The Effect of Globalisation on Education

According to Albrow and King (1990), “globalisation refers to the processes by which the people of the world are incorporated in a single world society; a global society” (p. 9). All these processes have impacted on the way education is being delivered in the classroom, the type of content that is being given and the accessibility of these types of information. Although in some cases globalisation is found to have a negative impact on the world, there are also many benefits that arise as a result. Such positive impacts include technological advancements such as computers, laptops, projectors, tablets etc.

In the past few years, advancements in technology have been one of the major factors impacting on the education system. As a result of these technological advancements, teachers are able to easily pass on knowledge to their students. These technologies have enabled for teachers and students to have immediate access to a large amount of information just by the click of a few buttons. One of the major impacts of technology is that not all areas in Australia are able to afford these types of technologies creating cultural division among schools and students. Some students may be able to enhance their knowledge through these types of technologies whilst others may be disadvantaged as the school may not be able to afford them as some can be very costly and thus causes differentiation in the quality of education each student receives.

However, due to these constant advancements, the role of the teacher in modern society has changed. Only a few decades ago, the learning environment in schools was teacher focused, however, due to nearly every child owning their own laptop in high school, there has been a shift towards a student focused learning environment. Wolfe (2003) stated that technology has allowed teachers to teach through different teaching strategies as it provides access to a large variety of learning tools. Also according to Wolfe (2003), these technologies allow for students to become engaged in the learning process as they understand concepts through visual, verbal, written and audio means.

However, because technology commits to a large part in learning and teaching in schools, there is consistent change of pedagogies. According to study from Charles Sturt University, it has been examined that “technology is changing the way we need to deliver professional learning to people” (Groves, 2012, p. 4). Recent research has proved that depending on the type of technology used in the classroom, some technologies have a more positive impact on the achievements of students than others. For example, math is not very interesting to many students, however a math game will enable the student to play a game which they may enjoy and will hence enhance their mathematics results. These technologies have allowed students to take part in and engage in classroom discussion and develop a better relationship with the teacher. Instead of the teacher providing all the resources and relevant information to the students, technological advancements has allowed for the teacher to be a guide to help students collect the relevant information and resources.

According to an article on Education Technology success stories (2013), there are many past experiences that further prove the idea that technology has helped both students and teachers in education, one of the examples is that of Khadijah Niazi. According to the article, in the past, “new technologies have facilitated the exponential growth of human knowledge” (West, 2013). However since then, “innovators have seen technology as a way to improve communication, learning, and the mastery of instructional material” (West, 2013). 

Globalisation is the driving factor that is the reason as to why everything is happening today. Australia needs to respond to the rapidly globalising world, in order to treat every individual with respect due to the cultural and social diversity that exists in today’s society.


References

•          Albrow, M. & E. King (1990). Globalization, Knowledge, and Society: Readings from International Sociology. London, UK, Sage Publications.

•          Groves, C. (2012). Interactive Creative Technologies: Changing Learning Practices and Pedagogies in the Writing Classroom. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 35(1).

•          West, D. & Bleiberg, J. (2013). Education Technology Success Stories. Brookings. Retrieved from: http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2013/03/20-education-technology-success-west-bleiberg

•          Wolf, C. (2003). Technology in Environmental Education. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved 10 July, 2013, from: http://www.newhorizons.org