cue, but an exploration for me to turn over in my hands. To ask questions and be challenged to think outside the box. In my mind, the goal of education is to empower students to become empowered adults who have the time, space, and energy to engage with the world and the wider communities. When students can create, or at least co-create, the structures of their education as soon as possible within their schooling career, the learning is an opening experience. Being responsible for their education in this way better prepares them to engage within their wider communities, find and follow their passions, and be more curious and open with the world. These are qualities that will enable our communities to find the justice and healing we so desperately need. Another aspect of this change is that standardized education doesn't meet the needs of all students. Standardization is a very narrow field that often destroys nuance and fabricates a story that divides us. This story is one of how 'normal' people learn and behave with knowledge and how 'other' people learn and behave, with a focus on 'normal' people. This is ableist and out-of-date thinking. When students have a hand in their learning, the education structure around them shifts to meet their needs. This is a good thing. This education system would need to be personalizable, able to shapeshift, and able to support teachers better than the paltry support nowadays. This is the education that would carry us into a better, more nuanced future.

From blackboards to whiteboards to smartboards, classroom education has experienced the rapid adoption of technology. During the Covid-19 pandemic, most learning across the U.S. went completely virtual, further emphasizing the importance of digital technology in education. VR and AR technologies, collectively named “XR” technology, have risen as new educational tools that allow students to travel the world—all while sitting at their desks. Using XR technology, schools could provide students with lab experiments that are too dangerous for the classroom, immerse students in affordable virtual field trips, and give students supplemental options for visual learning. Schools could provide students with XR labs that pose too much risk to be conducted physically. Some experiments are too complex or present significant danger to students, rendering them impossible to be completed in the classroom. For example, a chemistry experiment involving radioactive substances may not be a viable option for students. If schools risk performing dangerous labs in the physical classroom for higher-level classes, the consequences could be disastrous. For instance, in 2008, a technician at UCLA suffered from third-degree burns after an accident involving t-butyl lithium. By using XR technology to simulate labs, schools could minimize lab risk and provide adequate lab experiments to higher-level students without worrying about physical dangers. XR technology could also provide students with immersive experiences that are too expensive for the classroom. Many educational field trips are either too expensive or far away. For example, physics students would benefit from exploring the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator. However, LHC is located in Switzerland. Companies like Google are already working to provide schools with cheap XR technology that simulate different locations. On top of their cheap price, XR headsets are reusable. By using XR technology like Google Expeditions to simulate field trips from the classroom, schools would make immersive field trips more accessible and cheaper. On the student level, schools could supply XR technology to each class as a supplemental option for visual learners. Current learning is biased towards those who can best retain facts when overloaded with information. Many students, including me, find themselves stuck in a static, lecture-based learning environment. As a visual learner, I retain information much more effectively with hands-on experiences such as maker space labs or chemistry flame experiments, which XR technology can simulate. XR technology solves this issue by catering to students with different learning styles. For example, PraxiLabs designs activities that suit multiple learning styles and provides students with study aids. By providing students with an optional XR supplement in each class, schools would help all students learn more equally and effectively. Schools could utilize XR technology to let students conduct dangerous lab experiments, go on virtual field trips, learn practical skills through immersive experiences, and use an effective learning supplement for visual learning. The classroom relies on the adoption of digital technology to function and evolve. The adoption of XR technology at schools will provide students with a more hands-on and effective learning experience than ever before.