85% of the jobs that will be in 2030 have not yet been invented. Technology is creating opportunities in sectors that we are beginning to explore. Children dream of being hackers legal, dream designers or translators of animal language. And they will probably be able to fulfill their dreams. This is the conclusion reached by a study by Samsung and the IPSOS research institute. In the survey, in which students between 15 and 18 years old participated, these three professions are highlighted as the favorites. But other less realistic ones are also mentioned such as farmer on Mars, artificial intelligence psychologist or artistic painter with drones (choosing the latter as the most realistic of the three).
The children of before dreamed of being astronauts, those of now combine the space suit with the planting of potatoes. Beyond the futuristic curiosities, the survey reveals an important piece of information: nine out of ten students believe that they will have jobs that are very different from those of their parents. The professions of the future will be technological. Is today’s school using technology to prepare its students?
85% of the jobs that will be in 2030 have not yet been invented: children dream of being legal ‘hackers’, dream designers or translators of animal language
From overnight the blackboards were exchanged for screens and the classes moved to the virtual environment. Confinement transformed the relationship of the education system with technology. It bridged the digital divide while pointing out the bleeding of its existence and forced students and teachers to become familiar with the technology. It stopped being a futuristic rarity to become an essential and everyday tool. Today the classrooms are back to normal, but teachers and students have learned a lesson well.
This is how the use of devices in classrooms advances
“Despite the unexpected, the change caught us quite well,” says Federico Brazzi, a mathematics professor at the International College of Spain, a private school in Madrid. “We were already used to using technology as a learning tool. We used tablets that we projected as a blackboard, access on-line to books… ”. Perhaps, Brazzi explains, the challenge was more mental than logistical, related to learning to introduce these tools into the routine.
Today he uses them with the same ease as chalk. “We keep recording the classes if necessary and the children can watch them again, or connect live if they are confined,” explains the teacher. “We have also added multimedia elements to support us, we have integrated technology 100% in our classes, in the form of video, podcast …”.
The use of these tools is not limited to private schools, although it is in these where their use is more standardized. According to a study carried out by Samsung and the IPSOS research institute, 54% of students in public schools use the computer in their classes, compared to 63% in private schools. The difference remains with respect to tablets, with a presence of 15% of the public student body and 33% of the private one.
A project that improves key competencies for the 21st century
To reduce this gap, initiatives such as the program Samsung Smart School, to which more than 4,000 students and 700 teachers from public schools throughout Spain have had access. The program “seeks to produce a methodological change in teaching and prepare students for a more technological future,” explains Elena Diaz-Alejo, Samsung manager in charge of education projects. This initiative is part of a collaboration agreement signed with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in 2014 and all the autonomous communities in addition to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The idea, Diaz-Alejo abounds, was “to carry out a great experimental pilot to introduce technology in public schools in rural areas with high dropout rates or digital divide, to promote student learning.”
She makes a very positive balance. An evaluation that does not start from subjective evaluations, but from the follow-up and research to which the project has been subjected during these years. “We have measured the impact that the introduction of technology had on education. And so, we have seen how key competencies are improved for the 21st century, “he says. Thus, the digital competence of the students increased by 18%, the competence of learning to learn, by 12%, and the competence in linguistic communication increased by 11%.
The program seeks to produce a methodological change in teaching and prepare students for a more technological future
Elena Diaz-Alejo, Samsung manager in charge of education projects
Diaz-Alejo explains that, for projects like this to work, technology must be conceived not so much as an end, but as a tool. A maxim that summarizes with an example: “You do not have to change the book for PDF to continue doing the same.” It also points out the importance of teaching not only students but also teachers. In these cases, prior training is essential.
Professor Brazzi agrees on the importance of training in a field, technology, in which the student often surpasses the teacher. “It is striking not only that they handle technology well, but that they learn very quickly. They use the tablet with the same ease with which we can use a book ”.
In this context, there is concern about the use that minors may make of this tool. Technology is a window to education, but also to leisure and risks of the internet. You can ration the time your child spends on the mobile, but when he uses the tablet to study you need time, privacy and tranquility. It is much more difficult to control. That is why different applications and technologies arise to guarantee the safety of the little ones in the online environment. For example, the application Samsung Kids it is present in the first steps of children in the digital world. It serves to help them develop good digital habits. Set limits on play and study time and grant access only to specific contacts and apps.
Security is further increased with Knox, Samsung’s mobile security platform. It’s built into your latest devices. Each Knox device is built from the hardware chip to isolate, encrypt, and secure data, including confidential files, credit card transactions, passwords, and status data. This can be important in a work context, but it is also crucial in an academic one, especially when you want to protect the little ones.
Control is fine, but you shouldn’t see technology as just a risky place. But of opportunities. This is what Professor Brazzi believes, who in recent months has gone to different platforms to gamify and energize classes. “It is a way of involving them in learning,” he says. “If you see a lot of Tik Tok you can look for tiktokers that spread knowledge. You have to take advantage of it to turn the learning experience into an entertaining experience ”.
How video games can become an ally
That is what Possible Labs has been doing for seven years, a company that creates tools for the use of technologies in the school environment. “We have bet on video games as a learning tool to achieve commitment and social transformation,” says Alba Rodriguez, its director of educational innovation. Your bets to date include BetterWorld, a video game based on the 2030 Agenda to get new generations to get involved in social activism on issues such as ecology, equality or access to education and decent work. OR Planet Recuers, on sustainability and responsible consumption. Perhaps the one that has made the most noise is Minecraft, Education Edition.
This adaptation of the famous construction game is aimed at children and adolescents and, through it, they can learn concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in a playful way. Rodriguez believes that video games are a powerful tool. “Not good or bad in itself”, he points out, since the key is in how they are used. “Playing video games brings benefits: they help improve memory, teamwork, decision-making and planning; by proposing problems and confronting them, it stimulates the imagination, allows socialization, develops cognitive abilities and develops mathematical abilities ”, points out the expert.
We have bet on video games as a learning tool to achieve commitment and social transformation
Alba Rodriguez, director of innovation at Possible Labs
The professions of the future (and those of the present) are related to the world of technology. The world that trains the professionals of the future should not be oblivious to this reality. And it should integrate technology into classrooms from the earliest stages of education. “The vocation for technology cannot arise in a forced way in the last levels of compulsory education, when the student questions what to study,” agrees Diaz-Alejo. The expert points out how to look for models to improve education through technology. “With this concern we have to reflect on where education should go to train future citizens.”